phd thesis on gentrification

Advertisement

Impacts of Gentrification on Health in the US: a Systematic Review of the Literature

• Published: 22 August 2020
• Volume 97 , pages 845–856, ( 2020 )

Cite this article

• Genee S. Smith   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5541-4388 1 , 2 ,
• Hannah Breakstone 3 ,
• Lorraine T. Dean 2 , 4 &
• Roland J. Thorpe Jr. 2 , 3  

8280 Accesses

67 Citations

91 Altmetric

13 Mentions

Explore all metrics

Gentrification in the largest 50 US cities has more than doubled since the 1990s. The process of gentrification can bring about improved neighborhood conditions, reduced rates of crime, and property value increases. At the same time, it can equally foster negative conditions associated with poorer health outcomes, such as disrupted social networks from residential displacement and increases in stress. While neighborhood environment is consistently implicated in health outcomes research, gentrification is rarely conceptualized as a public health issue. Though research on gentrification is growing, empirical studies evaluating the health impacts of gentrification in the US are poorly understood. Here we systematically review US population-based empirical studies examining relationships between gentrification and health. Electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, and Academic Search Complete) were searched using a combination of terms to identify peer-reviewed studies published on or before July 9, 2018, reporting associations between gentrification and health. Study title and abstract screenings were followed by full-text review of all studies meeting the following inclusion criteria of: ≥ 1 quantitative measure of association for a health outcome, within the context of gentrification; peer-reviewed research; located in the US; and English language. Of 8937 studies identified, 6152 underwent title and abstract screening, and 50 studies underwent full-text screening, yielding six studies for review. Gentrification exposure measures and health outcomes examined varied widely. Most studies reported little to no overall association between gentrification and health outcomes; however, gentrification was repeatedly associated with undesirable health effects among Black and economically vulnerable residents. Despite seemingly overall null associations between gentrification and health, evidence suggests that gentrification may negatively impact the health of certain populations, particularly Black and low-income individuals. Complexities inherent in operationalizing gentrification point toward the need for validated measures. Additionally, understanding how gentrification-health associations differ across health endpoints, race/ethnicities, socioeconomic status, and life course can provide insight into whether this process contributes to urban inequality and health disparities. As gentrification occurs across the US, it is important to understand how this process impacts health. While aging cities reinvest in the revitalization of communities, empirical research examining relationships between gentrification and health can help inform policy decisions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Breaking Down and Building Up: Gentrification, Its drivers, and Urban Health Inequality

Helen V. S. Cole, Roshanak Mehdipanah, … Margarita Triguero-Mas

Gentrification, Neighborhood Change, and Population Health: a Systematic Review

Alina S. Schnake-Mahl, Jaquelyn L. Jahn, … Mariana Arcaya

Causes, consequences and health impacts of gentrification in the Global North: a conceptual framework

Helen V. S. Cole, Hugo Vásquez-Vera, … Roshanak Mehdipanah

Hwang J, Lin J. What have we learned about the causes of recent gentrification? Cityscape . 2016;18(3):9–26.

Google Scholar  

Williams DR. Race, socioeconomic status, and health. The added effects of racism and discrimination. Ann N Y Acad Sci . 1999;896:173–88.

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Bates LK. Gentrification and displacement study: implementing an equitable inclusive development strategy in the context of gentrification. Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations . Portland State University PDXScholar; Portland, Oregon; 2013;83.

Cassel J. The contribution of the social environment to host resistance. The fourth Wade Hampton frost lecture. 1976. Am J Epidemiol . 1995;141(9):798–814. discussion 797

Baum F. Social capital: is it good for your health? Issues for a public health agenda. J Epidemiol Community Health . 1999;53(4):195–6.

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Knotts HG, Haspel M. The impact of gentrification on voter turnout. Soc Sci Q . 2006;87(1):110–21.

Article   Google Scholar  

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health Effects of Gentrification. 2013 [Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/gentrification.htm . Accessed 2 Jul 2019.

Cozier YC. Invited commentary: the enduring role of "place" in health-a historic perspective. Am J Epidemiol . 2017;185(11):1203–5.

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Arcaya MC, Tucker-Seeley RD, Kim R, Schnake-Mahl A, So M, Subramanian S. Research on neighborhood effects on health in the United States: a systematic review of study characteristics. Soc Sci Med . 2016;168:16–29.

Geronimus AT, Hicken M, Keene D, Bound J. "Weathering" and age patterns of allostatic load scores among blacks and whites in the United States. Am J Public Health . 2006;96(5):826–33.

McEwen BS. Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators: the good and bad sides of the response to stress. Metab Clin Exp . 2002;51(6 Suppl 1):2–4.

Schwartz AR, Gerin W, Davidson KW, Pickering TG, Brosschot JF, Thayer JF, et al. Toward a causal model of cardiovascular responses to stress and the development of cardiovascular disease. Psychosom Med . 2003;65(1):22–35.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Venis Wilder A-LM, Makoba E, Arniella G. The Health Impact of Gentrification . 2017;4:1981–91.

Mujahid MS, Sohn EK, Izenberg J, Gao X, Tulier ME, Lee MM, et al. Gentrification and displacement in the San Francisco Bay area: a comparison of measurement approaches. Int J Environ Res Public Health . 2019;16(12):2246.

Article   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Maciag M. Gentrification in America Report 2015 [Available from: https://www.governing.com/gov-data/census/gentrification-in-cities-governing-report.html . Accessed 23 Jul 2019.

Lees L, Slater T, Wyly EK. Gentrification : Routledge; 2008.

Wyly EK, Hammel DJ. Gentrification, segregation, and discrimination in the American urban system. Environ Plan A . 2004;36(7):1215–41.

Mitchell B, Franco J. HOLC “REDLINING” MAPS: the persistent structure of segregation and economic inequality. National Community Reinvestment Coalition; Washington, DC ; 2018.

Mehdipanah R, Marra G, Melis G, Gelormino E. Urban renewal, gentrification and health equity: a realist perspective. Eur J Pub Health . 2017;28(2):243–8.

McCartney G, Hearty W, Taulbut M, Mitchell R, Dryden R, Collins C. Regeneration and health: a structured, rapid literature review. Public Health . 2017;148:69–87.

Slater T. North American gentrification? Revanchist and emancipatory perspectives explored. Environ Plan A . 2004;36(7):1191–213.

Moher D, Shamseer L, Clarke M, Ghersi D, Liberati A, Petticrew M, et al. Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Syst Rev . 2015;4(1):1.

Development USDoHaU. Moving to opportunity for fair housing [Available from: https://www.hud.gov/programdescription/mto .

Babineau J. Product review: Covidence (systematic review software). Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Journal de l'Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada . 2014;35(2):68–71.

Huynh M, Maroko AR. Gentrification and preterm birth in new York City, 2008-2010. J Urban Health . 2014;91(1):211–20.

Gibbons J, Barton MS. The Association of Minority Self-Rated Health with black versus white gentrification. J Urban Health . 2016;93(6):909–22.

Smith RJ, Lehning AJ, Kim K. Aging in place in gentrifying neighborhoods: implications for physical and mental health. The Gerontologist 2017;58(1):26–35. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx105 .

Izenberg JM, Mujahid MS, Yen IH. Health in changing neighborhoods: a study of the relationship between gentrification and self-rated health in the state of California. Health Place . 2018;52:188–95.

Mair C, Diez Roux AV, Golden SH, Rapp S, Seeman T, Shea S. Change in neighborhood environments and depressive symptoms in new York City: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Health Place . 2015;32:93–8.

Lim S, Chan PY, Walters S, Culp G, Huynh M, Gould LH. Impact of residential displacement on healthcare access and mental health among original residents of gentrifying neighborhoods in New York City. PloS one . 2017;12(12):e0190139.

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   CAS   Google Scholar  

Gibbons J, Barton M, Brault E. Evaluating gentrification’s relation to neighborhood and city health. PloS one . 2018;13(11)

Freeman L. Displacement or succession?: residential mobility in gentrifying neighborhoods. Urban Aff Rev . 2005;40:463–91.

Bernt M. Gentrification between urban and rural. Dialogues Hum Geogr . 2018;8(1):31–5.

Barton M. An exploration of the importance of the strategy used to identify gentrification. Urban Stud . 2016;53(1):92–111.

Lin J, editor Gentrification and transit in northwest Chicago. Transportation Quarterly . 2002;56:175–191.

Papachristos AV, Smith CM, Scherer ML, Fugiero MA. More coffee, less crime? The relationship between gentrification and neighborhood crime rates in Chicago, 1991 to 2005. City Community . 2011;10(3):215–40.

Hwang J. Gentrification in changing cities: immigration, new diversity, and racial inequality in neighborhood renewal. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci . 2015;660(1):319–40.

Wong DW. The modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP). WorldMinds: geographical perspectives on 100 problems : Springer; 2004. p. 571–5.

Diez-Roux AV. Multilevel analysis in public health research. Annu Rev Public Health . 2000;21(1):171–92.

Nelson PB, Hines JD. Rural gentrification and networks of capital accumulation—a case study of Jackson, Wyoming. Environ Plan A . 2018;50(7):1473–95.

