Gentrification Essay

Despite general declining rates of morbidity and mortality in the United States over the past century, African-Americans still find themselves at a health disadvantage and account for more than 40% of diagnosed cases of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, obesity and cancer . Studies within the fields of sociology and public health have directed their focus towards individual-level determinants of health such as socio-economic status and individual health behaviors. However, there has been insufficient attention to how and why place and neighborhood contribute to racial/ethnic health disparities. This analysis examines the health implication of racial segregation as a result of gentrification on African Americans, explores systems of segregation measurement, and proposes ways to move beyond traditional public health and health care approaches to impact relevant policy.

Keywords

neighborhood; race; African Americans; bias; policy; health disparities; gentrification; residential segregation; measurement; disease

Introduction

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines gentrification as “the transformation of neighborhoods from low value to high value…gentrification is a housing, economic, and health issue that affects a community’s history and culture and reduces social capital often by shifting a neighborhood’s characteristics by adding new stores and resources in previously run-down neighborhoods.” Gentrification disproportionately affects special populations, including but not limited to the poor, women, children, the elderly and a vast majority of minority groups.

Studies have revealed that these special groups are at an increased risk for the negative consequences of gentrificati...

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...ing on what sort of area they live in.

Within public health sciences there has been a tendency to ascribe much geographical variation to compositional differences, and until recently there has been resistance towards contextual explanations. Contextual explanations of health are frequently rejected due to the fear of falling prey to the ecological fallacy. The ecological fallacy deduces that relationships observed at an aggregate level will be observed in the same direction and magnitude at the individual level. When observing the relationship between the health of African Americans and residential segregation, what may be true for large groups measured in the aggregate may not hold true on the individual level. Not all individuals are displaced as a result of gentrification and not all of those that are displaced remain in a situation where they are destitute.