Gentrificació i
salut: Impactes
sobre col·lectius
vulnerables
Isabelle Anguelovski
ICREA Research Professor
17 Marc 2023

Do cities’ (green) revitalization respond to equity
and justice goals or does it just serve as a way to
increase (health) inequalities through process of
gentrification and displacement?

Kotsila et al. 2021, Envt and Planning E
The Green Divide

A green global mission

But for whom in the mid and long term?
To what extent are intersectional current and mid-
term social vulnerabilities accounted for?

From green privilege to
environmental & climate
gentrification
like…

A Green Paradox
Dividing access to nature through displacement and segregation

Highline and other projects
The scope of green injustice, and green gentrification in
particular

Displacement and dispossession are financial,
physical, esthetical, and socio-cultural

METHODS: RESEARCH DESIGN

METHODS: RESEARCH DESIGN
FINANCIAL AND PHYSICAL DISPLACEMENT

Overall Hypothesis : New greenspaces attributed to time period X are
relevant in the presence of covariates for explaining gentrification that
occurred in the following period

Types of Green Gentrification Cities

Highline and other projects
SOCIO-CULTURAL DISPLACEMENT

Green public space, gentrification,
and young families in Barcelona
How does new green public space affect young
families and children’s use of these new spaces?
Poblenou and Ciutat Vella, Barcelona
Oscilowicz et al. 2020

Lower use of green play
spaces in advanced
gentrification
Poorer perception of
those spaces
Loss of community
cohesion and place
identity

MONTRÉAL DUBLIN WASHINGTON D.C.
“We have a lot more
police in the
neighborhood than we
used to have and kinda
do patrols of the park
(…) so it’s harder to
have a healthy mix of
people in the places”.
“We feel so excluded
from it that it’s a deep
anger, it’s a big anxiety
and a deep feeling of
isolation”.
“When they’re done [with
the park] most of us
probably won’t be here
to enjoy it. We will be
good enough to serve
you slurpies and
hotdogs at the river
festival, but not to live
there”.

Highline and other projects
Climate gentrification: Exclusive climate protection,
maladaptation,
and unequal green climate security

Philadelphia
Green Resilience
Infrastructure and
Gentrification
(Shokry et al. 2019)

Planas Carbonell al. 2022

Compounded environmental, climate, and health
riskscapes
Cole et al. 2021
Disruptive green landscapes rather than therapeutic
spaces
Triguero Mas et al. 2021

Highline and other projects
Bringing gentrification back to health…

Gentrification… Gentrification and…
PRETERM BIRTH -
Black Higher Huyn & Maroko
(2014)
White Lower
SELF-REPORTED
HEALTH
Better Black Worse
Gibbons & Barton
(2016)
- Black Worse Izenberg et al (2018)
MENTAL HEALTH Worse Non-economically vulnerable Worse Smith et al (2017)
ALCOHOL
CONSUMPTION Higher Less than 5 years of residence Higher Izenberg et al (2018)
Gentrification and health inequities
Huyn & Maroko, 2014 (J Urb. Health); Gibbons & Barton, 2016 (J.Urban Health); Izenberg et al, 2018 (Drug & Alcohol Dep.); Izenberg et al, 2018 (Health & Place); Smith et al, 2017 (Gerontologist)

Gentrification… Gentrification and…
PRETERM BIRTH -
Black Higher Huyn & Maroko
(2014)
White Lower
SELF-REPORTED
HEALTH
Better Black Worse
Gibbons & Barton
(2016)
- Black Worse Izenberg et al (2018)
MENTAL HEALTH Worse Non-economically vulnerable Worse Smith et al (2017)
ALCOHOL
CONSUMPTION Higher Less than 5 years of residence Higher Izenberg et al (2018)
Gentrification and health inequities
Huyn & Maroko, 2014 (J Urb. Health); Gibbons & Barton, 2016 (J.Urban Health); Izenberg et al, 2018 (Drug & Alcohol Dep.); Izenberg et al, 2018 (Health & Place); Smith et al, 2017 (Gerontologist)

Huyn & Maroko, 2014 (J Urb. Health); Gibbons & Barton, 2016 (J.Urban Health); Izenberg et al, 2018 (Drug & Alcohol Dep.); Izenberg et al, 2018 (Health & Place); Smith et al, 2017 (Gerontologist)
Gentrification… Gentrification and…
PRETERM BIRTH -
Black Higher Huyn & Maroko
(2014)
White Lower
SELF-REPORTED
HEALTH
Better Black Worse
Gibbons & Barton
(2016)
- Black Worse Izenberg et al (2018)
MENTAL HEALTH Worse Non-economically vulnerable Worse Smith et al (2017)
ALCOHOL
CONSUMPTION Higher Less than 5 years of residence Higher Izenberg et al (2018)
Gentrification and health inequities