Nelson PB, Oberg A, Nelson L. Rural gentrification and linked migration in the United States. J Rural Stud . 2010;26(4):343–52.

Kirkland E. What's race got to do with it? Looking for the racial dimensions of gentrification. West J Black Stud . 2008;32(2)

Page MJ, McKenzie JE, Higgins JPT. Tools for assessing risk of reporting biases in studies and syntheses of studies: a systematic review. BMJ Open . 2018;8(3):e019703.

Download references

Acknowledgements

Research was supported by grants from the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities (P60MD000214), the National Institute on Aging (1K02AG059140), the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions Pilot Project Award (U54MD000214), the National Cancer Institute grant (K01CA184288), National Institute of Mental Health (R25MH083620), and the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center grant (P30CA006973).

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Room W-7513D, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

Genee S. Smith

Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

Genee S. Smith, Lorraine T. Dean & Roland J. Thorpe Jr.

Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

Hannah Breakstone & Roland J. Thorpe Jr.

Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

Lorraine T. Dean

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Genee S. Smith .

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Smith, G.S., Breakstone, H., Dean, L.T. et al. Impacts of Gentrification on Health in the US: a Systematic Review of the Literature. J Urban Health 97 , 845–856 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-020-00448-4

Download citation

Published : 22 August 2020

Issue Date : December 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-020-00448-4

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Gentrification
• Systematic review
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

PhD Thesis Abstract- Gentrification and Belonging in Istanbul

Related Papers

Ebru Soytemel

Mainstream gentrification research predominantly examines experiences and motivations of the middle-class gentrifier groups, while overlooking experiences of nongentrifying groups including the impact of in situ local processes on gentrification itself. In this paper, I discuss gentrification, neighbourhood belonging and spatial distribution of class in Istanbul by examining patterns of belonging both of gentrifiers and non-gentrifying groups in historic neighbourhoods of the Golden Horn/Halic. I use multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), a methodology rarely used in gentrification research, to explore social and symbolic borders between these two groups. I show how gentrification leads to spatial clustering by creating exclusionary practices and eroding social cohesion, and illuminate divisions that are inscribed into the physical space of the neighbourhood.

www-sre.wu.ac.at

Melis Oğuz Çevik

This paper explores how gentrifiers in Istanbul mobilise their social networks and social capital during the gentrification process, and how their networks are constructed through processes of “place making” and belonging. In addition, this chapter aims to demonstrate how social capital and social networks work in practice during the gentrification process. Concepts of social capital, social network and belonging offer new discussions in gentrification research and enable researchers to investigate how the new middle class acquires privileged positions in power relations (Bourdieu 1986; Savage et al. 2005; Southerton 2002). Power relations among different classes are not stable, but rather dynamic and ever- changing. Therefore, this chapter examines place making and claiming strategies of gentrifiers by focusing on the following questions: (a) What are the spatial strategies of the new middle class, and what is the importance of these strategies?; (b) How are class and spatial boundaries designated in gentrified neighbourhoods?; (c) What kinds of networks and relationships play a role in developing certain housing dispositions or belonging patterns? The outline of the chapter is as follows: the next sub-section describes the field research areas and the qualitative data collected in gentrified neighbourhoods. Section two reviews the literature on gentrification and class analysis by exploring the possible contributions of social capital, belonging and social network literatures to gentrification research. Additionally, this section briefly reviews the gentrification research in Turkey. Section three scrutinizes the social networks and belonging patterns of gentrifiers in the Fener-Balat-Ayvansaray and Galata neighbourhoods of Istanbul. The analysis focuses on two different personal and institutional networks and their function and impact on the gentrification processes. The chapter ends with a conclusion in section four.

Our City? Countering Exclusion in Public Space

Aysegul Can

Eda Ünlü Yücesoy

This paper explores how gentrifiers in Istanbul mobilise their social networks and social capital during the gentrification process, and how their networks are constructed through processes of “place making” and belonging. In addition, this chapter aims to demonstrate how social capital and social networks work in practice during the gentrification process. Concepts of social capital, social network and belonging offer new discussions in gentrification research and enable researchers to investigate how the new middle class acquires privileged positions in power relations (Bourdieu 1986; Savage et al. 2005; Southerton 2002). Power relations among different classes are not stable, but rather dynamic and everchanging. Therefore, this chapter examines place making and claiming strategies of gentrifiers by focusing on the following questions: (a) What are the spatial strategies of the new middle class, and what is the importance of these strategies?; (b) How are class and spatial boundaries designated in gentrified neighbourhoods?; (c) What kinds of networks and relationships play a role in developing certain housing dispositions or belonging patterns?

Proceedings book (abstract)

Burcu Selcen Coskun

Today, there is a tendency to regenerate the historical cores of many cities in different locations of the world. Nevertheless, the efforts of their rehabilitations frequently bring a serious problem of gentrification of the neighbourhood which result in the changing of the inhabitants involuntarily. “Gentrification” in a large scale may surely be regarded as an inevitable fact related with the capitalist restructuring systems of the world. Many cities located on different territories of the world with variable economical, political and social characteristics come face to face with this reality in relationship with how much the city is open to globalising currencies. On the other hand, gentrification could be considered as a ‘place’ related fact. Although it should be regarded as an international reality, gentrification of the dilapidated historic neighbourhoods in different cities of the world may surprisingly show different responds compared to eachother. In this paper, examples of gentrification period from a metropolitan city, Istanbul will be given to clarify this diversity in regard with socio-economical and cultural aspects of this fact. This paper aims to give an overall picture of gentrification movements affected by the local parameters which are special only for this city; the differences occured in different neighbourhoods and the innovatives which give a start to this period beginning from 1980’s. Within this frame, other examples rather than the general negative ones which unfortunately rule this change will be studied. In our opinion, these ‘other’ examples rise new hopes for the future of gentrification in Istanbul by including the inhabitants of the neighbourhoods to this period that may result in a more sustainable way of life.

Urban Geography

How do the marginalized middle-lower-class residents of a neighborhood yearn for and participate in gentrification? In Istanbul, the low-quality building stock and risk of earthquakes intensifies the need for urban transformation, making it seem inevitable and desirable. This article focuses on the experience of gentrification in the Hasanpaşa neighborhood of Istanbul, using an intersectional lens to discuss how the locals, who cultivate a reorienting agency, give consent and aspire for urban change. A form of aspirational normativity emerges among the locals, driving the positive affect around the ideal and materiality of renewal – exemplified by the transformation of an abandoned power plant into a cultural complex. The case of Hasanpaşa shows that we need to take into account the different starting points, multiple contextual features, and intersecting social positions in order to have a more complete understanding of the landscapes of urban change.

RELATED PAPERS

Nathan Demoliner

International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suppanunta Romprasert

Food Science and Technology

Feizollah Shahbazi

Dattu Joshi

bvirtual.proeibandes.org

Danny Gonzales

Annals of Oncology

Stein Kvaløy

Widjo Kongko

Nanotechnology

فصلنامه قرآن و علوم اجتماعی

tahghighat. qh

Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Antoine Marie

Mansoura Veterinary Medical Journal

fatma abdelhamid

Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery

Anil Patwardhan

Cardiology in the Young

William M Novick

FEMS Microbiology Reviews

Peter Thorsted

Ali Abbasov

BJPsych Bulletin

George Ikkos

Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice

PETER M . KARIMI

Universidad Colegio Mayor Nuestra Senora Del Rosario Universidad Del Rosario Edocur Repositorio Institucional Disponible En Http Repository Urosario Edu Co

NATALIA JIMENA VILLARREAL OLARTE

Ulrike Schoetz

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Nilli Lavie

SEMINASTIKA

Muhammad Anshari Shidqi

Patient Preference and Adherence

Mirgissa Kaba

Revista de Saúde Pública

Vanda Mafra Falcone

Nicoletta Sala

African Journal of Biotechnology

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

The relationship between neighbourhood renovation and gentrification in a historic environment: the example of Istanbul

--> Can, Aysegul (2016) The relationship between neighbourhood renovation and gentrification in a historic environment: the example of Istanbul. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.

This thesis focuses on the renovation and regeneration projects, and also on the gentrification concept in the historic neighbourhoods of Istanbul. Exploring the complex and diverse relationship of economic change, housing markets, property and land ownership, the state leading to gentrification and why in certain cities gentrification occurs after renovation and regeneration projects are the main aspects of the present study. Another pivotal point of this thesis is to move away from the well-known subjects of global North when it comes to study of gentrification. This thesis does not claim that the global North urban theories are not applicable in global South, but it aims to expand the limited sites in which the urban theory is produced by moving towards the geographies with a new set of cities. To investigate these points, world city theory and processes of gentrification are examined in the first part of the thesis. In the second part of the thesis, research motivation, research aims, research questions and research methods are investigated. In the third and last part of the thesis, changes in Turkish economic and housing system are studied to understand the dynamics that affect Istanbul. Particular attention is provided to the gentrified neighbourhoods in the historic part of Istanbul. Before the 2000s, gentrification through private housing market was the case in Istanbul, but from the 2000s state-led gentrification started to become more common. The reason behind the increase of state intervention and involvement in gentrification from the 2000s represent a key aspect to the study. Lastly, in this part, Galata and Tarlabasi case studies and analysis of these case studies are discussed with regard to the abstractions used in the thesis. In the conclusion, state’s role in “renovating” the historic neighbourhoods of Istanbul and the possible future paths for the historic environment of Istanbul are explored in relation to the developing countries’ world cities literature. This thesis aims to provide an alternative to the gentrification and regeneration processes in developing countries’ big cities with respect to the historic environment.

