The legacy of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation and the political ecology of urban trees and air pollution in the United States. Soc Sci Med 2020 Feb;246:112758
Date
12/31/2019Pubmed ID
31884239DOI
10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112758Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85076950960 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 74 CitationsAbstract
This study examines the persistent impacts of historical racebased discriminatory housing policies on contemporary urban environments in the United States. Specifically, we examine the relationships between Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) grades assigned to neighborhoods in the 1930s and the current distribution of tree canopy and level of exposure to air pollution hazards. Our results indicate a clear gradient in tree canopy by HOLC grade, with better neighborhood grades associated with significantly higher percentage of tree canopy coverage. The pattern also exists for airborne carcinogens and respiratory hazards, with worse neighborhood grades associated with significantly higher hazards exposure. Our findings indicate that early 20th century discriminatory housing policies exert a contemporary influence on patterns of green space exposure in American cities, with implications for health and health inequities. Our findings suggest that, in order to achieve equitable access to the benefits of urban greenspace, we must acknowledge these historical influences and consider policies and practices that directly counter these influences, for example, through targeted greenspace development in areas historically identified as unfit for investment.
Author List
Namin S, Xu W, Zhou Y, Beyer KAuthors
Kirsten M. Beyer PhD, MPH Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of WisconsinWei Xu PhD Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Air PollutionCities
Humans
Organizations
Residence Characteristics
Trees
United States