Brownfields revitalization projects: displacement of the dispossessed

Jonathan Dumbe Essoka

doi:10.17918/etd-206

The purpose of this investigation is to critically examine the relationship between urban environmental justice (EJ) communities, the benefits of brownfields revitalization and gentrification. The history of brownfields development in the United States and the cultural, technological, political, migratory and racial components shaping the creation of brownfields is reviewed. Fundamental concepts of environmental justice and gentrification with respect to their intersection and relationship to brownfields revitalization projects are discussed. The methodology is two-tiered. A pre-post statistical analysis to evaluate decadal perturbations in demographic variables within defined test areas that surround brownfields redevelopment sites is employed; the temporal range is 2000-1990. These test sites are screened for specific or selected EJ characteristics; the resulting subset is categorized into gentrification or non-gentrification models and integration measures are used to determine degrees of gentrification. Test site data is compared with control data. The second phase describes the connection between brownfields redevelopment site characteristics and the incidence of gentrification among test sites. Case studies are presented as prototypes of varied brownfields redevelopment sites and model types. These are juxtaposed with empirical results to support conclusions of the research. Implications and recommendations for further research are discussed. Results revealed that nearly 40% of the time Black racial proportions in control areas increased or remained constant while Black test site populations decreased. The analogous Latino analysis exhibited an 88% rate. Black racial displacement resulted from brownfields redevelopment projects 61% of the time; and Latino displacement, 14% of the time. By using an integration index in conjunction with statistically significant displacement data, results showed that for 14% of the EJ test sites, Blacks and Latinos experienced extreme forms of gentrification. Finally, residential segregation continues in conjunction with ethnic minority displacement from brownfields redevelopment, but the greater the level of racial segregation, the less likely brownfields redevelopment will lead to gentrification.

Brownfields revitalization projects: displacement of the dispossessed

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Brownfields revitalization projects: displacement of the dispossessed

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