--> Final eThesis - complete (pdf) -->

Embargoed until: 15 October 2025

Please use the button below to request a copy.

Filename: aysegul can_thesis_final.pdf

Description: PhD Thesis

Request a copy

Embargo Date:

Please use the 'Request a copy' link(s) in the 'Downloads' section above to request this thesis. This will be sent directly to someone who may authorise access. You can contact us about this thesis . If you need to make a general enquiry, please see the Contact us page.

ODU Digital Commons

• < Previous

Home > Arts & Letters > Sociology & Criminal Justice > ETDs > 65

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

A tale of two gentrifications: reconceptualizing gentrification using third places, demolition and hierarchical linear modeling.

Kylil R. Martin , Old Dominion University Follow

Date of Award

Summer 8-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Sociology/Criminal Justice

Program/Concentration

Criminology and Criminal Justice

Committee Director

Randy Gainey

Committee Member

Ruth Triplett

Mica Deckard

Thomas R. Allen

A growing body of research points out that communities in the most need of assistance are often the ones established by racially biased processes and have not been invested in for generations – with little to no attention ever positively directed toward these spaces. Instead, because of policies and tactics used to label areas as problematic and divest from them, public actors are reluctant to consider the lived-lives, both good and bad, of the residents of these communities when discussing needed changes. Criminologists have long been interested in neighborhood change and its relationship with crime. There has also been theoretical and political interest in the notion that gentrification of an area may reduce crime rates. However, tests of these ideas have produced mixed empirical support due to issues with conceptualization, measurement, and study design. This dissertation explores a reconceptualization and measurement of gentrification, adding elements of “third places” and demolitions to standard measures (e.g., census measures) found in the literature. This work employs hierarchical linear modeling to analyze data over time, providing a systematic analysis of the relationship between gentrification and crime in Norfolk, VA, from 2016 – 2019. By linking these empirical analyses with theoretical and historical context, this study advocates for better community research focused on the interplay of history, social context, systematic empirical research, and generational effects that may play a role in the current neighborhood structure.

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

10.25777/1knh-8q21

9798352693261

Recommended Citation

Martin, Kylil R.. "A Tale of Two Gentrifications: Reconceptualizing Gentrification Using Third Places, Demolition and Hierarchical Linear Modeling" (2022). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, Sociology/Criminal Justice, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/1knh-8q21 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/sociology_criminaljustice_etds/65

000-0003-1120-4060

Since October 03, 2022

Included in

Criminology Commons , Place and Environment Commons , Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons , Race and Ethnicity Commons , Urban Studies and Planning Commons

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS
• Collections
• Disciplines
• Author Guidelines
• Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice
• Other Digital Collections
• ODU Libraries
• Old Dominion University

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

• Bibliography
• More Referencing guides Blog Automated transliteration Relevant bibliographies by topics
• Automated transliteration
• Relevant bibliographies by topics
• Referencing guides

Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Gentrification'

Create a spot-on reference in apa, mla, chicago, harvard, and other styles.

Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Gentrification.'

Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.

You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.

Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.

Castagnola, Michael. "Gentrification without displacement." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/99071.

Lyons, Michal. "Gentrification in context." Thesis, London South Bank University, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.618634.

Schlueter, Sebastian. "Faith in gentrification." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/18515.

Gafvert, Rebecca C. "Mapping the Path of Gentrification: An Analysis of Gentrification Susceptibility in Cincinnati, Ohio." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1314114199.

Mills, Caroline Ann. "Interpreting gentrification : postindustrial, postpatriarchal, postmodern?" Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29245.

Thrash, Tunna E. 1975. "Commercial gentrification : trends and solutions." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46687.

Baxter, Herman Leon. "Toward a Theory of Gentrification." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1240629969.

Yeom, Minkyu Yeom. "IDENTIFYING, EXPLAINING, AND RETHINKING GENTRIFICATION." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1534516133233548.

Tourigny, Mark Claude. "Gentrification : an intra-urban predictive model." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/27704.

Davidson, Mark. "New build gentrification : London's riverside renaissance." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2006. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/new-build-gentrification--londons-riverside-renaissance(870714ae-656d-4ddf-9185-6f92891f4224).html.

Baker, Emma. "Gentrification and gender effects in North Adelaide /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1997. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09AR/09arb167.pdf.

Wheway, Craig James. "The transformation of English market towns : gentrification." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/10321.

Catherine, Pettersson. "Exploring regeneration and gentrification on Norra Grängesbergsgatan." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Institutionen för Urbana Studier (US), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-46121.

Smith, JaLysa. "Small Business Profitability Strategies During Retail Gentrification." ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3838.

Allison, Janelle. "Rethinking gentrification : looking beyond the chaotic concept : a case study of the landscape of gentrification in Spring Hill, Brisbane." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 1995.

Childers, Roberts Amy. "Gentrification and school choice: Where goes the neighborhood?" Digital Archive @ GSU, 2012. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/eps_diss/88.

Camrud, Natalie. "Race, Class, and Gentrification Along the Atlanta BeltLine." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/947.

Webb, Michael David. "Urban Revitalization, Urban Regimes, and Contemporary Gentrification Processes." The Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1383148654.

LEE, SO YOUNG. "Understanding of Relationship between HOPE VI and Gentrification." The Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1483290431708558.

Ravuri, Evelyn. "Gentrification and Racial Transformation in Cincinnati, 2000-2016." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1563872625077935.

Ribeiro, Daniel de Albuquerque. "Gentrification no Parque Histórico do Pelourinho, Salvador/BA." Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal da Bahia, 2011. http://repositorio.ufba.br/ri/handle/ri/19789.

Lindemann, Sven. "Defending Communities : An Analysis of Anti-Gentrification Measures." Thesis, KTH, Urbana och regionala studier, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-254577.

Ressa, Valeria Chiara <1992&gt. "Disuguaglianze abitative e gentrification. Il caso di Torino." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/18619.

Johns-Wolfe, Elaina. "The Geography of Gentrification: Evaluating the Role of Measurement and Spatiotemporal Context on Gentrification Patterns in the United States, 1980 to 2017." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1613744042092124.

Shaw, Kirstyn E. L. "Beyond gentrification : a new phase of inner city resettlement? /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2004. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe18629.pdf.

Lohne, Marte. "The hidden Conflict : A study of gentrification in progress." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Sosialantropologisk institutt, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-13663.

Higley, Rebecca Claire. "'Other' processes of rural gentrification and counter-urban migration." Thesis, University of Brighton, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.499064.

Shah, Preena. "Coastal gentrification : the coastification of St Leonards-on-Sea." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2011. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/9094.

Miller, William Jordan. "A Model for Identifying Gentrification in East Nashville, Tennessee." UKnowledge, 2015. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/geography_etds/33.

Thibault, Jeff. "Eminent Domain: The Taking Of Private Property For Gentrification." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2005. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/811.

Alharbi, Hanadi Abdullah K. "Gentrification in the central zone of Medina, Saudi Arabia." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/42516.

Garza, Jorge. "Gentrification, Neoliberalism and Place Displacement and Resistance in Flagstaff." Thesis, Northern Arizona University, 2019. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=13423758.

This thesis connects the lived experience of displacement to the greater paradigm of neoliberalism. The presence of neoliberalism is insidious and ubiquitous and yet even its existence is disputed in the literature. Neoliberalism is not only capitalism on steroids, bigger and in more places, but a new regime of logic that reduces human relations to profit, naturalizes competition and pushes responsibility onto the individual. Urban space in America and especially the process of gentrification, the reshaping of the built environment to facilitate profit, is a powerful space of expression of neoliberal policies in everyday life. Displacement is a violent and dehumanizing realization of the commodification of land. This research follows the lived experience of families displaced from a mobile home park in Flagstaff, Arizona. Residents received a letter of eviction a week before Thanksgiving of 2017 and the mobile home park was boarded up by July of the following year. Through in-depth interviews with the residents and participant observation in the ensuing movement to keep these families in their homes, this research compiles the lived experience of these individuals and provides an analysis of their situation. Paulo Freire argued that every person has the ability to understand and build solutions to their reality in them. This research hopes to illuminate the lived experience of neoliberalism, gentrification, and offer a powerful message of generative solidarity collaboratively distilled from the experience of the displaced residents.

Igwe, Ezinne. "Formalizing Nollywood : gentrification in the contemporary Nigerian film industry." Thesis, Birmingham City University, 2018. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.753291.

Hwang, Jackelyn. "Gentrification, Race, and Immigration in the Changing American City." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:23845428.

Goworowska, Justyna. "Gentrification, displacement and the ethnic neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn /." Connect to title online (Scholars' Bank), 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/7764.

Goworowska, Justyna 1981. "Gentrification, Displacement and the Ethnic Neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/7764.

