User:AA07232021/Environmental gentrification

Gentrification and Environmental Justice

Environmental gentrification is a topic that intersects with Environmental Justice. The areas that are redeveloped with the intent of adding more environmentally friendly parks and greenspaces are chosen for the neglected property that can be purchased for a lower cost. These properties are often in zones that are predominantly occupied by people of racial and ethnic minority, and were strategically zoned in areas more susceptible and proximal to toxic waste disposal as well as other types of contamination. Despite these disproportionate effects, it does not appear to influence the actions of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in terms of determining priority for interventions. As neighborhoods are cleaned up through Superfund cleanup programs, there are noticeable changes that have the tendency to follow, such as an increased amount of people that move to the area, with more financial resources and higher levels of education. As people with more financial resources move in, the previous residents are slowly pushed out as the costs of living become less affordable in comparison to before the development and gentrification of the area. Typically these neighborhoods are overtaken by a greater white population, resulting in the whitewashing of a neighborhood. As neighborhoods gain more of a white population, there are increased instances of citizen-based policing of the youth, such as not only profiling, but also the baseless calling of law enforcement, disproportionately targeting people of color. It has been seen that in larger plans to develop various ares, nonprofit organizations that focus on park development and greenspaces are relied upon, and due to their lack of specialty with the development of infrastructure, the consequences of gentrification such as the lack of affordable housing went ignored as parks were built.

Reference: Shanti Gamper-Rabindran, & Christopher Timmins. (2011). Hazardous Waste Cleanup, Neighborhood Gentrification, and Environmental Justice: Evidence from Restricted Access Census Block Data. The American Economic Review, 101(3), 620–624. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.101.3.620

Harris, Rigolon, A., & Fernandez, M. (2020). “To them, we’re just kids from the hood”: Citizen-based policing of youth of color, “white space,” and environmental gentrification. Cities, 107, 102885–. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102885

Rigolon, & Németh, J. (2018). “We’re not in the business of housing:” Environmental gentrification and the nonprofitization of green infrastructure projects. Cities, 81, 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.03.016

Anguelovski. (2016). From Toxic Sites to Parks as (Green) LULUs? New Challenges of Inequity, Privilege, Gentrification, and Exclusion for Urban Environmental Justice. Journal of Planning Literature, 31(1), 23–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412215610491

Urban green spaces

Urban green spaces are areas that are in an open space with the looks of a natural environment with greenery and at times water features.Green spaces do promote an aesthetically pleasing look and physical activity amongst people in the community, which promotes physical and mental well-being. Green gentrification is applied to green spaces based off of the accessibility of these improvements. Green spaces, such as parks and fields, can be placed in an unsafe neighborhood or a neighborhood that is disproportionately wealthy area, when there are areas with little to no green areas . Moreover, the lack of green spaces in low income, urban areas green gentrification due to these communities at present struggling with financial matters . The promotion of green areas has a positive affect on the communities, and the imbalance of greenery in wealthy versus low-income areas exhibits environmental injustice. Studies have shown green spaces in urban areas to have an affect on climate and health risks by lowering local temperature and improving air quality.

Yazar, Mahir; Hestad, Dina; Mangalagiu, Diana; Saysel, Ali Kerem; Ma, Yuge; Thornton, Thomas F. (2020-06-01). "From urban sustainability transformations to green gentrification: urban renewal in Gaziosmanpaşa, Istanbul". Climatic Change. 160 (4): 637–653. doi:10.1007/s10584-019-02509-3. ISSN 1573-1480.

Rigolon, Alessandro; Németh, Jeremy (2020-02). "Green gentrification or 'just green enough': Do park location, size and function affect whether a place gentrifies or not?". Urban Studies. 57 (2): 402–420. doi:10.1177/0042098019849380. ISSN 0042-0980.

Cole, Helen V. S.; Triguero-Mas, Margarita; Connolly, James J. T.; Anguelovski, Isabelle (2019-05-01). "Determining the health benefits of green space: Does gentrification matter?". Health & Place. 57: 1–11. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.02.001. ISSN 1353-8292.

Rigolon, Alessandro; Németh, Jeremy (2020-02). "Green gentrification or 'just green enough': Do park location, size and function affect whether a place gentrifies or not?". Urban Studies. 57 (2): 402–420. doi:10.1177/0042098019849380. ISSN 0042-0980.

Curran, Winifred; Hamilton, Trina (2012). "Just green enough: contesting environmental gentrification in Greenpoint, Brooklyn". Local Environment. 17: 1027–1042. doi:10.1080/13549839.2012.729569.

Harris, Brandon; Rigolon, Alessandro; Fernandez, Mariela (2020-12). ""To them, we're just kids from the hood": Citizen-based policing of youth of color, "white space," and environmental gentrification". Cities. 107: 102885. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2020.102885.

Gamper-Rabindran, Shanti; Timmins, Christopher (2011-05-01). "Hazardous Waste Cleanup, Neighborhood Gentrification, and Environmental Justice: Evidence from Restricted Access Census Block Data". American Economic Review. 101 (3): 620–624. doi:10.1257/aer.101.3.620. ISSN 0002-8282.

Anguelovski, Isabelle (2016-02). "From Toxic Sites to Parks as (Green) LULUs? New Challenges of Inequity, Privilege, Gentrification, and Exclusion for Urban Environmental Justice". Journal of Planning Literature. 31 (1): 23–36. doi:10.1177/0885412215610491. ISSN 0885-4122.

References / notes

All resources are peer reviewed.