HOUSING-REHABILITATION AND ITS ROLE IN NEIGHBORHOOD CHANGE - A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATION

In most empirical studies of neighborhood change, particularly those o n the issue of gentrification, the analysis focuses either on variatio ns in population transformations in the housing market, or modificatio ns in the physical condition of buildings, without attending to the in teraction of these different but interrelated aspects of residential c hange. Moreover, variations within a geographical area ape lost since statistical data used pertain to areas larger than the neighborhoods t hemselves. Here, a framework of analysis that combines three aspects o f neighborhood change, namely, changes in the physical stock, the hous ing market, and the population, is proposed. Data in these categories are collected at the level of individual properties and their interact ion is studied. Various sequences and patterns of occurrence of these three aspects of residential change are argued to imply different inte ntions behind the practices of the many actors involved Hence, the pro posed framework clarifies the complexity of the process of neighborhoo d change and uncovers the dynamics behind it. This approach is applied to an inner city neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA), in o rder to discuss and evaluate transformations experienced in the area i n the 1980s.