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Health Effects of Gentrification

    Definitions

    Gentrification is often defined as the transformation of neighborhoods from low value to high value. This change has the potential to cause displacement of long-time residents and businesses. Displacement happens when long-time or original neighborhood residents move from a gentrified area because of higher rents, mortgages, and property taxes.

    Gentrification is a housing, economic, and health issue that affects a community’s history and culture and reduces social capital. It often shifts a neighborhood’s characteristics (e.g., racial/ethnic composition and household income) by adding new stores and resources in previously run-down neighborhoods.

    Causes of Gentrification

    The causes of gentrification are debatable. Some literature suggests that it is caused by social and cultural factors such as family structure, rapid job growth, lack of housing, traffic congestion, and public-sector policies (Kennedy, 2001). Gentrification can occur on a small or large scale. For example, individual newcomers can slowly populate an area because of renovations. Conversely, large-scale redevelopment and the accompanying regeneration can cause an immediate shift in neighborhood residents.

    Health Effects

    Where people live, work, and play has an impact on their health. Several factors create disparities in a community’s health. Examples include socioeconomic status, land use/the built environment, race/ethnicity, and environmental injustice. In addition, displacement has many health implications that contribute to disparities among special populations, including the poor, women, children, the elderly, and members of racial/ethnic minority groups.

    These special populations are at increased risk for the negative consequences of gentrification. Studies indicate that vulnerable populations typically have shorter life expectancy; higher cancer rates; more birth defects; greater infant mortality; and higher incidence of asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In addition, increasing evidence shows that these populations have an unequal share of residential exposure to hazardous substances such as lead paint.

    Other health effects include limited access to or availability of the following:

    • affordable healthy housing
    • healthy food choices
    • transportation choices
    • quality schools
    • bicycle and walking paths, exercise facilities, etc.
    • social networks

    Changes can also occur in:

    • stress levels
    • injuries
    • violence and crime
    • mental health
    • social and environmental justice


    Strategies

    This section presents five action steps to minimize the adverse effects of gentrification. Communities can work toward these with the help of planners and public health professionals.

    1. Create affordable housing for all incomes
      • Develop mixed-income communities
      • Adopt inclusionary zoning policies
        • Inclusionary zoning is a promising policy strategy that allocates a percentage of the rental or for-sale units in housing developments for low- and moderate-income residents. In return, developers receive cost offsets as compensation for their affordable housing contributions: http://www.policylink.org/Projects/IZ/
      • Identify incentives (e.g., tax breaks and credits) for planners, developers, and local governments to control displacement
    2. Approve policies to ensure continued affordability of housing units and the ability of residents to remain in their homes
      • Consider code enforcement policies that assist residents with home improvements
      • Consider implementing rent controls
      • Preserve federally subsidized housing programs
      • Consider location-efficient mortgages that provide competitive rates and low down payments to those who want to live in “location-efficient communities” that are convenient to resources and reduce the need to drive
    3. Increase individuals’ assets to reduce dependence on subsidized housing
      • Consider homeownership programs
      • Explore job creation strategies and programs
    4. Ensure that new housing-related investments benefit current residents
    5. Involve the community
      • Allow the community to provide input into the design and redevelopment of their neighborhoods
      • Educate the community on their available options
      • Create organized bodies and partnerships that develop programs to mitigate gentrification

    For more information about gentrification, refer to the following Web sites:


    References:

    Dealing with Neighborhood Change: A Primer on Gentrification and Policy Choices (http://www.policylink.org/pdfs/BrookingsGentrification.pdf) Maureen Kennedy and Paul Leonard. Discussion Paper prepared for the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy and PolicyLink. April 2001.

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