Incumbent Upgrading

The terms community conservation, neighborhood preservation, and incumbent upgrading refer to the same phenomenon: efforts to improve the physical conditions of inner-city areas with the existing population remaining in place. Interest in incumbent upgrading dates back to the 1970s when growing numbers of community activists, scholars, and policymakers advocated the conservation of the urban housing stock and the preservation of urban neighborhoods. The interest grew out of recognition of the economic value of central city housing stock, an awareness of the need to maintain the viability of the central city, and the recognition of the psychological attachments of existing residents to older areas.

It is important to distinguish incumbent upgrading from gentrification, a second type of neighborhood revitalization. Gentrification is a form of neighborhood improvement associated with the replacement of a low-income population by a more affluent one. Gentrifying and incumbent-upgrading communities are usually easy to distinguish from one another. Gentrifying neighborhoods are more likely to be located close to downtown and tend to be located closer to museums, parks, and other marketable amenities. In contrast, incumbent-upgrading neighborhoods tend to be located some distance from downtown and lack architecturally distinctive housing and other amenities. Local government plays a far more significant role in incumbent upgrading of neighborhoods.