The back-to-the-city movement: Neighbourhood redevelopment and processes of political and cultural displacement
2014/07/18 by Derek Hyra · 333 citations
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Demography #Economic geography #Economic growth #Economics #Economy #Gentrification #Geography #Homelessness and Social Issues #Law #Neighbourhood (mathematics) #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Population #Real estate #Redevelopment #Sociology #Urban Planning and Governance #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
paper · doi:10.1177/0042098014539403
published in Urban Studies 52(10), 1753-1773 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2014/07/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Abstract
While certain US cities are still depopulating, others have experienced a reversal of aggregate out-migration patterns. Some scholars, politicians and real estate boosters celebrate this urban population influx, as it will likely increase property values and municipal tax bases; however, we know little about the social costs associated with the back-to-the-city movement. This study investigates the consequences of the back-to-the-city movement through a four-year (2009–2012) ethnographic case study of the revitalisation of Washington, DC’s Shaw/U Street neighbourhood. The redevelopment of this African-American neighbourhood is associated with the city’s 5.2 percent population increase, which occurred between 2000 and 2010. While affordable housing efforts help to keep a portion of long-term, low-income residents in place, political and cultural displacement is occurring as upper-income newcomers flock into this neighbourhood. This article contributes to the urban literature by highlighting that population influx, and associated neighbourhood revitalisation, can have important social implications.
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