Environmental Gentrification Urban Sustainability and the Equity Deficit

Abstract

The greening conventions of contemporary urban sustainability have been shown to be an inequitable approach to achieving city resiliency. Vulnerable populations, typically consisting of low-income people and people of color, have less access to green amenities and are exposed to more environmental degradation than their white and more affluent counterparts. New green developments, which are often perceived as universally beneficial, pose the potential to gentrify a neighborhood and displace long term residents. This report aims to examine the existing literature on environmental gentrification in order to identify the leading factors of the paradox between greening and displacement by synthesizing the history of American environmentalism, the research regarding racial, economic, and spatial disparities, as well as the incentives behind green planning. While solutions to preventing environmental gentrification are typically geographically specific, it can be generalized that equitable development strategies that incorporate affordable housing policy, environmental education and career programs, and transdisciplinary partnerships can be deployed to make greening compatible with social justice.

Keywords: gentrification, environmental justice, urban sustainability, greening, equitable development