Urban Environmental Program in New England

City Program Overview : Providence, Rhode Island

Demographic Profile

Providence has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. The city has long been home to minority populations, but for the first time, the minority is now the majority in Providence. The 2000 Census shows that the city is currently more than one third Hispanic and that more than 75 percent of Providence residents under 18 are a "minority", almost 50 percent being Hispanic. The Census also shows an increase in the total population of the city of Providence, making it the second fastest growing city in the northeast.

Originally founded in 1683, Providence is one of the oldest cities in New England. A city of 173,618 people, Providence is located in southeastern new England, at the head of the Narragansett bay on the Atlantic coast. The city is 45 minutes from Boston and 3.5 hours from New York. Accessibility to excellent transportation facilities, including the Port of Providence, with its 40-foot channel and 27 public and private docks, and a high concentration of trained workers makes it Rhode Island's major industrial center. In fact, Providence is one of the major commercial, financial, and industrial centers in New England, with an economy based on a foundation of manufacturing and service oriented enterprises. The manufacture of jewelry, which is shipped worldwide, establishes Providence as one of the largest jewelry centers in the United States. Recently, a brand new shopping mall, new modern office buildings, apartment buildings, and a civic center with sports, recreational, and exhibit facilities were constructed. Further, the city is host to superior academic institutions including Brown University, the seventh oldest American college, and the Rhode Island School of Design, founded in 1887 and recognized as one of the nation's foremost art schools.

Setting the Stage for Sustainability

The Urban Environmental Program (UEP) target cities -- Boston, Hartford and Providence–follow consistent goals and performance program measures. However, each city represents a different approach to developing urban environmental sustainability. The three city programs differ due to program history, community-city government relationships, and local land-use patterns.

In Providence, UEP's involvement started with a simple idea -- hold a conference on rats to gauge public priorities in urban environmental and public health issues. This conference launched into the creation and development of a Mayor's level task force targeting vacant lots. Providence is fortunate to have an active base of environmental organizations dedicated to a variety of issues, including lead poisoning, green space/vacant lots and water and air quality. The City has started to work collaboratively with these environmental organizations to develop an urban environmental infrastructure. UEP supports collaboration on urban environmental and public health issues between a wide range of stakeholders in Providence including local residents, non-profit organizations, industry, city and state agencies, government representatives and leaders, and academia.

What Does UEP do in Providence? Providence's Urban Environmental Program Approach

EPA-New England's UEP started a focused program in Providence, RI when the Program was formalized in 1995. Providence's program has had considerable shift in staffing resources since its inception -- but the development model has remained the same. Providence is fortunate to have an active base of environmental organizations dedicated to a variety of issues including lead poisoning, green space/vacant lots and water and air quality. UEP's approach in Providence, RI has focused on linking together the efforts of active environmental non-profits with city, state, federal government, academia, and industry to promote urban environmental restoration and improvements in public health.

The strategy for improving environmental quality and public health is the UEP Community Development Pyramid, which outlines a five phase model to develop an infrastructure and community capacity for achieving long term results.
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UEP started its work in Providence by holding community conferences to identify what the most pressing urban environmental and public health concerns were facing local residents. These meetings demonstrated that vacant lots and lead poisoning posed the greatest threats to urban residents in Providence. In response to these priorities, UEP worked in collaboration with local environmental groups to identify ways to make institutional reforms and meaningful progress on these issues. UEP helped convene and participated in the Mayor's Vacant Lot Task Force which developed a wide set of recommendations that it is now implementing. UEP supported Childhood Lead Action Project's (CLAP) tremendous education and outreach work to educate parents, families and children on lead poisoning prevention. CLAP has now collaborated with the City of Providence to co-chair a task force modeled after the Vacant Lot Task Force to develop recommendations for preventing lead poisoning in Providence.

Although there is still more work to be done, UEP and its partners have made substantial progress. Using similar approaches as developed for vacant lots and lead poisoning, UEP is expanding its work to tackle contamination in urban rivers, asthma, and open/green space.

Providence, RI • City Program Overview • Priorities • Partners • Grants and Projects • Progress • City Program Manager