Health and
Place, 2021

• Estudio cualitativo en
Sant Pere/Santa Caterina
• Identificación de diferentes
impactos

Gentrification and health

Gentrification and health

Precariedad
de la vivienda

Salud Mental
Pensamiento
s de Suicidio
Depresión
Ansiedad
Doble trauma
Estima baja
Miedo a
perder los
papeles
Precariedad
de la vivienda

Mental and
physical
health
Transit
stress
Depressio
n
Underlying
chronic
stress
Noise and air
pollution and
overcrowding
Contaminación
del aire,
acústica, y
claustrofobia

Mental and
physical
health
Transit
stress
Depressio
n
Underlying
chronic
stress
Noise and air
pollution and
overcrowding
Salud Mental
y Física
Estrés por el
tráfico
Depresión
Estrés
Crónico
Enfermedade
s
respiratorias “Emprisionamient
o”
Incomódidad
física y falta
de
comodidad
Contaminació
n del aire,
acústica, y
claustrofobia

Desalojamiento
de espacios
públicos y
verdes

Salud Física y
Mental
Menor
Actividad
Física
Autoestima
baja
Estrés
Desalojamiento
de espacios
públicos y
verdes

Inseguridad

Bienestar e
inseguridad
Clubes de
Droga
Peleas
Pérdida de
redes con un
barrio bajo
cambios
Tráfico de
Droga
Inseguridad

Afectación al
desarollo de
los niños

Desarollo y
Bienestar de
los niños
Estrés en la
ecuela
Pérdida de
espacio
verde y
público
Evicción de
espacios
verdes y
públicos
Mas
exposición
a
inseguridad
Trauma por
desahucio
Afectación al
desarollo de
los niños

Amenazadas
derivadas
para la salud

Salud Física
y Mental
Gentrificació
n de la
comida
Nuevas
adicciones
Amenazadas
derivadas
para la salud

Equity-centered alternatives
for green and just cities
2
like…

The policy and planning path
toward urban green justice lies
in finding the right mix of anti-
displacement and equitable
green development tools

IMPROVED AND OPEN GREEN
AMENITIES
‣ Interim green space on vacant land
‣ Developer’s fee and legal obligations
towards green space
‣ Improved green space maintenance and
funding
‣ Zoning for urban agriculture
‣ Green bonds for green space
‣ Green amenity planning in large scale
developments
‣ Universal access to green space
ANTI-GENTRIFICATION/ANTI-
DISPLACEMENT
‣Inclusionary zoning for more social housing
‣Land Bank
‣Density bonuses
‣Limitations or freezes to property taxes
‣Transfer or development tax on luxury
housing
‣Rent control, decrease, and/or rent
vouchers
‣Right to stay or Right to return policies

Greening and Social Equity in Nantes,
France
•1984-2015: +200% green space (1,000ha, with all
inhabitants living within 300m of a green area)
•Ecology- and health-centered ”active” eco-districts in
working-class neighborhoods + community gardens
•Redevelopment of large areas through the ZAC large-
scale planning tool
•56% of new units directed for public + affordable
housing

Radical green alternatives:
Anti-subordination and
emancipatory greening
3
like…

How can urban greening enact a more
emancipatory green justice?

• Cully Ecodistrict with sustainability as anti-
poverty strategy + community control over
housing
• Green workforce for green infrastructure
Las Adelitas: 141 units of affordable
housing + community center with green
features through Verde
• Living Cully weatherization + home repair
project 2.0
Just climate resilience -- Portland
Eastie Farms

Thomas Cully
Park, 2018,
includes native
prairie habitat
restoration, and
a Native
American inter-
tribal gathering
area
Verde
advocacy and
PPP building

Green revitalization and urban greening are
vital to climate, ecological and human health.
However, achieving equity and justice requires
recognizing the multiple forms of displacement
embedded in revitalization and their impacts
on health

For a different access to
our case studies….

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http://bcnuej.org
http://ictaweb.uab.cat
@BCNUEJ
GA GA678034 (GreenLULUS)
BCNUEJ GreenLULUs Researchers:
Ana Terra Amorim-Maia, Isabelle Anguelovski, Lucia Argüelles Ramos, Francesc Baró,
Amalia Calderón-Argelich, David Camacho, Helene Christensen, Helen Cole, James
Connolly, Taliah Dommerholt, Mario Fontán-Vela, Elsa Gallez, Melissa García Lamarca,
Jordi Honey-Rosés, Panagiota Kotsila, Austin Matheney, Nick Martin, Julia Neidig, Emilia
Oscilowicz, Aina Planas-Carbonell, Carmen Pérez del Pulgar, Filka Sekulova, Galia Shokry,
Margarita Triguero-Mas, Sara Ullstrom, Madeleine Wahlund