Cocola, Gant Agustin. "Struggling with the leisure class : tourism, gentrification and displacement." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2018. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/109288/.

Gervasi, Maria Angelica. "Geocultura delle identità urbane e gentrification. Il caso Belleville." Doctoral thesis, Università di Catania, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10761/1581.

Hansan, John Kent. "Gentrification in the Short North: from run down to downtown." Connect to resource, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1811/410.

Eken, Tugce. "Gentrification In Fener Balat Neighborhoods: The Role Of Involved Actors." Master's thesis, METU, 2010. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12612732/index.pdf.

Holmes, David C. "Stakeholders' Perceptions of Risk for Gentrification in Atlanta's Pittsburgh Neighborhood." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2011. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/geosciences_theses/38.

Bridge, Gary. "Gentrification, class, and community : a study of Sands End, London." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.317688.

Mavrommatis, George. "Gentrification and difference : the case of Brixton and Brick Lane." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2003. http://research.gold.ac.uk/10737/.

Foster, Genea (Genea Chantell). "The role of environmental justice in the fight against gentrification." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105069.

Glatter, Jan. "Gentrification in Ostdeutschland – untersucht am Beispiel der Dresdner Äußeren Neustadt." Doctoral thesis, Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2016. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-205079.

Redfern, Paul. "There goes the neighbourhood : gentrification and marginality in modern life." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1992. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1292/.

Yardimci, Oznur. "Promises and costs of gentrification : the case of Dikmen Valley." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2018. http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/127548/.

Berg, Max, and Sebastian Malmborg. "The development of the neighborhood Mollevången - A survey about gentrification." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23501.

Garcia, Alicia R. "The Impact of Gentrification on the Youth of Church Hill." VCU Scholars Compass, 2016. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4125.

Petty, Clint C. "Gentrification in Oklahoma City: Examining Urban Revitalization in Middle America." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2011. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc84266/.

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Health Serv Res
• v.55(3); 2020 Jun

Impact of gentrification on adult mental health

Linda diem tran.

1 Department of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles California

Thomas H. Rice

Paul m. ong.

2 Department of Urban Planning, Luskin School of Public Affairs, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles California

Sudipto Banerjee

3 Department of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles California

4 Asian Health Services, Oakland California

Ninez A. Ponce

Associated data.

To estimate the net effect of living in a gentrified neighborhood on probability of having serious psychological distress.

Data Sources

We pooled 5 years of secondary data from the California Health Interview Survey (2011‐2015) and focused on southern California residents.

Study Design

We compared adults (n = 43 815) living in low‐income and gentrified, low‐income and not gentrified, middle‐ to high‐income and upscaled, and middle‐ to high‐income and not upscaled neighborhoods. We performed a probit regression to test whether living in a gentrified neighborhood increased residents' probabilities of having serious psychological distress in the past year and stratified analyses by neighborhood tenure, homeownership status, and low‐income status. Instrumental variables estimation and propensity scores were applied to reduce bias arising from residential selection and simultaneity. An endogenous treatment effects model was also applied in sensitivity analyses.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

Adults who completed the survey on their own and lived in urban neighborhoods with 500 or more residents were selected for analyses. Survey respondents who scored 13 and above on the Kessler 6 were categorized as having serious psychological distress in the past year. We used eight neighborhood change measures to classify respondents' neighborhoods.

Principal Findings

Living in a gentrified and upscaled neighborhood was associated with increased likelihood of serious psychological distress relative to living in a low‐income and not gentrified neighborhood. The average treatment effect was 0.0141 (standard error = 0.007), which indicates that the prevalence of serious psychological distress would have been 1.4 percentage points less if none of the respondents lived in gentrified neighborhoods. Gentrification appears to have a negative impact on the mental health of renters, low‐income residents, and long‐term residents. This effect was not observed among homeowners, higher‐income residents, and recent residents.

Conclusions

Gentrification levies mental health costs on financially vulnerable community members and can worsen mental health inequities.

What This Study Adds

• There is growing evidence that gentrification disparately affects the health of different populations.
• Our study applied quasi‐experimental designs to identify the causal impact of gentrification on adult mental health.
• We found that adults who lived in gentrified neighborhoods had increased risks for serious psychological distress compared to those in not gentrified, low‐income neighborhoods.
• Longtime and economically vulnerable residents were disproportionately impacted.

1. INTRODUCTION

Gentrification is a process marked by accelerated physical restructuring, rapid economic growth, and shifts in the social and cultural characteristics of neighborhoods. At worst, gentrification can disrupt the social cohesion of a neighborhood, provoke feelings of cultural displacement, and sever social networks, thereby weakening individuals' protective factors for mental illness. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 Residents must also contend with rising living costs and substantial changes in their material circumstances. 1 , 5 At best, residents of gentrifying neighborhoods potentially benefit from improved housing quality, higher property values for home and commercial owners, better neighborhood amenities, richer retail and built environments, and possibly higher levels of collective efficacy. 6 , 7 , 8 Although the benefits and harms of gentrification have been well documented, debates on whether gentrification is “bad” or “good” for residents and communities are highly contested. The public health consequences of gentrification are not well understood.

The literature on gentrification and health has expanded in recent years. Gentrification or the rapid neighborhood upscaling of historically under‐resourced neighborhoods has been linked to greater risk for preterm birth among non‐Hispanic Blacks, but was associated with lower risk for preterm birth among non‐Hispanic Whites. 9 Although research on the relationship between gentrification and self‐reported health has produced mixed results, 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 living in a gentrifying neighborhood has been linked to poorer self‐reported health for Black residents. 10 , 11 In a recent study of 500 cities, researchers found that gentrification was positively and significantly associated with better neighborhood health. 14 Gentrification did not appear to impact self‐reported health for cities overall. 14 Finally, in‐depth interviews showed that high rents fueled by gentrification exacerbated food insecurity and hunger for people with low incomes and people living with HIV. 15

Fewer studies have examined the relationship between gentrification and mental health. Using a representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries, researchers found that economically vulnerable and higher‐income adults living in gentrifying neighborhoods had greater levels of depression and anxiety than older adults living in middle‐ to high‐income neighborhoods. 13 Higher‐income older adults in gentrifying neighborhoods also reported poorer mental health than their counterparts in low‐income neighborhoods. 13 In cohort studies, low‐income children who lived in gentrified New York City neighborhoods had higher prevalence of anxiety or depression compared to children who lived in other neighborhoods, 16 and displaced residents of gentrifying neighborhoods had greater risks for emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and mental health‐related visits than residents who remained. 17

Many studies to date have not fully explored selection biases that are inherent when examining neighborhoods and individual health. Using detailed respondent and residential information available in a large, continuous population‐based survey in California, we sought to understand the causal effect of gentrification on adult residents' mental health and identify residents most impacted. We focused on neighborhoods in southern California, a region that has received increasing attention due to its diversity and rapidly changing neighborhoods. 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 Southern California has a wide range of neighborhoods that encompass urban and suburban areas, communities with high concentrations of residents who share a racial or ethnic identity, as well as integrated neighborhoods. Housing markets and home prices also quickly rebounded from the Great Recession in some areas of southern California, while other communities did not. We classified neighborhoods based on the pace of upscaling experienced between 2010 and 2015, and compared adult residents' likelihood of serious psychological distress across neighborhood change categories. We also recognized the challenges of measuring neighborhood effects and applied instrumental variables estimation and propensity score analyses to address nonrandom residential mobility and simultaneity, the possibility that gentrification and residents' mental health simultaneously affected one another.

2.1. Data sources

The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is the largest state health survey in the nation. Each year, more than 20 000 households participate in CHIS and share information about their health, environment, and behaviors. Cross‐sectional data from CHIS 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 were pooled. The initial sample had 104 209 adult respondents aged 18 and over, 45 917 of whom lived in six select southern California counties: Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego. Responses from interviewees who completed the survey by proxy, resided in rural census tracts, or lived in tracts with fewer than 500 residents were excluded. Data used to classify neighborhood change came from the 2006‐2010 American Community Survey, 2011‐2015 American Community Survey, and 2010 and 2015 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) aggregate reports. Census tract‐level variables from these sources were merged with CHIS responses using the census tract Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) codes of respondents' residences. 44 905 of 45 652 (98 percent) CHIS observations were successfully merged with neighborhood‐level variables.

Instrumental and exclusion restriction variables were extracted from the US Census, American Community Survey, California Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Attendance Boundary Survey, and California Department of Transportation. These neighborhood‐level variables were also merged with CHIS responses (90 percent) using census tract FIPS codes. The analytic dataset had 43 815 adult respondents.

