This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The use of racially discriminatory housing maps in the 1930s, a practice known as "redlining," perpetuated multigenerational cycles of poverty and segregation that continue today. While redlining shaped cities, its legacy does not fully explain current urban patterns of privilege and disadvantage, a new study finds.
The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), focused on the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. "Our research shows that simply mapping redlined neighborhoods does not capture the complex, evolving picture of inequality in cities," says Jola Ajibade, co-lead author of the study and associate professor of environmental sciences at Emory University. "When we keep focusing on redlining, we miss the fact that most cities in the United States have grown far beyond their original city centers.
At the same time, gentrification and displacement create new and uneven landscapes of risk and opportunity." Kevan B. Moffett, associate professor of environmental hydrology at Washington State University, Vancouver, is co-lead author of the PNAS paper. In 1935, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board tasked the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, or HOLC, with creating "residential security maps" for real estate investments in cities throughout the country.
Neighborhoods were ranked and color-coded: green indicated those most desirable for investment; blue, some desirability; yellow, decline; and red, the highest risk for mortgage support. The areas mapped as highest risk, or redlined neighborhoods, included most African American households and households of other racial minorities in urban areas. They tended to be in older parts of city centers.
The discriminatory practice of basing mortgage eligibility on these maps, known as redlining, limited opportunities for homeownership and wealth creation among minority populations. To explore current disparities in Portland, the researchers analyzed publicly available socioeconomic data along with more than 100 environmental and health indicators. The analyses considered a modern-day map of the city while also factoring in the former borders of HOLC "residential security maps." Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. d research that matter—daily or weekly.
"Our findings add complexity but also provide a better understanding of how many different socioeconomic and environmental factors shape people's health and quality of life," Ajibade says. "To build healthier, more equitable cities, policymakers and planners must look beyond the narrow lens of redlining." While the study focused on Portland, the researchers hope their methods will be applied to other cities throughout the United States. "This study offers a new, data-driven approach to identify where environmental and health inequities persist, where they are shifting, and how policies and investments in efforts such as tree planting, improving housing, health interventions and disaster-risk reduction can make the biggest difference," Ajibade says.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
