IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i15p6189-d392832.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Wastelands, Greenways and Gentrification: Introducing a Comparative Framework with a Focus on Detroit, USA

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Draus

    (Department of Behavioral Sciences, The University of Michigan-Dearborn, 4901 Evergreen Rd., Dearborn, MI 48128, USA)

  • Dagmar Haase

    (Institute of Geography, Humboldt University Berlin, Rudower Chaussee 16, 12489 Berlin, Germany)

  • Jacob Napieralski

    (Department of Natural Sciences, The University of Michigan-Dearborn, 4901 Evergreen Rd., Dearborn, MI 48128, USA)

  • Alec Sparks

    (Department of Social Sciences, The University of Michigan-Dearborn, 4901 Evergreen Rd., Dearborn, MI 48128, USA)

  • Salman Qureshi

    (Institute of Geography, Humboldt University Berlin, Rudower Chaussee 16, 12489 Berlin, Germany)

  • Juliette Roddy

    (Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86005, USA)

Abstract

Vacant, abandoned or unproductive land parcels, sometimes called “wastelands”, offer opportunities to create new green spaces in cities. Such spaces may be utilized to add to the stock of urban nature, expand recreational green space, promote real estate or commercial development, or simply remain undefined. These various trajectories have significant implications for population health, ecosystem services and real estate values. However, they may also contribute to inequitable outcomes. Are disadvantaged communities, which may be paradoxically rich in wastelands, more advantaged when green space redevelopment occurs, or are they more at risk of green gentrification and associated displacement? To address this question, we first review some of the literature relative to wastelands, especially as they relate to processes of urban change such as depopulation, land use planning, regrowth and gentrification. We utilize historical redlining maps, the Detroit Master Plan and projected land use scenarios from the Detroit Future City (DFC) Strategic Framework Plan to identify areas of vulnerability or possibility within walking distance of the proposed Joe Louis Greenway (JLG). Finally, we consider how wastelands situated along the JLG may be reframed as flexible opportunity spaces, their potential leveraged to advance environmental justice, economic opportunity, and social equity, especially as the City of Detroit takes socioeconomic and racial equity as a key orienting principle—an alternative to green gentrification that we call green reparations.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Draus & Dagmar Haase & Jacob Napieralski & Alec Sparks & Salman Qureshi & Juliette Roddy, 2020. "Wastelands, Greenways and Gentrification: Introducing a Comparative Framework with a Focus on Detroit, USA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-17, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:15:p:6189-:d:392832
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/15/6189/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/15/6189/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lena Ali & Annegret Haase & Stefan Heiland, 2020. "Gentrification through Green Regeneration? Analyzing the Interaction between Inner-City Green Space Development and Neighborhood Change in the Context of Regrowth: The Case of Lene-Voigt-Park in Leipz," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-24, January.
    2. Margaret Pettygrove & Rina Ghose, 2018. "From “Rust Belt” to “Fresh Coast”: Remaking the City through Food Justice and Urban Agriculture," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 108(2), pages 591-603, March.
    3. Sarah Dooling, 2009. "Ecological Gentrification: A Research Agenda Exploring Justice in the City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 621-639, September.
    4. Christopher B. Riley & Kayla I. Perry & Kerry Ard & Mary M. Gardiner, 2018. "Asset or Liability? Ecological and Sociological Tradeoffs of Urban Spontaneous Vegetation on Vacant Land in Shrinking Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-19, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hadj Ali, Célia & Roy, Damien & Amireche, Louisa & Antoni, Jean-Philipe, 2023. "Development of a Cellular Automata-based model approach for sustainable planning of affordable housing projects: an application case study in Algiers," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nina Schwarz & Annegret Haase & Dagmar Haase & Nadja Kabisch & Sigrun Kabisch & Veronika Liebelt & Dieter Rink & Michael W. Strohbach & Juliane Welz & Manuel Wolff, 2021. "How Are Urban Green Spaces and Residential Development Related? A Synopsis of Multi-Perspective Analyses for Leipzig, Germany," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, June.