2.2. Measures

Serious psychological distress (SPD) in the past year was the outcome of interest. SPD was assessed using the Kessler 6, a 6‐item assessment tool designed to estimate the prevalence of adults with nonspecific psychological distress. 22 Respondents were asked to reflect on the worst month in the past year and indicate how often they felt nervous, hopeless, restless or fidgety, worthless, that everything was an effort, and so depressed that nothing can cheer them up. Responses were converted to scores, and respondents with scores of 13 and above (range 0‐24) were categorized as having SPD in the past year. 23

The key independent variable was a neighborhood‐level variable that categorized census tracts into four typologies: “Low‐income and gentrified,” “Low‐income and not gentrified,” “Middle‐ to high‐income and upscaled,” or “Middle‐ to high‐income and not upscaled.” For brevity, neighborhood change categories will respectively be referred to as “gentrified,” “not gentrified,” “upscaled,” and “not upscaled.” These neighborhood change categories were developed based on eight indicators representing neighborhood physical structuring, economic growth, and cultural shifts between 2006‐2010 and 2011‐2015. Indicators included changes in the following: dollar amount of improvement loans per capita, median household income, median home value, mean dollar amount for home loans, median rent, percent of households with incomes above 200 percent FPL, percent of adults aged 25+ with a college degree, and percent of non‐Hispanic White residents.

Strategies for identifying gentrified neighborhood are numerous and wide‐ranging. Researchers have commonly used a threshold strategy in which neighborhood changes in housing prices and household incomes, for example, are compared to set thresholds. 10 , 20 , 24 , 25 Other quantitative strategies involve ranking neighborhood change indicators 9 , 26 and the use of principal component analysis (PCA). 17 , 27 , 28 We recognize that different strategies for developing a gentrification variable, when used as an independent variable, can produce conflicting results. 29 , 30 We used PCA because while the results are empirically driven, the selection of neighborhood change indicators was grounded in theory and because PCA allows neighborhood change indicators to have different weights on the metric for upscaling. This was critical for capturing the upscaling and gentrification phenomena, which varied from county to county.

We conducted principal component analysis to summarize neighborhood change measures and binned PCA scores into groups using a clustering approach. 31 All PCAs were stratified by county to situate neighborhoods within their respective regional contexts, and census tracts in the group with the greatest PCA scores were considered “upscaled.” Gentrification is a process that impacts low‐income neighborhoods. 6 , 24 Because this phenomenon is conditioned by neighborhood income at the start of the observation period, the processes of upscaling in low‐income and higher‐income neighborhoods are distinct and may have differential health effects. We distinguished historically low‐income neighborhoods from middle‐ to high‐income neighborhoods and defined census tracts with median incomes below 80 percent of their respective counties' median household incomes at the start of the study period as “low‐income.” Upscaled, low‐income census tracts were classified as “gentrified.” Low‐income tracts that were not upscaled were considered “not gentrified,” and middle‐ to high‐income census tracts (median household incomes ≥ 80 percent of county median) that upscaled and did not experience upscaling were categorized as “upscaled” and “not upscaled,” respectively.

Length of time at current address served as an exposure measure. Long‐term residents were classified as those who had lived in their neighborhoods for at least 15 years. Residents who had lived in their neighborhoods for fewer than 6 years were categorized as recent residents, and residents who had lived at their current addresses for 6‐14 years were categorized as average tenure residents.

Covariates measured socioeconomic position and other factors that predict both our key independent variable and health. These covariates included demographic factors, socioeconomic status, financial stressors, social support, health status, and neighborhood stressors.

2.2.1. Moderators and subgroups

We hypothesized that any effect of gentrification on mental health would be moderated by residents' attachment and therefore length of time in the neighborhood, their homeownership status, and household income (<200 percent federal poverty level vs ≥200 percent federal poverty level).

2.2.2. Residential selection and exclusion restriction variables

We used respondent age, marital status, and parental status as proxies for life cycle status, included employment status, education, and household income variables as measures of socioeconomic status, and used respondent homeownership status as a proxy for moving costs. Social capital was assessed using responses to questions about neighbors' willingness to help one another and whether neighbors can be trusted. Perception of safety was included as a predictor of residential selection because safety concerns contribute to stress and can influence residential location decisions.

To account for racially/ethnically motivated and restricted migration, we used respondent race/ethnicity, immigrant status, and English proficiency. Exclusion restriction variables, which we assumed predicted residential location but did not affect SPD, included percent of non‐Hispanic White residents, census tract median household income, which was categorized into three categories (ie, first quartile, second and third quartiles, and fourth quartile), the interaction between percent of non‐Hispanic White residents in respondents' neighborhoods and respondent race/ethnicity, and the interaction between median household income and respondent household income.

2.2.3. Instrumental variables

Candidate instrumental variables were hypothesized to predict the likelihood that respondents' neighborhoods gentrified between 2010 and 2015, but were expected to not predict respondents' likelihoods for SPD. These instruments included census tract's distance in miles to the nearest rail station, miles to nearest high‐income neighborhood, difference in mean similar school rank and mean overall rank for all public elementary schools in a census tract, the interaction between whether respondents had children in the household and difference in school ranks, and the proportion of renters in a tract.

2.3. Analyses

Descriptive analyses summarized all variables by neighborhood change category. We applied several approaches to estimate the relationship between living in a gentrified neighborhood and likelihood of serious psychological distress. The first approach was a probit model that included respondents in low‐ and middle‐ to high‐income neighborhoods. Middle‐ to high‐income or “non‐gentrifiable” neighborhoods were often included in previous gentrification studies. 10 , 11 , 12 , 14 , 25 Model misspecification, multicollinearity, calibration, and predictive accuracy were assessed using the Tukey and Pregibon link test, variance inflation factors, receiver operating characteristic curve, and Hosmer‐Lemeshow goodness‐of‐fit test. Moderation of the impact of gentrification on mental health was examined through stratified analyses by neighborhood tenure, homeownership status, and low‐income status.

In an effort to address nonrandom residential selection and potential simultaneity between living in a gentrified neighborhood and experiencing serious psychological distress, we employed an instrumental variable (IV) strategy by performing seemingly unrelated bivariate probit regression analysis on a subset of respondents who lived in low‐income neighborhoods (n = 12 067). IV estimation was preferred, but in the case that the correlation coefficient was not statistically significantly different from zero, we conducted propensity score analyses by employing inverse‐probability treatment weighting to balance respondents in gentrified and not gentrified neighborhoods on observed characteristics. An endogenous treatment effects model was applied in sensitivity analyses to explore unobserved heterogeneity between people in gentrified and not gentrified neighborhoods.

For all models, cluster‐robust standard errors were estimated to adjust for intragroup correlation at the census tract level. Average marginal effects or average treatment effects were calculated. All analyses were conducted using Stata 14.

Roughly a quarter (28 percent) of respondents in our sample lived in low‐income neighborhoods. Approximately 7 percent of respondents lived in low‐income neighborhoods that underwent gentrification between 2010 and 2015; 21 percent lived in low‐income census tracts that did not. One‐fifth (20 percent) of respondents lived in middle‐ to high‐income neighborhoods that experienced upscaling, and half of respondents (52 percent) lived in middle‐ to high‐income neighborhoods that did not experience upscaling.

Seven percent of adults living in southern California between 2011 and 2015 likely had serious psychological distress (SPD) in the past year. The fraction of respondents with SPD was greater among respondents living in low‐income neighborhoods (9 percent) compared to residents of middle‐ to high‐income neighborhoods (6 percent) (Table ​ (Table1 1 ).

Characteristics of adults aged 18 and over living in southern California Counties by neighborhood type, a n = 43 815

On average, living in a gentrified neighborhood increased respondents' likelihood of SPD ( b  = 0.01; P  = .02) relative to living in a low‐income and not gentrified neighborhood (the reference category; see Table S1 ). This translated to an average 1.1 percentage point increase in SPD for living in a gentrified neighborhood ( P  = .02). Living in a middle‐ to high‐income neighborhood, upscaled or not, also increased respondents' likelihood of SPD relative to living in a not gentrified neighborhood. Regression diagnostics suggested that the probit model was not mis‐specified and that the model predicted SPD with acceptable discrimination.

Stratified probit regression results are presented in Table ​ Table2. 2 . For adults who recently moved to their neighborhoods, neighborhood change category did not have an effect on their likelihood of having SPD. Living in a gentrified ( b  = 0.23; P  = <0.01) or middle‐ to high‐income and upscaled ( b  = 0.13; P  = .04) neighborhood, relative to living in a not gentrified neighborhood, did increase likelihood of SPD for long‐term residents. On average, living in gentrified neighborhoods, as opposed to living in low‐income and not gentrified neighborhoods, increased likelihood of SPD by 2 percentage points ( P  < .01) for long‐term residents. Renters and respondents with lower household incomes living in gentrified or upscaled neighborhoods had greater probabilities for SPD relative to similar adults living in low‐income and not gentrified neighborhoods. Neighborhood change did not influence likelihood of SPD among respondents who owned their homes or had higher household incomes.

Effect of neighborhood type on past year serious psychological distress a by tenure in neighborhood, homeownership status, and household income, adults aged 18 and over living in southern California Counties

Table ​ Table3 3 presents seemingly unrelated bivariate probit regression results. In the first stage regression, both instruments, neighborhood's distance from nearest high‐income neighborhood and difference in similar and overall school rank, were associated with whether a respondent's neighborhood was gentrified. Instruments also met the exclusion restriction criterion (data not shown). The association between living in a gentrified neighborhood and SPD in second‐stage regression results (Table ​ (Table3) 3 ) was positive but not statistically significant. A Wald test suggested that rho was zero, indicating no endogeneity.

instrumental variables estimation—seemingly unrelated bivariate probit results, adults aged 18 and over living in low‐income neighborhoods, n = 12 067

As seen in Table ​ Table4, 4 , individual characteristics such as race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and household income were linked to whether respondents lived in gentrified neighborhoods. Estimation with inverse‐probability treatment weights generated an average treatment effect of 1.4 percentage points, and the effect was statistically significant ( P  < .05). Endogenous treatment effect results in sensitivity analysis (Table S2 ) suggested no unobserved heterogeneity between treatment groups supporting the use of propensity scores.

