Preservation and development of ethnic neighborhoods

The revival of ethnicity and preservation and development of ethnic neighborhoods are key issues in America today. This thesis, which has focused on Italian-Americans and their neighborhoods, has attempted to provide an understanding of the historical evolution of these neighborhoods by synthesizing the structural changes undergone there and by elucidating the dialectical relationship between these changes and the assimilation process of Italian-Americans. Such a historical analysis has raised certain issues, such as assimilation versus cultural pluralism, ethnic versus class stratification, and manipulative intermediaries versus community leaders, which, I feel, are central to an analysis of ethnicity and ethnic groups and which must be among the concerns of future ethnic neighborhood preservation and development attempts. This thesis also evaluates the aims and effects of the government agencies' policies for and planning processes in ethnic neighborhoods during the past few years. In particular, my analysis of the "Risorgimento Plan" for Little Italy in New York reveals the limitations of present ethnic neighborhood preservation and provides suggestions for alternate action.