Graduation Year

2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Granting Department

Geography

Major Professor

M. Martin Bosman, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Kevin Archer, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jayajit Chakraborty, Ph.D.

Keywords

gentification, redevelopment, tampa, camden apartments, entertainment district, socio-spatial displacement

Abstract

Increasingly there has been a new model for inner-city redevelopment and revitalization, in which an urban area is commodified and turned into a festival market and an exclusive shopping district referred to as a shopertainment area. Ybor City in Tampa, Florida, is typical of this new model of redevelopment where urban entertainment and shopping with an active nightclub and dinning scene, entices new visitors to area, and most recently a growing residential population. The residential population that is developing is one of exclusivity and privilege, exceedingly far removed from Ybor City's humble beginnings as a company town or the blighted area that was sacrificed to Urban Renewal polices of the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. Ybor City is changing into a themed city in which ethnic identity and history is being commodified and the historical and cultural capital of the area is being marketed by the city government and private developers in order to attract daytrippers, seasonal tourists, homeowners and other residents.

This thesis deconstructs the gentrifying effects that Camden, Ybor City's first residential apartment complex, has had on the area by examining how the contemporary literature deals with gentrification. Additionally, this thesis will examine the demographic changes in Ybor's population as the area shifts away from residents who historically represented Ybor City, advancing the theory that Ybor City is an exclusive community that is indeed being gentrified.

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