Examining Urban Decay in Philadelphia using GIS
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Transcript of Examining Urban Decay in Philadelphia using GIS
Examining Urban Decay
in PhiladelphiaMac Ferrick, Paige Geist, Will Dorfman
GEOG372
Defined as the process of a city falling into
economic and social despair.
What is urban decay?
● Growth of the suburbs after World War II
● Movement of jobs outside of the city
● Deindustrialization
● White Flight/Redlining
● War on Drugs and Subsequent Crime
Main causes of decay in the US
● Land area: 135 square miles
● Population: 1,553,165
● Average home value: $147,569
● Median annual income: $37,016
● Poverty Rate: 26.2%
Philadelphia County Key Figures
Source: US Census Bureau American Fact Finder (2013); Select
Greater Philadelphia (2010)
● Philadelphia defines an area to be
experiencing urban decay as meet at least
one of the following criteria:o Unsafe, unsanitary and inadequate conditions;
economically or socially undesirable land use;
and faulty street and lot layout
● Urban renewal projects indicate the
presence of urban decay
Urban Decay in Philadelphia
● Urban renewal based on federal and state laws
● Decision Makers:o Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority
o Philadelphia City Planning Commission
o Philadelphia City Council & Mayor
o United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD)
● Determine areas for redevelopment, prepare
plans, and select developers
Redevelopment Process
● Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP)o Purpose is to turn over vacant, foreclosed
properties into owner-occupied dwellings
o Determined based on historical foreclosure
data, indications of predatory lending, and the
impact of vacancies on surrounding home
values
● Received $16.8 million in funding from HUD
Urban Renewal Programs
● Determine the underlying cause of
socioeconomic challenges in Philadelphia
County
● Determine if current redevelopment
projects are targeting the correct areas
Research Purpose
● What is the correlation between home
value and percent vacancies?
● What is the correlation between
vacancies and homicides?
● Is urban decay widespread or is it
concentrated in certain neighborhoods?
Key Questions
● Homicides
● Home vacancy percentage per census
tract
● Median Household Income
● Poverty
Factors Considered
● Georeferencing census tracts
● “Join” data (percent vacant and median
home value) to census tract file
● “Display XY Values” for homicides
● Perform a Hot Spot Analysis to present
homicide data
● Overlay areas for urban renewal
Methodology
Total number of homicides (2010): 403
● Homicide hotspots in North Philadelphia
and section of Southwest Philadelphia
● Coldspots in Center City, Northeast
Philadelphia, and Northwest Philadelphia
● Little correlation between hotspots and
urban renewal areas
Findings
● Vacancies are concentrated in North
Philadelphia and portions of West
Philadelphia
● Fewest vacancies are found in Northeast
Philadelphia
● Outlier in Northeast Philadelphia
● Stronger correlation between vacancy
percentage and urban renewal areas
Findings
● Highest home values concentrated in
Center City and Northwest Philadelphia
● Lowest home values are found in North
Philadelphia and West Philadelphia
● Little correlation between home value
and urban renewal
Findings
● Poverty concentrated in North
Philadelphia and West Philadelphia
● Somewhat strong correlation between
poverty and urban renewal areas
● Strong correlation between homicide
hotspot and poverty, especially in North
Philadelphia
Findings
● Access to data
● Various outliers
● Presence of universities (UPenn, Drexel)
● Measurement criteria into the
effectiveness of urban renewal programs
Limitations
● Urban renewal project are partially targeting the
right areas
● There are areas that are both within and outside of
urban renewal zones that are still suffering the
consequences of urban decay
● Based on our findings, the areas marked for urban
renewal need to be reexamined to take into account
factors other than the criteria determined by the
city
Conclusions
● Look at correlation between decay and
other crimes, especially drug-related
crimes
● Look at the lasting impact of redlining
using historical data
● Conduct a longitudinal study to see how
decay has evolved over time
Possible Further Analysis
● http://www.phila.gov/CityPlanning/plans/communityplans/Pages/BlightandRedevelopmentReports.aspx
● http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml
● http://www.selectgreaterphiladelphia.com/regional-data/county-data/philadelphia/
● http://www.opendataphilly.org/opendata/resource/34/redevelopment-certified-areas/
● http://www.phila.gov/pra/neighborhoodStable.html
● http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml
● http://www.phila.gov/pra/neighborhoodStable.html
Sources