    2. Wendel Henrique Baumgartner, 2021. "Parque Augusta (São Paulo/Brazil): From the Struggles of a Social Movement to Its Appropriation in the Real Estate Market and the Right to Nature in the City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-21, May.
    3. A. Haven Kiers & Billy Krimmel & Caroline Larsen-Bircher & Kate Hayes & Ash Zemenick & Julia Michaels, 2022. "Different Jargon, Same Goals: Collaborations between Landscape Architects and Ecologists to Maximize Biodiversity in Urban Lawn Conversions," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Jessica Parish, 2023. "Fiduciary Activism From Below: Green Gentrification, Pension Finance, and the Possibility of Just Urban Futures," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 414-425.
    5. Kelsey Ryan-Simkins, 2021. "The intersection of food justice and religious values in secular spaces: insights from a nonprofit urban farm in Columbus, Ohio," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 767-781, September.
    6. Zoé A Hamstead, 2024. "Thermal insecurity: Violence of heat and cold in the urban climate refuge," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(3), pages 531-548, February.
    7. Anthony McLean & Harriet Bulkeley & Mike Crang, 2016. "Negotiating the urban smart grid: Socio-technical experimentation in the city of Austin," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(15), pages 3246-3263, November.
    8. Byron Miller & Samuel Mössner, 2020. "Urban sustainability and counter-sustainability: Spatial contradictions and conflicts in policy and governance in the Freiburg and Calgary metropolitan regions," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(11), pages 2241-2262, August.
    9. Zhen Yang & Weijun Gao, 2022. "Evaluating the Coordinated Development between Urban Greening and Economic Growth in Chinese Cities during 2005 to 2019," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-25, August.
    10. Ruiying Liu, 2022. "Long-Term Development Perspectives in the Slow Crisis of Shrinkage: Strategies of Coping and Exiting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-30, August.
    11. Qiang Sheng & Dongyang Wan & Boya Yu, 2021. "Effect of Space Configurational Attributes on Social Interactions in Urban Parks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-15, July.
    12. Chihsin Chiu, 2020. "Theorizing Public Participation and Local Governance in Urban Resilience: Reflections on the “Provincializing Urban Political Ecology” Thesis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-12, December.
    13. Dani Broitman, 2023. "“Passive” Ecological Gentrification Triggered by the Covid-19 Pandemic," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 312-321.
    14. Sonja Wilhelm Stanis & Emily Piontek & Shuangyu Xu & Andrew Mallinak & Charles Nilon & Damon M. Hall, 2024. "Residents’ Perceptions of Urban Greenspace in a Shrinking City: Ecosystem Services and Environmental Justice," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-17, September.
    15. Giannis Sotiriou & Chryssanthi (Christy) Petropoulou, 2022. "Socio-Spatial Inequalities, and Local Struggles for the Right to the City and to Nature—Cases of Urban Green Parks in Athens," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-23, October.
    16. Ilaria Marotta & Francesco Guarino & Sonia Longo & Maurizio Cellura, 2021. "Environmental Sustainability Approaches and Positive Energy Districts: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-45, November.
    17. Diana Dushkova & Dagmar Haase, 2020. "Not Simply Green: Nature-Based Solutions as a Concept and Practical Approach for Sustainability Studies and Planning Agendas in Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-37, January.
    18. Paul Joseph Draus & Juliette Roddy & Anthony McDuffie, 2014. "‘We don’t have no neighbourhood’: Advanced marginality and urban agriculture in Detroit," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(12), pages 2523-2538, September.
    19. Łaszkiewicz, Edyta & Kronenberg, Jakub & Marcińczak, Szymon, 2018. "Attached to or bound to a place? The impact of green space availability on residential duration: The environmental justice perspective," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 30(PB), pages 309-317.
    20. Charlotte Glennie, 2020. "Growing Together: Community Coalescence and the Social Dimensions of Urban Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-25, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:15:p:6189-:d:392832. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.