Neighborhood Monitoring and Analysis: A New Way of Looking at Urban Neighborhoods and How They Change

摘要

This information bulletin suggests a potentially useful new way of looking at urban neighborhoods and how they change over time. The paper discusses the considerable public debate and confusion about the complex and changing mature of urban neighborhoods. The argument is made that traditional theories of housing filtration and income governing neighborhood conditions are not adequate bases for understanding current patterns of neighborhood change. It is suggested that a new perspective, based on improved measures of neighborhood change, is needed to increase public capacity to understand the forces at work and to improve the application of policy interventions in neighborhoods. Various aspects of data collection analysis are reviewed, and private decisionmaking concerning investments is discussed. A two-dimensional conceptual framework, incorporating both objective housing conditions and subjective neighborhood market perceptions, is proposed. Based on this framework, a neighborhood classification systems developed by local governments, the academic community, and the private sector is presented. Further research suggestions are also made, with the emphasis on time - series data. Maps, tables, information resources, a bibliography of 12 references, and appendices of neighborhood conservation indicators and neighborhood classification systems are included. (Author abstract modified).