Photo by Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle / Getty Images
Alisha Small, “The Economic Interdependence of the Developed and the Developing: Two Decades of Urban Revitalization and Its Economic Impact on Third Ward Small Businesses,” Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, January 13, 2025, https://doi.org/10.25613/08DM-NF11.
Communities are often undecided about urban revitalization or gentrification, as it frequently brings desirable economic improvement to inner-city neighborhoods at the cost of displacing long-time residents and small businesses. Research on major Sun Belt cities such as Houston, recognized as one of the most ethnically diverse and fourth most populous metro areas in the United States[1] is scarce. With Houston as the focus and noted as the highest-ranked city for friendliness to minority-owned businesses,[2] The Impact of Urban Revitalization on Small Businesses Research Study conducted a qualitative and quantitative examination of the effect of the revitalization of Houston’s Third Ward on small businesses in the Ward. While urban revitalization brings economic benefits to economically challenged areas, the degree to which those benefits accrue to the incumbents of the revitalizing area is an issue of both economic and social concern. This research assesses economic growth and the success of incumbent small businesses in Houston’s Third Ward from 1999 to 2021.
View the full working paper (PDF).
[1] Kinder Houston Area Survey: 2019 Results | Kinder Institute for Urban Research; https://kinder.rice.edu/research/kinder-houston-area-survey-2019-results accessed 2024-09-19 22:06:02.
[2] (Raslan 2017 https://www.chron.com/business/bizfeed/article/Houston-no-1-on-list-of-top-10-cities-for-11106359.php accessed 9.19.24) report by Expert Market.
This publication was produced on behalf of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Wherever feasible, this material was reviewed by external experts prior to release. It has not undergone editorial review. Any errors are the responsibility of the author(s) alone.
This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
