Mississippi Downtowns: Examining the Relationship between Downtown Revitalization and Place-Based Economic Development

Author

Cade SlaughterFollow

Date of Award

Spring 4-14-2021

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Public Policy Leadership

First Advisor

Joseph Holland

Second Advisor

Scott Fiene

Third Advisor

Christian Sellar

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This thesis aims to measure the relationship between downtown revitalization and place-based economic development theory in the downtowns of Hernando, Mississippi and New Albany, Mississippi. Collectively, people progress and cultural normalcies shift. This is a facet of life that has historically begotten movement away from the city cores that initially cradled the sole hub of social and professional life. Progression gave way to urban and industrial sprawl that has challenged the American downtown to maintain a spot of relevance and economic as well as social viability.

By analyzing the broad history of the American downtown and also extrapolating interview data from eight Hernando interview subjects and nine New Albany interview subjects, this research aims to straddle an understanding of what propels downtown revitalization in total and in the considered downtowns. The methodology is rooted in a grounded theory qualitative approach that will assess the views of interview participants as well as advance the objective of the researcher in aligning a relationship between revitalization processes and place-based economic development bodies of thought. A series of open coding to axial coding will be employed following a thorough summary of the collected interviews. From this coding action, a selective code will be presented that will lead the research into a phase of conclusions and implications.

Recommended Citation

Slaughter, Cade, "Mississippi Downtowns: Examining the Relationship between Downtown Revitalization and Place-Based Economic Development" (2021). Honors Theses. 1656.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1656

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