Propensity score and inverse‐probability treatment weighting results for past year serious psychological distress, adults aged 18 and over living in low‐income neighborhoods, n = 12 246

4. DISCUSSION

After testing for endogeneity and balancing respondents on characteristics that affect residential selection and serious psychological distress, we estimated that on average, the prevalence of serious psychological distress would have been 1.4 percentage points less if none of the respondents lived in gentrified neighborhoods. Although a 1 percentage point difference appears to be small, this average marginal effect is roughly equivalent to a 13 percent increase in SPD among adult southern California residents. Gentrification appears to have a negative impact on the mental health of renters, low‐income residents, and long‐term residents.

Insights on the pathways through which living in gentrified neighborhoods contributes to poorer mental health can be gleaned from stratified analysis results. Gentrified neighborhoods negatively impacted select groups of residents and not others. Among recent residents, people who had lived in their neighborhoods for fewer than 6 years, living in a gentrified neighborhood did not negatively impact their risks for SPD. Several reasons might explain this null effect. The first is insufficient exposure to rapid neighborhood change. 32 Recent residents might have not yet developed attachments to their new communities and were therefore less susceptible to stressors associated with gentrification. 33 Selective in‐migration to gentrified neighborhoods is another factor to consider. People who move to gentrifying neighborhoods tend to have higher incomes and more education than current residents. 24 , 34 , 35 In turn, recent residents may benefit more from gentrification than longtime residents with lower incomes. 7 , 12 , 36

In contrast, residents who had lived in their communities for 15 or more years and experienced gentrification had greater risk for SPD in the past year compared to similar long‐term residents of neighborhoods that did not gentrify. Longtime residents have reported loss of community and feeling that they did not belong as a result of gentrification. 1 , 6 , 37 Long‐term residents are also more likely to experience cultural displacement or the replacement of their norms and values. 1 , 33 , 38 , 39 Similarly, residents can experience “symbolic displacement” or feelings of isolation and dislocation as their neighborhoods transform. 40 , 41 For longtime residents of gentrified neighborhoods, the distress associated with feeling left behind, pushed out, and/or replaced might have outweighed positive changes in the neighborhood and increased their risk for mental distress.

Residing in a gentrified neighborhood also negatively impacted the mental health of adults with low incomes and renters but did not affect homeowners and people with higher incomes. This finding suggests that gentrification influences mental health through heightened financial pressures associated with higher living costs. As home values and rents rapidly appreciate in gentrifying neighborhoods, residents with low incomes and renters in non‐rent‐controlled housing units may be more vulnerable to the mental health effects of unaffordable housing compared to homeowners. 42 , 43 , 44

In addition to greater financial stressors, low‐income and long‐term residents may feel excluded from and alienated by the changes in their neighborhoods. Investments in gentrifying neighborhoods offer residents expanded food and retail options. 4 However, new retail in gentrifying neighborhoods often caters to recent residents with higher education and incomes and may be inaccessible to residents with low incomes. 7 , 36 , 45 Finally, as gentrified neighborhoods become less affordable and “friendly” to longtime residents, renters and low‐income residents must contend with fears of displacement, which contribute to stress. 3 , 4

The effects of gentrification or upscaling on SPD were greatest among long‐term residents. As mentioned earlier, these residents are at greater risk of experiencing loss of connectivity and cultural displacement as their communities gentrified, and although not all long‐term residents have low incomes, any cumulative increases in household income were likely outpaced by rising costs in their neighborhoods. Fear of displacement likely carried a heavy toll on longtime residents' mental health.

4.1. Limitations

This study focused on the mental health effects of gentrification on the current residents of gentrified neighborhoods. Not represented in our study are former residents who moved away. Based on our findings, we posit that former residents, particularly renters and people with low incomes, contending with unsustainable and rapidly increasing living costs, had limited options but to leave their communities. In doing so, these displaced residents would likely experience “root shock,” disruption in their social networks, unexpected moving expenses, and other stressors that negatively impacted their mental health. 46 In addition, vulnerable residents who moved out of gentrifying neighborhoods had greater risk of downward mobility and moving to “economically worse‐off neighborhood(s).” 25 It is less clear whether homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods, who potentially benefit from greater increases in home values, fare better or worse from moving.

Instrumental variables estimation was applied to address endogeneity arising from nonrandom migration and simultaneity. Although the R 2 in the first stage model was approximately 0.02, Wald tests for rho from both IV results and sensitivity analyses indicated that conditional on the other covariates in the model, residing in a gentrified neighborhood, was not endogenous. We retain some uncertainty about the quality of our instruments, but do believe that balancing across observed residential selection variables adequately reduced bias from selective in‐migration into gentrified neighborhoods. Without panel data, we were unable to adjust for selective out‐migration and observe displacement from gentrified neighborhoods, but, using statistical adjustments and the rich data offered in CHIS, were able to minimize residential selection bias to estimate the effect of gentrification on residents' mental health.

5. PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS

This study offers evidence that gentrification has a mental health cost on current residents and that longtime residents, renters, and people with low incomes carry much of the burden. 47 , 48 This has implications for population health and health inequities. By elevating levels of mental health distress of population groups who are already disproportionately exposed to stressors such as discrimination and threats to financial security and safety, gentrification can exacerbate mental health inequities. 49 , 50

Numerous local and statewide efforts have been launched to stop gentrification and prevent the displacement of community members. 51 Cities have debated and adopted antidisplacement policies to create new affordable housing units, preserve existing affordable housing, protect existing tenants, and build the assets of residents with low incomes. 52 Although much of the latest campaigns have focused on rent regulation, our study highlights the potential importance of community ownership and neighborhood preservation. Longtime residents of gentrified neighborhoods were most affected by upscaling, despite being able to stay in their communities. Separate from affordability, legislators, planners, and developers should weigh the cultural costs and potential mental health impacts of their proposals. Residents should continue to build community power to challenge and transform unwanted investments to projects that meet with wishes of the community. 53 , 54

Supporting information

Acknowledgment.

Joint Acknowledgment/Disclosure Statement: This research was supported in part by grants TL1TR000121 and TL1TR001883 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences to the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

Disclosures: None.

Tran LD, Rice TH, Ong PM, Banerjee S, Liou J, Ponce NA. Impact of gentrification on adult mental health . Health Serv Res . 2020; 55 :432–444. 10.1111/1475-6773.13264 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

Rural gentrification

Journal Title

Journal issn, volume title, description, collections.

• 2024 Elections
• Get Involved

GGWash is closed on Tuesday, April 16 for DC Emancipation Day. We will reopen on Wednesday, April 17.

Gentrification is beneficial on average, studies say. That doesn’t mean it’s not painful for some.

Demographics By Alex Baca (DC Policy Director) ,  Nick Finio (Contributor) August 6, 2019   46

New construction at T Street and 14th NW. by Randall Myers used with permission.

Gentrification produces mostly positive effects for the existing, generally lower-income residents of upscaling neighborhoods, some recent studies show. But that doesn’t mean that there are no losers. Neighborhood change is as complex as it always has been, which means there are near-infinite ways to decipher and judge its effects on individuals.

Authors Quentin Brummet with NORC at the University of Chicago and Davin Reed at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a paper in July that studies the effects of gentrification on the economic well-being of original residents and children. In this study, “original residents and children” are defined as the people who lived in a neighborhood in the year 2000, and either remained there or moved out as the neighborhood gentrified over the next decade. Gentrification is defined as the net-positive in-movement of people with college degrees into a lower-income census tract.

Its main findings are that neighborhood mobility is already high across income categories : 70% to 80% of renters change neighborhoods over a decade, and 40% of homeowners do, too. When a neighborhood is gentrified, the likelihood that original residents move increases only slightly, by about 5%. That likelihood is slightly higher for lower-income renters.

Brummet and Reed conclude that gentrification only marginally increases out-movement, and, importantly, that those who remain experience certain benefits. Those benefits include exposure to lower poverty rates, increases in home values, and other correlates of neighborhood opportunity.

Gentrification in DC is exceptional

Of course, this made a splash , and the study received lots of coverage . CityLab has a thorough summary of its particulars and results. In short, the methods are impressive: The authors use a unique and very large set of Census panel data to track the life trajectories of people between 2000 and 2010-2014. They look at the 100 most populous metropolitan areas in the country.

The authors rank Washington as the “most gentrifying central city” in the country from 2000 to 2010-2014, ahead of other hotspots like Portland, Seattle, and Denver, echoing a few other recent reports . Their map, produced at the end of the paper, shows the familiar pattern of gentrification in and around DC’s core.

From page 30 of the study.

