Can Urban Renewal Policies Reverse Neighborhood Ethnic Dynamics?

Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, Nicolás González-Pampillón () and Jordi Jofre-Monseny

No 11676, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: This paper assesses the impact on neighborhood population dynamics of a major urban renewal policy implemented in Catalonia (Spain) between 2004 and 2010. Some of the most deprived neighborhoods in the region received large investments in their public spaces and facilities with the aim of attracting natives and high income individuals and of reducing the concentration of poverty and immigration. The control group comprises rejected projects and projects accepted towards the end of the program that, due to a fall in public tax revenues, were never executed. The results suggest that the urban renewal projects had little (if any) effects on population dynamics, suggesting that substantial investment in deprived neighborhoods is insufficient to attract natives and/or high income households. Interestingly, the sole exception were the interventions made in Barcelona’s historic districts, where the policy seems to have augmented ongoing processes of urban revival into its most deprived neighborhoods furthering processes of gentrification.

Keywords: Place-based policies; Incomemixing; Neighborhood segregation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R23 R30 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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Related works:
Journal Article: Can urban renewal policies reverse neighborhood ethnic dynamics? (2020)
Working Paper: Can urban renewal policies reverse neighborhood ethnic dynamics? (2017)
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