Reinvestment in Inner-City Historic Space: An Analysis of Gentrification in Knoxville, Tennessee

Gentrification is the movement of middle-class households back to the inner-city neighborhoods that they abandoned during the 1950s and 1960s. Most American cities with populations that exceed 100,000 have within them areas that are experiencing reinvestment and housing market revival. At the same time, urban renewal programs that were popular in the 1950s and 1960s have lost their support as responses to inner-city decline. Private citizens play a leading role in promoting gentrification. The term managed gentrification is used to describe the activities of inner-city neighborhood organizations in Knoxville, Tennessee. The organizations work closely with city planners to create the institutional and financial frameworks for private sector reinvestment in neighborhoods. Managed gentrification has many aspects, and the behavior of the neighborhood organizations responsible for the gentrification areas is modeled. One important aspect of the work of the neighborhood organizations is the establishment of historic districts. These districts are clearly defined spaces in the inner-city where gentrification is promoted. Knoxville now has five historic districts offering more than 1,200 dwellings for restoration. This thesis focuses on measuring the level of reinvestment in three of these historic districts: Mechanicsville, Fourth and Gill, and Old North Knoxville. The data sets used to measure gentrification indicate some movement of middle-class households to the historic districts but the majority of dwellings are not restored. Also, the annual rates of restoration do not indicate large-scale restoration in the historic districts in the foreseeable future. The market for historic properties in Knoxville is oversupplied; too many dwellings are offered for restoration. The city does not have enough households with the income levels and the interest in gentrification to make historic district reinvestment successful. This research also demonstrates that while models of gentrification are used as theoretical bases for planning for gentrification, the revival of the housing market that they predict has not occurred in Knoxville. The behavior of the market is better explained by the chaos complexity school of thought which argues that there is more to gentrification than reinvestment and return of the middle-class to the inner city. Gentrification in Knoxville is more a case of failure than of success

Developing high-density housing near Tren Urbano stations : financial feasibility for transit supportive condominiums

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-135).The confluence of rail transit and real estate development opportunities in San Juan, Puerto Rico raises a number of questions related to the future built form of the city and surrounding region. As the construction of Tren Urbano nears completion many advocate transit supportive development that captures the social benefits that results for public investment in Tren Urbano. Private developers have been slow to react to the potential for transit supportive real housing. This research brings together the urban design ideas expressed in New Urbanism and real estate investment decision modeling to forecast the potential for building transit supportive housing at the Martinez Nadal station within the next two years. The analysis shows that market demand for high-density housing in San Juan is strong, a reflection of rising income levels in Puerto Rico and an increase in the number of households. In addition, recent housing development in the Greater San Juan region has started to shift to mid-rise walk-ups and highrise condominiums. However, the link between high-density housing and rail transit is still not firmly established In terms of the financial decision modeling for future transit supportive housing, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is used to estimate a risk-adjusted discount rate for housing development. The Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) investment decision rules are applied to four stylized housing programs synthesized from recent housing development practice in San Juan. The investment potential of the stylized housing projects is evaluated under different conditions. First, the result from a market development that ignores the impact of the transit system is established. The model then adjusts for reduced parking ratios to account for transit supportive housing. In one case, the results show that the investment will continue to be profitable up to a six percent reduction in the average price for a condominium unit when the parking is reduced from two spaces per dwelling to a more transit friendly ratio of one space. In another case, the size of the public subsidy that is required to develop the housing is estimated to be 15 percent of total development cost. The results show that there is a real opportunity for transit supportive housing in San Juan. However, Tren Urbano will need to play an active role in getting projects such as these off the ground. Key words: Transit supportive housing, reduced parking, sound investment practice, densification, condominium ownership, developer's required return on equity.by Colin M. Riley.M.C.P

Interventions for increasing colorectal cancer screening uptake among African-American men: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This is a protocol of a systematic review

Using short dietary questions to develop indicators of dietary behaviour for use in surveys exploring attitudinal and/or behavioural aspects of dietary choices

For countries where nutrition surveys are infrequent, there is a need to have some measure of healthful eating to plan and evaluate interventions. This study shows how it is possible to develop healthful eating indicators based on dietary guidelines from a cross sectional population survey. Adults 18 to 64 years answered questions about the type and amount of foods eaten the previous day, including fruit, vegetables, cereals, dairy, fish or meat and fluids. Scores were based on serves and types of food according to an established method. Factor analysis indicated two factors, confirmed by structural equation modeling: a recommended food healthful eating indicator (RF_HEI) and a discretionary food healthful eating indicator (DF_HEI). Both yield mean scores similar to an established dietary index validated against nutrient intake. Significant associations for the RF_HEI were education, income, ability to save, and attitude toward diet; and for the DF_HEI, gender, not living alone, living in a socially disadvantaged area, and attitude toward diet. The results confirm that short dietary questions can be used to develop healthful eating indicators against dietary recommendations. This will enable the exploration of dietary behaviours for “at risk” groups, such as those with excess weight, leading to more relevant interventions for populations

Determination of the Processes Driving the Acquisition of Immunity to Malaria Using a Mathematical Transmission Model

Acquisition of partially protective immunity is a dominant feature of the epidemiology of malaria among exposed individuals. The processes that determine the acquisition of immunity to clinical disease and to asymptomatic carriage of malaria parasites are poorly understood, in part because of a lack of validated immunological markers of protection. Using mathematical models, we seek to better understand the processes that determine observed epidemiological patterns. We have developed an age-structured mathematical model of malaria transmission in which acquired immunity can act in three ways (“immunity functions”): reducing the probability of clinical disease, speeding the clearance of parasites, and increasing tolerance to subpatent infections. Each immunity function was allowed to vary in efficacy depending on both age and malaria transmission intensity. The results were compared to age patterns of parasite prevalence and clinical disease in endemic settings in northeastern Tanzania and The Gambia. Two types of immune function were required to reproduce the epidemiological age-prevalence curves seen in the empirical data; a form of clinical immunity that reduces susceptibility to clinical disease and develops with age and exposure (with half-life of the order of five years or more) and a form of anti-parasite immunity which results in more rapid clearance of parasitaemia, is acquired later in life and is longer lasting (half-life of >20 y). The development of anti-parasite immunity better reproduced observed epidemiological patterns if it was dominated by age-dependent physiological processes rather than by the magnitude of exposure (provided some exposure occurs). Tolerance to subpatent infections was not required to explain the empirical data. The model comprising immunity to clinical disease which develops early in life and is exposure-dependent, and anti-parasite immunity which develops later in life and is not dependent on the magnitude of exposure, appears to best reproduce the pattern of parasite prevalence and clinical disease by age in different malaria transmission settings. Understanding the effector mechanisms underlying these two immune functions will assist in the design of transmission-reducing interventions against malaria