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Residential housing segregation and urban tree canopy in 37 US Cities

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  • Locke, Dexter
  • Hall, Billy
  • Grove, J Morgan
  • Pickett, Steward T.A.
  • Ogden, Laura A.
  • Aoki, Carissa
  • Boone, Christopher G.
  • O’Neil-Dunne, Jarlath PM

Abstract

Redlining was a racially discriminatory housing policy established by the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) during the 1930s. For decades, redlining limited access to homeownership and wealth creation among racial minorities, contributing to a host of adverse social outcomes, including high unemployment, poverty, and residential vacancy, that persist today. While the multigenerational socioeconomic impacts of redlining are increasingly understood, the impacts on urban environments and ecosystems remains unclear. To begin to address this gap, we investigated how the HOLC policy administered 80 years ago may relate to present-day tree canopy at the neighborhood level. Urban trees provide many ecosystem services, mitigate the urban heat island effect, and may improve quality of life in cities. In our prior research in Baltimore, MD, we discovered that redlining policy influenced the location and allocation of trees and parks. Our analysis of 37 metropolitan areas here shows that areas formerly graded D, which were mostly inhabited by racial and ethnic minorities, have on average ~23% tree canopy cover today. Areas formerly graded A, characterized by U.S.-born white populations living in newer housing stock, had nearly twice as much tree canopy (~43%). Results are consistent across small and large metropolitan regions. The ranking system used by Home Owners’ Loan Corporation to assess loan risk in the 1930s parallels the rank order of average percent tree canopy cover today.

Suggested Citation

  • Locke, Dexter & Hall, Billy & Grove, J Morgan & Pickett, Steward T.A. & Ogden, Laura A. & Aoki, Carissa & Boone, Christopher G. & O’Neil-Dunne, Jarlath PM, 2020. "Residential housing segregation and urban tree canopy in 37 US Cities," SocArXiv 97zcs, Center for Open Science.
  • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:97zcs
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/97zcs
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Daniel Aaronson & Daniel Hartley & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2021. "The Effects of the 1930s HOLC "Redlining" Maps," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 355-392, November.
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    5. Kirsten Schwarz & Michail Fragkias & Christopher G Boone & Weiqi Zhou & Melissa McHale & J Morgan Grove & Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne & Joseph P McFadden & Geoffrey L Buckley & Dan Childers & Laura Ogden & S, 2015. "Trees Grow on Money: Urban Tree Canopy Cover and Environmental Justice," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Robert Manduca & Robert J. Sampson, 2019. "Punishing and toxic neighborhood environments independently predict the intergenerational social mobility of black and white children," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(16), pages 7772-7777, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. John Dialesandro & Noli Brazil & Stephen Wheeler & Yaser Abunnasr, 2021. "Dimensions of Thermal Inequity: Neighborhood Social Demographics and Urban Heat in the Southwestern U.S," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Lee, Eun Kyung & Donley, Gwendolyn & Ciesielski, Timothy H. & Gill, India & Yamoah, Owusua & Roche, Abigail & Martinez, Roberto & Freedman, Darcy A., 2022. "Health outcomes in redlined versus non-redlined neighborhoods: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).

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