Succession and Renewal in Urban Neighborhoods: The Case of Coney Island

Sociologists for some time have used the concepts of succession and renewal to describe two different, but sometimes complementary, processes of neighborhood change in urban areas. Coney Island has long been famous as an amusement area popular in New York City, but today the area has fallen on hard times. Developers want to tear down the amusement area of Coney Island and replace it with condos for the well-to-do. This process is discussed in light of classic sociological theories of urban change and renewal.