Metromorphosis: Documenting Change¹

1 The term “metromorphosis” in the title of the article emphasizes the state of change in urban neighborhoods. The word metamorphosis is defined as a change of physical form or substance. As applied here, metamorphosis refers not just to change but change to an advanced state. 
I first used the term Metromorphosis for the title of a 2001 photography exhibition. The exhibit paired black and white photographs documenting changes in the St. Louis built environment— all exterior pictures, including office buildings and theaters, residential buildings, churches, and transportation infrastructure. 
In the pairs of pictures, one typically was of a built subject 75–100 years old, architecturally or design distinct, and the other a contemporary subject typically less than thirty years old and quite indistinct. 
As the photographs documented a very dramatic change in the metropolitan built environment, metromorphosis seemed an appropriate appellation. In the context of this paper, metromorphosis describes two types of change. There is, first of all, a change in the built environment—the development of community gardens. The research reported in this paper used indicators to test the second type of change—community development changes—changes in the people and the environment in which they live.

ABSTRACT:

This study examines a community development process for achieving revitalization in urban neighborhoods. It reports on a study conducted for a St. Louis-based intermediary organization that supports the creation and maintenance of community gardens. Community gardens purport to have a wide range of beneficial impacts on their surrounding neighborhoods. There has been scant empirical investigation of these claims, although there is a preponderance of anecdotal evidence in the popular press. The study focused on a series of variables that estimate the well-being of the neighborhoods in general and Garden Impact Areas in particular. The study applied GIS software to collect data from the 1990 and 2000 Census for 3-block radii around the study gardens. Using difference of differences to measure change, the findings record Garden Impact Areas improved in indicators of resident quality of life and neighborhood conditions.

Notes

1 The term “metromorphosis” in the title of the article emphasizes the state of change in urban neighborhoods. The word metamorphosis is defined as a change of physical form or substance. As applied here, metamorphosis refers not just to change but change to an advanced state. 
I first used the term Metromorphosis for the title of a 2001 photography exhibition. The exhibit paired black and white photographs documenting changes in the St. Louis built environment— all exterior pictures, including office buildings and theaters, residential buildings, churches, and transportation infrastructure. 
In the pairs of pictures, one typically was of a built subject 75–100 years old, architecturally or design distinct, and the other a contemporary subject typically less than thirty years old and quite indistinct. 
As the photographs documented a very dramatic change in the metropolitan built environment, metromorphosis seemed an appropriate appellation. In the context of this paper, metromorphosis describes two types of change. There is, first of all, a change in the built environment—the development of community gardens. The research reported in this paper used indicators to test the second type of change—community development changes—changes in the people and the environment in which they live.