Kids and Urbanization

The question of whether there is space for children in rapidly changing cities was under investigation in two recent studies with somewhat contradictory findings.

2 minute read

August 5, 2019, 6:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Map Kid

Yurchyks / Shutterstock

An article published by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University shares news of a new study by University of Texas at Austin Assistant Professor Jake Wegmann, published in the journal Cities.

Unless cities invest in children, Wegmann argues in a new article published in the journal Cities, they risk limiting their potential as sites of upward mobility. And given the greater diversity of children than the population overall, they risk doing so at the cost of historically marginalized populations.

The housing growth of booming cities like Phoenix and Houston are mostly adding housing for childless young adults, according to Wegmann. The study actually investigates the cities of Austin, Portland, and Denver, however, finding that children are declining as a share of the total population in the urban core of these cities.

Gentrifying neighborhoods in those cities lost children between 2000 and 2012-2016, with the greatest losses in census tracts right in the middle of gentrifying. That occurred even as they gained population. Still, the cities managed to offset some of those losses but that was mostly because of growth in tracts with "recently-built large, master-planned communities on either greenfield sites or redeveloped brownfields within the city limits." Those opportunities, cautions Wegmann, are probably nearing the end of their development. 

The Kinder Institute article has more on the findings of the study, and the consequences of the findings.

Another article by Kriston Capps, written for CityLab, shares news of a study by researchers at New York University and published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

That study "used Medicaid records to track the paths of children living in New York City from January 2009 to December 2015," explains Capps, finding that the majority of low-income children living in gentrifying neighborhoods were not more likely to leave those neighborhoods than they would have been in other neighborhoods. While low-income kids tend to move a lot, they aren't more likely to move because they live in a gentrifying neighborhood.

That finding "contradicts the most upsetting (and prevailing) theories about gentrification: Namely, that the original residents of a neighborhood, especially the most vulnerable ones, are forced out when more affluent residents arrive," writes Capps.

The article includes a lot more discussion about the consequences of the findings (with a lot of caveats) and a discussion of the usefulness of the methodology used in the study.

Thursday, August 1, 2019 in Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research: The Urban Edge

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight