Climate gentrification

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Climate gentrification is a subset of climate migration, in which certain lower-socioeconomic communities are displaced in place of housing for more wealthy communities. Areas affected by this phenomenon are typically coastal cities, islands, and other vulnerable areas that are susceptible to rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and other climate-related disasters.

Contents

Gentrification is a process of economic displacement whereby areas of lower socioeconomic status get upscaled and changed by wealthier people moving in, increasing the cost of living, and ultimately displacing lower class residents. [1] As the climate crisis continues to displace communities globally, a new form of gentrification has been established known as climate gentrification. One example of a community affected by climate gentrification took place in coastal communities in Florida. An article about this states, "Historically, wealthier populations have owned highly desirable waterfront properties and lower income populations have lived on the 'less desirable' land inland and at higher elevation from the coast". [2] Waterfront properties are now experiencing an increased risk of flooding due to sea level rise, storm surge, heavier precipitation and stronger hurricane-force winds during landfall."[ excessive quote ]

History

Historically, these vulnerable areas located within close proximity to the seas and beaches excluded marginalized groups and thus are mainly populated by wealthier communities. [3] This process, however, has now been reversed as the fear of climate change has pushed these marginalized communities, displacing them to the areas they have been traditionally excluded from. Primarily, this widespread displacement of lower income groups can be accredited to the lure of higher ground that has become increasingly prioritized by cities, specifically those located on the coasts. The constant threat of the need to evacuate from extreme weather and rising sea levels has pushed the wealthier community's investments into higher ground, simultaneously taking advantage of the cheaper property values. [4]

Causes

There are a series of factors that contribute to climate gentrification in regions across the world. A combination of urbanization and rapid population growth in coastal and wetland areas driven by economic, cultural, and environmental factors increase the number of individuals exposed to increased flooding. [5] There are multiple types of displacement that occur for different reasons. Direct displacement is due to high rent prices that residents can no longer afford. Indirect displacement or exclusionary displacement occurs when the high prices are a barrier to low income to get into the neighborhood. Lastly, cultural displacement occurs when the residents of the neighborhood no longer have an affinity or sense of belonging to the place they once called home.[ citation needed ]

As high income households move out of coastal areas, the lurking issues of the climate crisis are pushing people inward. This can be seen through natural disaster events throughout history, specifically hurricanes. Climate-related disasters in 2018 alone displaced more than 1.2 million people. Researchers have since concluded that hurricane damage was positively associated with the likelihood of a New Orleans neighbourhood having gentrified 10 years after Katrina.[ citation needed ]

Ultimately, it has been proven that natural disasters have paved the way for climate gentrifications but other factors also contribute. Projects that promote neighbourhood rejuvenation have adverse effects. The High Line in New York City, the 606 in Chicago, and the Atlanta BeltLine have prompted similar concerns of accelerated gentrification by bringing attention to the neighbourhoods. [6]

Effects

As a result of climate gentrification, low-income and minority communities are bearing a disproportionate social and economic burden, particularly in coastal areas like Florida. Economically, as wealthier home owners move towards higher elevations due to rising sea levels, the cost of living increases and longtime low-income residents are displaced. This is evidenced by the fact that real estate in elevated regions of Miami has appreciated at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country. [4] In addition, climate adoption investments are exacerbating housing crises, as these new reinforced structures built to withstand flooding, erosion, and other natural events are not affordable for current residents. More than 30 million people were globally displaced in 2020, 98% due to weather and climate hazards. [7] The effects of these extreme weather events can result in developers taking advantage of lower property prices and investing in expensive projects that cater to wealthier homeowners. Once homes are destroyed and new, more expensive structures are created, low-income residents searching for new accommodations are forced to leave their communities. [4]

Socially, impacts of this migration can be the loss of community identity and cultural disruption, as these areas are facing large chunks of demographic turnover. Long time residents are suffering from a loss of community, as many have watched friends and family forced out by wealthy strangers, and their culture is ebbing away as the sea level rises. The effects of gentrification can be immediate in under-resourced communities, and the cycle of forcing people out of their homes will continue as climate change, and gentrification, worsen. [7]

Case study: Little Haiti, Miami

One notable case study on climate gentrification occurred in the Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti. As rising sea levels and increasing temperatures made other areas of Miami more vulnerable to flooding and extreme weather events, developers began investing in Little Haiti as a safer alternative. This led to rising property values, increased rents, and the displacement of long time residents who could no longer afford to live in the area. The climate is essentially driving up the process of previously lower income areas that have now become desirable places to live for the middle and upper class. This case study highlights the ways in which climate change can exacerbate existing inequalities and marginalize already vulnerable populations. [8]

According to a study conducted by the University of Miami, property values in Little Haiti increased by 10% between 2011 and 2016. This is significantly higher than the average increase of 6% in other Miami neighborhoods during the same period. Additionally, the study found that rent in Little Haiti increased by 8% between 2012 and 2017, while the median income of residents remained below the poverty line. [9]

Another study conducted by the University of Michigan estimates that by 2100 13 million people in the greater continental United States area will experience six feet of sea level rise. Of those 13 million people 25% are expected to be from the greater Miami area. This increase in sea level is not accounted for in many housing estimates and in inflation of housing.[ citation needed ]

Overall, Little Haiti is a historically undesirable place to live. In 2015 a report by Harvard graduate design program showed that out of its 30,000 permanent residents 75% are African American. But with sea levels rising and the protection of little Haiti from flooding and sea levels, the area has experienced a 19% increase in home value in 2016. [10]

The displacement of residents in Little Haiti has also had a significant impact on the neighbourhood's demographics. According to the University of Miami study, the percentage of Black residents in Little Haiti decreased from 81% to 75% between 2011 and 2016, while the percentage of White residents increased from 9% to 15%. This shift in demographics is a clear indicator of the effects of climate gentrification on the neighbourhood. [9]

Solutions

Three specific adaptation measures that can be taken to address climate gentrification and its impacts are the development and use of Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs), Community Land Trusts (CLTs), and inclusionary zoning practices (IZ).[ citation needed ]

Community Benefit Agreements (CBA) are legally binding contracts that outline the community-benefits the developer must implement in exchange for community support of the proposed project. For example, a Community Benefit Agreement could require a certain number of new housing units be reserved for lower income residents. These agreements can also enforce certain tenant and renter protections against things like rent increases or evictions.[ citation needed ]

Community land trusts (CLTs) assist in preserving affordable housing by removing land from the market. They do so by purchasing or acquiring land through donations and then using that land to either build or preserve existing affordable housing structures. CLTs also often incorporate renewable energy and water efficiency strategies into their housing projects to reduce costs for residents.[ citation needed ]

Finally, inclusionary zoning (IZ) generates affordable housing by incentivizing developers to designate a percentage of units in a new housing project at a below-market rate. In comparison to CBA's, the majority of these programs are often mandatory and required by law. Cities can also incorporate climate resilience measures in zoning ordinances. For example, inclusionary zoning programs have the power to require structures to be built to higher elevations to account for sea level rise and flood risks. Two examples of zoning ordinances are in Miami, Florida and Norfolk Virginia. In Miami, rental developments in the Omni district are required to set aside a minimum of 7% of the units for affordable housing. Norfolk has adopted a zoning ordinance that requires all new developments to meet a set of climate resilience criteria.[ citation needed ]

While revising affordable housing policies are critical for addressing the immediate impacts of climate gentrification, there are other, long-term mitigation measures that must be taken to reduce the impacts of climate change. These measures may include the reduction of CO2 emissions, the improvement of energy efficiency, and the promotion of clean energy use. In order to address climate gentrification, a combination of adaptation and mitigation strategies must be applied. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gentrification</span> Urban socioeconomic process

Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been used to describe a wide array of phenomena, usually in a pejorative connotation.

Inclusionary zoning (IZ), also known as inclusionary housing, refers to municipal and county planning ordinances that require a given percentage of units in a new housing development be affordable by people with low to moderate incomes. The term inclusionary zoning indicates that these ordinances seek to counter exclusionary zoning practices, which exclude low-cost housing from a municipality through the zoning code. Non-profit affordable housing developers build 100% of their units as affordable, but need significant taxpayer subsidies for this model to work. Inclusionary zoning allows municipalities to have new affordable housing constructed without taxpayer subsidies. In order to encourage for-profit developers to build projects that include affordable units, cities often allow developers to build more total units than their zoning laws currently allow so that there will be enough profit generating market-rate units to offset the losses from the below market-rate units and still allow the project to be financially feasible. Inclusionary zoning can be mandatory or voluntary, though the great majority of units have been built as a result of mandatory programmes. There are variations among the set-aside requirements, affordability levels, and length of time the unit is deed-restricted as affordable housing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Henri, Montreal</span> Neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Saint-Henri is a neighbourhood in southwestern Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty City (Miami)</span> Neighbourhood in Miami, Florida, US

