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Date of Award

Spring 2012

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Major

International Studies (Sustainable Development)

First Advisor

Kathleen Kete

Abstract

How do you prevent an inner-city neighborhood from being gentrified and losing its identity? How are working class and immigrant needs balanced against the benefits of gentrification? This project set out to answer these questions by reviewing the results of French government studies and planning agency reports on la Goutte d’Or against the backdrop of more general studies on the effectiveness of urban renewal projects relating the creation of sustainable communities and the benefits of mixed neighborhoods. I was also able to incorporate my own observations and research into this project after receiving a grant from the International Studies Department to return to la Goutte d’Or in January 2012. The government has played a leading role in helping to maintain the quartier’s working class identity by diversifying its approach to urban renewal through a range of actions that are not focused solely on housing. After carefully evaluating the effects of urban renewal policies in the housing, safety and public sectors in la Goutte d’Or, I came to the conclusion that the involvement of associations in the quartier are the more likely to promote and encourage interactions among residents of different backgrounds, than the improvements in the housing and safety sections alone. These are policies and projects that have worked to lay the foundation for a sustainable mixed community in la Goutte d’Or but will have to be adjusted to fit the needs and cultures of other neighborhoods in jeopardy of becoming gentrified.

Comments

Senior thesis completed at Trinity College for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in International Studies. Accessible to members of the Trinity community only.

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