ABSTRACT

Cities increasingly turn to green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) to improve water quality and mitigate flooding risk, yet like other forms of green infrastructure, early research suggests GSI may contribute to ‘green gentrification,’ in which greening increases housing costs, drives gentrification and displacement, and deepens inequalities. Using a spatially explicit mixed-methods approach, I interrogate the relationship between GSI and gentrification in Minneapolis, MN, a city characterized by deep racial inequalities potentially exacerbated by green gentrification. From 2000-2015, census tracts that gentrified received, on average, more GSI projects, more funding per project, and more funding overall. Gentrified tracts received five times more GSI funding than low-income tracts that did not gentrify. Buffer analysis reveals that, adjacent to GSI, rent prices and the college-educated share of the population increased at rates significantly higher than the city average. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of institutions providing and receiving GSI funding indicates that inter-governmental collaborations between watershed governing bodies and city government direct GSI funding to gentrifying areas, where GSI aid in and legitimize the aesthetic transformation of gentrifying neighborhoods. When enmeshed in neighborhood recapitalization via green gentrification, GSI may ultimately deepen environmental inequalities, highlighting the need for planning and policies that proactively mitigate gentrification risks.

摘要

城市越来越多地转向绿色雨水基础设施 (GSI) 以改善水质并减轻洪水风险，但与其他形式的绿色基础设施一样，早期研究表明 GSI 可能有助于“绿色高档化”，其中绿色化会增加住房成本，推动高档化和流离失所，并加深了不平等。使用空间明确的混合方法方法，我询问了明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯的 GSI 与绅士化之间的关系，这座城市的特点是深层次的种族不平等，而绿色绅士化可能会加剧这种不平等。从 2000 年到 2015 年，中产阶级化的人口普查区平均获得了更多的 GSI 项目、更多的每个项目资金以及更多的总体资金。中产阶级获得的 GSI 资金是没有中产阶级化的低收入地区的五倍。缓冲区分析表明，与 GSI 相邻，租金价格和受过大学教育的人口比例以显着高于城市平均水平的速度增长。对提供和接受 GSI 资金的机构进行的定量和定性分析表明，流域管理机构和市政府之间的政府间合作将 GSI 资金直接用于高档化地区，在那里 GSI 帮助高档化社区的审美转变并使之合法化。当通过绿色高档化参与社区资本重组时，GSI 可能最终会加深环境不平等，突出了主动减轻高档化风险的规划和政策的必要性。对提供和接受 GSI 资金的机构进行的定量和定性分析表明，流域管理机构和市政府之间的政府间合作将 GSI 资金直接用于高档化地区，在那里 GSI 帮助高档化社区的审美转变并使之合法化。当通过绿色高档化参与社区资本重组时，GSI 可能最终会加深环境不平等，突出了主动减轻高档化风险的规划和政策的必要性。对提供和接受 GSI 资金的机构进行的定量和定性分析表明，流域管理机构和市政府之间的政府间合作将 GSI 资金直接用于高档化地区，在那里 GSI 帮助高档化社区的审美转变并使之合法化。当通过绿色高档化参与社区资本重组时，GSI 可能最终会加深环境不平等，突出了主动减轻高档化风险的规划和政策的必要性。