Liberty City is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida, United States. The area is roughly bound by NW 79th Street to the north, NW 27th Avenue to the west, the Airport Expressway to the South, and Interstate 95 to the east. The neighborhood is home to one of the largest concentrations of African Americans in South Florida, as of the 2000 census. Although it was often known as "Model City" both historically and by the City of Miami government, residents more commonly call it Liberty City.

A community land trust (CLT) is a nonprofit corporation that holds land on behalf of a place-based community, while serving as the long-term steward for affordable housing, community gardens, civic buildings, commercial spaces and other community assets on behalf of a community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infill</span> Rededication of land in an urban environment to new construction

In urban planning, infill, or in-fill, is the rededication of land in an urban environment, usually open-space, to new construction. Infill also applies, within an urban polity, to construction on any undeveloped land that is not on the urban margin. The slightly broader term "land recycling" is sometimes used instead. Infill has been promoted as an economical use of existing infrastructure and a remedy for urban sprawl. Its detractors view it as overloading urban services, including increased traffic congestion and pollution, and decreasing urban green-space. Many also detract it for social and historical reasons, partly due to its unproven effects and its similarity with gentrification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Affordable housing</span> Housing affordable to those with a median household income

Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affordable housing refers to mortgages and a number of forms that exist along a continuum – from emergency homeless shelters, to transitional housing, to non-market rental, to formal and informal rental, indigenous housing, and ending with affordable home ownership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two Bridges, Manhattan</span> Neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City

Two Bridges is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, nestled at the southern end of the Lower East Side and Chinatown on the East River waterfront, near the footings of Brooklyn Bridge and of Manhattan Bridge. The neighborhood has been considered to be a part of the Lower East Side for much of its history. Two Bridges has traditionally been an immigrant neighborhood, previously populated by immigrants from Europe, and more recently from Latin America and China. The Two Bridges Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in September 2003.

Residential segregation is the physical separation of two or more groups into different neighborhoods—a form of segregation that "sorts population groups into various neighborhood contexts and shapes the living environment at the neighborhood level". While it has traditionally been associated with racial segregation, it generally refers to the separation of populations based on some criteria.

The effects of climate change in Florida are attributable to man-made increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Floridians are experiencing increased flooding due to sea level rise, and are concerned about the possibility of more frequent or more intense hurricanes.

The gentrification of Vancouver, Canada, has been the subject of debate between those who wish to promote gentrification and those who do not.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tidal flooding</span> Temporary inundation of low-lying areas during exceptionally high tide events

Tidal flooding, also known as sunny day flooding or nuisance flooding, is the temporary inundation of low-lying areas, especially streets, during exceptionally high tide events, such as at full and new moons. The highest tides of the year may be known as the king tide, with the month varying by location. These kinds of floods tend not to be a high risk to property or human safety, but further stress coastal infrastructure in low lying areas.

Gentrification, the process of altering the demographic composition of a neighborhood usually by decreasing the percentage of low-income minority residents and increasing the percentage of typically white, higher-income residents, has been an issue between the residents of minority neighborhoods in Chicago who believe the influx of new residents destabilizes their communities, and the gentrifiers who see it as a process that economically improves a neighborhood. Researchers have debated the significance of its effects on the neighborhoods and whether or not it leads to the displacement of residents. There are some researchers who claim that the loss of affordable housing mainly impacts the poorer minority residents and causes them to have to move out of their neighborhoods which destabilizes their cultural communities. However, critics say that since gentrification often excludes highly black neighborhoods, those residents are prevented from benefiting from any of the positive effects such as redevelopment and neighborhood investment. Factors associated with and used to measure gentrification in Chicago are changes in the number of residents with bachelor's degrees, median household income, racial composition, visual observations, and the presence of coffee shops. Historically, the emergence of urban black and Latino neighborhoods in Chicago during the 1950s through the 1970s were made possible because of the waves of white residents moving out into more suburban neighborhoods. There have been phases of gentrification in Chicago of various neighborhoods, some of which were in 1990s and in 2007–2009. Gentrification debates in Chicago have been mostly focused around the gentrification of Chicago's historically Latino or black neighborhoods. Generally, these neighborhoods are located near the central urban downtown areas and along the east side of the city.