This study, like other recent macro-scale econometric studies on gentrification, reports most of its results in averages. A neighborhood out-mobility rate increase of a few percent on average , across gentrifying neighborhoods in the whole country, can mask what’s happening at the hyper-local scale. In certain neighborhoods, out-movement through displacement, whether direct or indirect, has likely been much higher.

When we talk about gentrification in DC, we often use U Street, Shaw, Bloomingdale, and Columbia Heights as signifiers of it, even though what’s happening in them, and neighborhoods like them, is exceptional. A 2017 paper by Kyle Fee , a researcher at the Cleveland Fed, classified neighborhoods in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh by a typology of change. He concluded that while most neighborhoods remained the same over time, the rate of change in some neighborhoods increased the rate of change overall:

In general, this analysis shows that from 1970 to 2010, most neighborhoods tended to remain the same from decade to decade. However, the overall rate of neighborhood change has increased in all four of the cities studied during the past two decades, with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh experiencing the greatest change from the 1990s to the 2000s

Most neighborhoods in most American cities are not gentrifying . But the intensity of what happens in the neighborhoods that are is often so unfair, and so visible, that we respond in kind: virulently. So, we’re not challenging Brummet and Reed’s econometric findings, which we think are solid. But we know that econometrics are not the sole criteria on which to judge the effects of neighborhood change on individual residents.

Brummet and Reed refer frequently to “the baseline” from which they measure change. It’s important to remember that “the baseline” for a lot of people in many neighborhoods—not just the ones that gentrify—is poverty and instability. This tracks with the extensive research showing that concentrated poverty results in more displacement than gentrification. (This is famously illustrated by Matthew Desmond’s Evicted .) Poverty undergirds gentrification’s ill effects.

What about gentrification’s other impacts?

Still, the conclusions of Brummet and Reed’s work can feel insensitive, given the lived experience of people in neighborhoods where there is an influx of wealth. The authors themselves note that their research’s greatest shortcoming is that it doesn’t estimate the costs of leaving a neighborhood.

Gentrification can harm people through direct costs like moving costs, or the security deposit for a new apartment, which—given that few people have enough cash to cover emergency expenses—could easily unfold into an even more precarious financial situation. And though gentrification’s social and cultural costs are well-covered by many qualitative studies, that’s exactly what feels so unaccountable as to be the overwhelming driver of change .

If people perceive that their neighborhoods are so different they no longer think of them as home, does it matter if they’re are able to comfortably remain in their homes? Does it matter that the places that they live are safer, healthier, and more accessible—which often means that the homes there become more expensive? How much does it matter if they benefit economically?

Lance Freeman’s 2006 book, There Goes the ‘Hood , dissected a similar question. His research has continued to provoke thoughtful discussion of whether we’ll accept change, or if we’d prefer neglect. An excerpt of it reads :

This book argues that indigenous residents do not necessarily react to gentrification according to some of the preconceived notions generally attributed to residents of these neighborhoods. Their reactions are both more receptive and optimistic, yet at the same time more pessimistic and distrustful than the literature on gentrification might lead us to believe. Residents of the ‘hood are sometimes more receptive because gentrification brings their neighborhoods into the mainstream of American commercial life with concomitant amenities and services that others might take for granted. It also represents the possibility of achieving upward mobility without having to escape to the suburbs or predominantly white neighborhoods. These are benefits of gentrification typically not recognized in the scholarly literature. Yet the long history of disenfranchisement, red lining, and discrimination also inspires a cynicism toward gentrification that might not be evidenced elsewhere. Though appreciative of neighborhood improvements associated with gentrification, many see this as evidence that such amenities and services are only provided when whites move into their neighborhoods. Moreover, many see these improvements as the result of active collaboration between public officials, commercial interests, and white residents. Though much has been written about displacement and somewhat less about the political consequences of gentrification for indigenous residents, this dimension of cynicism toward gentrification has not been explored.

Brummet and Reed’s paper gives us approximately zero data on how people feel about living in a different place, and how they feel about their neighborhoods changing. But we think that’s OK. Its authors don’t purport to do that, and they offer valuable insight by placing the small number of neighborhoods that are nearly always discussed simultaneously with gentrification in relief, against many, many other neighborhoods nationwide. Their recommendations—accommodating the increased demand for housing close to amenities and city centers by building more of it—align with GGWash’s worldview.

Another recent study based on Medicaid data found that gentrification did not displace low-income children in New York. It was conducted by Ingrid Gould Ellen, professor of urban policy and planning and director of NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy; health economist Sherry Glied, dean of NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and Kacie Dragan, project manager for NYU Wagner’s Policies for Action Research Hub.

“These kids move a lot, whether their neighborhood gentrifies or it doesn’t gentrify,” Glied told CityLab . NYU’s researchers found that health outcomes for children who stayed in gentrifying neighborhoods improved. But those benefits accrue within a shifting and rocky landscape that’s replete with other factors. Per CityLab:

When vulnerable families did move, they tended to move longer distances (which the researchers can track by their exact addresses). Low-income families leaving gentrifying areas were more likely to change zip codes or move to another borough (although they were no more likely to leave New York City altogether). Maybe that’s because these families must travel farther to find affordable housing.

People—ourselves included—can’t help but view new buildings as representative of development and growth. Our country’s history of racial and economic segregation has meant that change is almost unilaterally uneven and unfair . Housing policies and mechanisms like the DC’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Affordable Housing Preservation Fund, legalizing apartments, increasing voucher amounts and expanding access to services , and compliance with fair-housing laws can mitigate this, but can’t completely or individually staunch the racial wealth gap.

By the transitive property of signifiers of neighborhood change, the very new buildings that could possibly mitigate some negative effects of newcomers, by literally absorbing them without much displacement, are almost universally regarded as symbolizing the physical and cultural exclusion of current residents. Data can nearly never account for that.

Correction: Quentin Brummet’s affiliation is with NORC at the University of Chicago, not the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Thanks for reading! 

We are reliant on support from readers like you to fund our work. If everyone reading this gave just $5, we could fund the publication for a whole year. 

Can you make a one-time or recurring contribution today to keep us going strong? 

Support our work!

GGWash is supported by our recurring donors, corporate supporters, and foundations.

PhD student Andrew Ward publishes gentrification op-ed in Cambridge Day

• By: Matthew Dineen
• April 10, 2024

In a new Cambridge Day op-ed, PhD student Andrew Ward utilizes his research from Professor Loretta Lees ‘  Gentrification Studies class last semester. In the article  “Gentrification study of Central Square finds independent spirit that’s being sorely tested,” Ward presents findings from Cambridge Local First’s inaugural State of Small Business report to demonstrate the rapid pace of gentrification in the Central Square neighborhood. You can read the full piece online here .

View all posts

• Support Dal
• Current Students
• Faculty & Staff
• Family & Friends
• Agricultural Campus (Truro)
• Halifax Campuses
• Campus Maps
• Brightspace

Dalhousie University

• Student Life
• Media Centre
• DAL Magazine

Most Commented

News archive.

• February 2024
• January 2024
• December 2023
• November 2023
• October 2023

From nitrogen to activism: Unveiling Dalhousie’s 2024 Doctoral Thesis Award winners

Stephen Oshilaja - April 16, 2024

Dalhousie doctoral graduates Joseph Bedard and Tari Ajadi have been named the 2024 recipients of the Dalhousie Doctoral Thesis Awards, an annual honour that recognizes dissertations that have made significant and original contributions to the academic community and Canadian society.

The awards, presented by the Faculty of Graduate Studies for more than 25 years now, recognize exceptional theses submitted by PhD students.

Dr. Bedard’s ground-breaking research in the Department of Chemistry centered on making plastics out of nitrogen and phosphorus. He hopes his work lays the foundation for the development and commercialization of atmospheric nitrogen-derived plastics, but also that it challenges basic assumptions in the way chemicals that can be used as building blocks for synthetic materials are identified.

“Joe took on the most ambitious project in our group with global impact and systematically developed the tools needed to tackle it,” says Dr. Saurabh Chitnis, who served as his doctoral supervisor. “His curiosity, enthusiasm, and persistence are models for all graduate students undertaking high-risk, high-reward research. I am thrilled to see it recognized in this way and to have been part of his scientific journey.” 

Dr. Bedard was also recently crowned the winner of Falling Walls Lab Pitches competition in Berlin , Germany, for his presentation “Breaking the Wall of Alternative Plastics.”

Dr. Ajadi’s thesis sheds light on the remarkable efforts of African Nova Scotian community organizations and activists in shaping policies related to health and policing, historically and in the present. He hopes his work informs future attempts at transformational change that will and are currently unfolding by chronicling some of the successes (and failures) of the past. The work also pushes back against the erasure of Black political organizing in contemporary discussions around Canadian politics.

"Tari’s research on African Nova Scotian activism in policing and public health is path-breaking in the field of Canadian political science,” says Dr. Kristin Good, his former supervisor in the Department of Political Science .

