Urban Shopping Streets in Flux: Williamsburg and the Lower East Side

• In Event: 548 - Section on Consumers and Consumption Paper Session. Intersections of Consumption and Production

Abstract

Along with housing stock and public spaces, shops and businesses are part of an urban neighborhood’s built environment. Stores communicate an area’s character, aesthetic, function, and even demographics to residents, visitors and media. Over time the uses and character of localities shift: from production to consumption, wealthy to poor, or immigrant enclave to arts district. As these changes occur, retail businesses help create and communicate a new, though sometimes contested, neighborhood identity. In a gentrifying neighborhood, local businesses reflect shifting demographics, income and preferences but they also prompt further transformations. This mixed methods case study of two New York neighborhoods examines the strategies and effects of branding techniques for local shopping streets.

Author

• Sara Lucia Martucci, CUNY Graduate Center