The gentrification of Miami is the process taking place in which Miami is transitioning to appeal to a more typical, middle and upper-class taste. This occurred in the same way most cities are gentrified, by cleaning up the neighborhood, rebuilding cultural monuments and parks, and encouraging artists to engage in business there, with the promise of consumers to buy their wares.

Environmental, ecological or green gentrification is a process in which cleaning up pollution or providing green amenities increases local property values and attracts wealthier residents to a previously polluted or disenfranchised neighbourhood. Green amenities include green spaces, parks, green roofs, gardens and green and energy efficient building materials. These initiatives can heal many environmental ills from industrialization and beautify urban landscapes. Additionally, greening is imperative for reaching a sustainable future. However, if accompanied by gentrification, these initiatives can have an ambiguous social impact. For example, if the low income households are displaced or forced to pay higher housing costs. First coined by Sieg et al. (2004), environmental gentrification is a relatively new concept, although it can be considered as a new hybrid of the older and wider topics of gentrification and environmental justice. Social implications of greening projects specifically with regards to housing affordability and displacement of vulnerable citizens. Greening in cities can be both healthy and just.

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Gentrification in the United States is commonly associated with an influx of higher-income movers into historically divested neighborhoods with existing, working-class residents, often resulting in increases in property prices and investment into new developments. Displacement and gentrification are also linked, with consequences of gentrification including displacement of pre-existing residents and cultural erasure of the historic community. In the United States, discussions surrounding gentrification require critical analysis of race and other demographic data in examining the inequalities and disparities between existing residents, the community, new buyers, and developers caused by gentrification.

Climate migration is a subset of climate-related mobility that refers to movement driven by the impact of sudden or gradual climate-exacerbated disasters, such as "abnormally heavy rainfalls, prolonged droughts, desertification, environmental degradation, or sea-level rise and cyclones". Gradual shifts in the environment tend to impact more people than sudden disasters. The majority of climate migrants move internally within their own countries, though a smaller number of climate-displaced people also move across national borders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gentrification of Baltimore</span>

The gentrification of Baltimore, Maryland, began in 2000 and continues to transform the city by redeveloping specific neighborhoods to appeal to wealthier residents. Due to Baltimore's large amount of gentrification, the city accounts for a significant amount of the United States gentrification. The gentrification of Baltimore has occurred throughout the city, but particularly in the neighborhoods surrounding the Inner Harbor in Central Baltimore and East downtown Baltimore. The gentrification of Baltimore has occurred through the addition of new housing, increased commercial spaces, and more. The transformation that has occurred throughout the city of Baltimore has many benefits as it improves the city in various ways. However, many others feel that gentrification is unfavorable for Baltimore because it displaces current residents from their homes due to rising prices in newly gentrified neighborhoods.

Affordable housing refers to housing that is considered economically accessible for individuals and families whose household income falls at or below the median income level, as evaluated by either national or local government authorities through an officially recognized housing affordability index. In the United States, the widely accepted standard for identifying households with extremely low incomes is either income at or below the federal poverty guideline or 30% of the area median income (AMI), whichever is higher.

References

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  4. 1 2 3 August 27; Hu, 2020 Shelia. "What Is Climate Gentrification?". NRDC. Retrieved 2023-03-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. De Koning, K.; Filatova, T. (2020). "Repetitive floods intensify outmigration and climate gentrification in coastal cities". Environmental Research Letters. 15 (3): 034008. Bibcode:2020ERL....15c4008D. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab6668. hdl: 10453/147325 . S2CID   212868928.
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  7. 1 2 Reilly, Allie; Prince (2022-09-16). "What Climate Gentrification Means for Climate Adaptation Planning". WSP Global.
  8. Sisson, Patrick (2020-02-10). "As sea level rises, Miami neighborhoods feel rising tide of gentrification". Curbed. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  9. 1 2 Nnamdi, A. R. (2022). The Great Displacement: A Case Study of Attitudes on Gentrification-Caused Displacement in Historic Black Communities in Miami, Florida (PhD). University of Miami.
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