“His work is conceptually and methodologically innovative in its exploration of African Nova Scotians’ long history of resistance to structural racism and of community organizing in Halifax, conceptualizing its organizations and networks as part of a competing racial order united by a commitment to self-determination and driven by an ethic of care. Methodologically, his work breaks new ground by including autoethnography as part of his toolkit, which allows him to reflect upon his personal experience as an activist in the analysis. I learned a lot from supervising Tari’s thesis and look forward to following his academic career.”

As this year’s winners, Drs. Bedard and Ajadi will also be Dal’s nominees for the CAGS-ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award, which will be awarded by the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) later this year.

For more insights into their impactful work, explore the Q&A below.

Dr. Joseph Bedard, Chemistry PhD

My thesis is concerned with making synthetic polymers (i.e. plastics) out of nitrogen and phosphorus. Right now, about 85% of the plastics we make are derived from petrochemicals. As our society is shifting away from fossil fuels towards alternative energy sources, we also must consider alternative materials sources as well. The work in my thesis is an entrant into the arena of non-petroleum-based plastics. I discovered a way to convert chemicals, derived from the nitrogen in our atmosphere, into polymers and networks with an incredibly unique molecular structure (nitrogen and phosphorus cages), the likes of which had not been discovered before. My thesis details the exploration of the fundamental properties for these new materials, as well as the physical properties of the plastics I can make from them. 

What impact do you hope to make with your research?

My hope is that the work I have done during my PhD not only lays the groundwork for the development and commercialization of atmospheric nitrogen-derived plastics, but also really encourages a paradigm shift in terms of the way we identify the chemicals that can be used as building blocks for synthetic materials. From a more zoomed-in perspective, I'm looking forward to seeing the chemistry research community build further on the concept of stringing together molecular cages to make polymers, and ultimately, materials. 

Tell me about a defining moment you had at Dalhousie.

In the fourth year of my PhD, through the encouragement of my principal investigator, prof. Saurabh Chitnis, I entered a regional competition called Falling Walls Lab Atlantic. I did not know too much about it at the time, but as I prepared my 3-minute pitch for the competition, I was encouraged to really think about the potential societal impact of my research. It is not often that synthetic chemists working on innovative, fundamental projects think about our work on such a scale. Doing so allowed me to realize that my research was actually a lot closer to having a material impact on our society than I'd thought. I went on to finish runner-up in the Atlantic competition and got a chance to go to Berlin to compete in the international competition, which I was lucky enough to end up winning. 

What are you doing now?

Right now, I have moved to Montreal, where I have traded the Maritime fog for the city smog (Willy's poutine holds up pretty well!). I am currently exploring opportunities that align best with my expertise and passion for chemistry and "big bet" science.

Dr. Tari Ajadi, Political Science PhD

My doctoral thesis is about the incredible work that African Nova Scotian community organizations and activists do (and have done, historically) to transform policy related to health and policing. It argues that Black organizers in Halifax engage in “worldmaking” via centuries-long lineage of resistance, institution-building, and advocacy. This worldmaking moves towards the idea of self-determination: being able to decide for oneself the trajectory of one’s community. As part of this lineage, organizers foster a distinct political identity that can facilitate solidarity across difference despite the significant barriers they may face in transforming the status quo.

I hope to inform future attempts at transformational change that will and are currently unfolding by chronicling some of the successes (and failures) of the past. I also intend to push back against the erasure of Black political organizing in contemporary discussions around Canadian politics.

The defining moments of my time at Dalhousie were the everyday acts of kindness and care that my close friends and mentors showed me throughout the years I spent at Dal– these moments have shaped who I am today. 

What are you doing now? 

I am an Assistant Professor in Black Politics at McGill University.

Dal News welcomes discussion from members of the Dalhousie community and beyond, but urge comment writers to be respectful and refrain from personal attacks. False or unsubstantiated allegations, libellous statements and offensive language are not allowed. External links must be appropriate and relevant to the subject being discussed.

We encourage commenters to use their real first and last names.

Please note that comments that appear on the site are not the opinion of Dal News or Dalhousie University but only of the comment writer. The editors reserve the right to post, or not to post comments, edit or not edit, at their discretion.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada  B3H 4R2 1-902-494-2211

Agricultural Campus Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada  B2N 5E3 1-902-893-6600

• Campus Directory
• Student Career Services
• Employment with Dalhousie
• For Parents
• For Employers
• Privacy Statement
• Terms of Use

Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2 1.902.494.2211

Four Ph.D. Students Honored with Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship

The University of Maryland's Graduate School has announced Department of Computer Science graduate students Nakul Garg , Shoken Kaneko ,  Mazda Moayeri and Gowthami Somepalli as recipients of the Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship , an award recognizing outstanding research contributions and academic performance by doctoral students in the later stages of their dissertation research.

The Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship is a testament to the university's commitment to fostering academic excellence and research innovation. It includes a $15,000 stipend, a candidacy tuition award and additional benefits to facilitate the completion of innovative dissertation work.

Inaugurated in 2005, the award is named in honor of Department of Geology Professor Emerita Ann G. Wylie . The fellowship underscores the importance of academic and research endeavors at the University of Maryland. It is a key component of the Graduate School's efforts to nurture doctoral candidates' academic and professional development. 

The research focuses of the awardees are:  

Garg is a Ph.D. student advised by Assistant Professor Nirupam Roy . His research focuses on the development of sustainable computing technologies. Garg primarily deals with batteryless, AI-driven ambient computing technologies that enhance operational longevity and intelligence while reducing power requirements. His work is intended to support the creation of smarter cities, increase supply chain efficiencies and further develop advanced healthcare systems with a reduced environmental footprint.

In addition to his fellowship, Garg has collaborated with Microsoft Research to investigate AI solutions in supply chains, specifically focusing on dynamic tracking systems to reduce global food waste. His projects also include developing next-generation batteryless tags for applications like geofencing, wildlife monitoring and environmental sensing.

Garg plans to explore ambient computing's capabilities further using AI and machine learning to address challenges in egocentric sensing, perception and communications. After completing his Ph.D., he is considering founding a company to commercialize his research and maintain his contributions to the academic field.

Shoken Kaneko

Kaneko is a Ph.D. student advised by Professor Ramani Duraiswami . His work focuses on computational audio and acoustics, specifically spatial audio and boundary element analysis. His work aims to improve numerical simulations in acoustics and electrostatics, enhancing accuracy and reducing costs.

Kaneko has developed algorithms that could significantly improve the efficiency of numerical simulations. 

"The methods I've worked on improve spatial audio capture and processing, audio rendering, and sound localization," Kaneko explained. "My research could fundamentally change how we simulate and interact with audio in real-world and virtual environments, like virtual reality and the metaverse."

Looking ahead, he plans to refine spatial audio technologies and further develop engineering tools for audio and acoustics, aiming to enhance how audio is integrated and manipulated in physical and digital spaces.

Mazda Moayeri

Mazda Moayeri is a Ph.D. student advised by Associate Professor Soheil Feizi . Moayeri's research centers on building interpretability tools for artificial intelligence, aiming to enhance transparency and mitigate the risks associated with AI. His research addresses potential limitations within AI systems to prevent harmful impacts, making strides toward safer, more reliable and more equitable AI applications across different societal sectors.

Moayeri's work promises to fundamentally alter how society interacts with AI by making the technology's inner workings more accessible and understandable.

"AI is incredible because it can be applied to so many problems, and it is advancing at an astonishing rate," Moayeri explained. "A technology so wide-reaching is exciting but also scary, as the risks rise with the number of use cases, especially since we don't always know what's going on under the hood. My work aims to create a future where people can confidently decide when to rely on AI by enhancing the technology's transparency and proactively addressing bias issues before they cause harm."

Looking forward, Moayeri plans to continue exploring the field of AI, likely transitioning to industry roles that emphasize the societal impacts of technological advancements.

"I truly believe AI can empower all of us, but I also worry that it may widen existing gaps in our society," Moayeri stated. "I hope to build tools that put the power of AI in people's hands instead of cruelly replacing them. The exact problems I work on will evolve as the field does, which it currently is doing, but I will always care about fair AI, bias mitigation, model debugging and increasing transparency."

Gowthami Somepalli

Somepalli is a Ph.D. student advised by Professor Tom Goldstein . Her research focuses on identifying and addressing failure modes in multimodal deep learning models, aiming to enhance their reliability and functionality. Somepalli's work has notably included a study on understanding and memorization in diffusion models, which has significant implications for their practical application across various industries.

In addition to her primary research focus, Somepalli is enhancing vision large language models (LLMs), exploring ways to bolster their efficiency and applicability. This work aligns with her broader objectives to address critical challenges in deep learning technologies.

"My work aims to ensure that deep learning systems have a significantly reduced failure rate before they can be utilized on a large scale," Somepalli explained. "The application of my research in diffusion models was notably referenced during the Stable Diffusion lawsuit, and Stability AI has incorporated it in their recent SD3 model to minimize memorization."

Looking ahead, Somepalli plans to continue her research on improving multimodal systems. "Tackling the robustness of these systems is both a challenging and essential task," she remarked, emphasizing the importance of her future endeavors in contributing to the field of artificial intelligence.

—Story by Samuel Malede Zewdu, CS Communications 

The Department welcomes comments, suggestions and corrections.  Send email to editor [-at-] cs [dot] umd [dot] edu .