Redlining and Climate Change

Last month, we celebrated Junteenth, and I heard an interesting piece on NPR about how climate change impacts low-income and minority neighborhoods. It was a re-broadcast of a piece from 2020 that briefly discussed how redlining is still visible today, and not just in the ways you would think.

Jeremy S. Hoffman, Vivek Shandas, and Nicholas Pendleton found in their 2020 article, that "...in nearly all cases, those neighborhoods located in formerly redlined areas—that remain predominantly lower income and communities of color—are at present hotter than their non-redlined counterparts." They go on to say that while the differences in temperatures vary by region, the research shows that the people experiencing the greatest challenges due to climate change are living in areas that have historically had the least social and economic access.

Study upon study shows the same pattern. 100 years of discriminatory housing policy is the gift that keeps on giving. Neighborhoods redlined by Homeowners’ Loan Corporation and others:

Remain predominantly "minority"
continue to experience restricted access to services
remain low-to-moderate income

What do we do to change this? The neighborhoods that need support the most are usually the least able to access the tools and the money needed to make change. If we consider the situation as a community problem, we as geospatial analysts, can use suggestions from organizations like the Urban Institute and employ our technical skills to find workable solutions.