Date of Award

5-2017

Document Type

Open Access Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Art (BA)

Department

Economics

Advisor

Andrew Perumal

Director

Rajini Srikanth

Subject Categories

Economics | Growth and Development | Public Economics | Regional Economics

Abstract

Locally and internationally, cities that face decades of disinvestment and neglect at one point experience a resurgence and revival in that location. A city’s resurgence and revival is seen in the form of new houses, businesses, and the migration of middle to upper middle class individuals is known as gentrification. Subjectively, gentrification is beneficial to those who are home owners because they can sell their houses for a higher price than what they bought it for; it is beneficial to the landlord who is able to increase the rents of units (Atkinson 2002). In light of all this, while the homeowners, tenants and middle class individuals enjoy the fresh new city, there are individuals who face negative effects due to gentrification. There will be some renters that no longer are capable of paying the rent and will be displaced. In terms of education, low income families are displaced and that means changing the school the child goes to. With the increase of middle and upper class individuals in a gentrified neighborhood, these families tend to be more involved in the education of their children, and match that with more demands on the local school system (Hankins 2007). The active role of the middle class families is central in driving school improvements, but it is at the expense of all the low income families that have to move from their gentrifying neighborhood and will not be able to take advantage of the resources the schools will offer.

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