Browsing by Subject "Redlining"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Redlining Matters: Neighborhood Differences in Vegetative Cover, Urban Heat and Heat-Related Illnesses in Durham, North Carolina
    (2022-04-21) Chen, Ruoxue
    Discriminatory, race-based housing practices, known as “redlining” resulted in refused home loans, insurance, and other essential investments such as green infrastructure beginning in the 1930s. Although redlining was abandoned in the 1960s, research suggests it continues to have implications for many communities. In this project, we evaluated environmental factors (i.e., vegetative cover and urban heat) to determine if the effects of redlining persist in Durham, North Carolina. Formerly redlined areas had less vegetation and more heat exposure. We also investigated heat-related illnesses and found the same communities had higher incidence rates of heat-related illnesses, especially among non-Hispanic Black residents. Cumulatively, our study demonstrates current health and environmental disparities related for the historical redlining policy.
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    Replanting Durham's Urban Forest
    (2016-04-28) Cooper, Gregory; Liberti, Anne; Asch, Michael
    Urban forests are the trees found within city limits along streets, in parks, and in backyards. This urban forest offers many ecosystem services that range from stormwater control to climate change mitigation. In the context of the City of Durham, this urban resource is being rapidly depleted due to the senescence of its mature oak canopy and threats from invasive tree pests. In order to combat this loss, the City was projected to need 1,600 new trees planted every year. The scope of this project sought to understand the present state of the urban forest by examining the current canopy through a historical lens. Historical planting efforts shed light on why and where trees are and are not located. Assessments of recent plantings, current canopy cover, and extent of invasive species in parks will offer insight for the management of the urban forest. The resulting analysis will guide the City of Durham to determine ideal planting sites for new trees to maximize environmental and social benefits with a recommendation for policy change in the existing planting procedure.
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    The Effects of Redlining on Residential Energy Efficiency and Resilience in Extreme Temperature Events
    (2024-04-26) Clapper, Haley
    Residential energy efficiency is a component of individual and community resilience during extreme temperature events, especially extreme heat. Historic and lower-quality homes are often less energy efficient, requiring more time to heat up during cold events or cool down during heat events due to gaps in building envelopes. In the 1930s, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), a U.S. government-sponsored organization tasked with refinancing home mortgages, developed residential security maps of over 200 U.S. cities to appraise neighborhoods based on the perceived lending risk associated with demographics, a practice known as “redlining.” Over several decades, redlined neighborhoods predominantly populated by low-income and non-white residents received less investment than non-redlined neighborhoods predominantly populated by wealthier white residents. This study explores how historical redlining has left a legacy of disinvestment in housing, which may contribute to inequities in residential energy efficiency compared to non-redlined neighborhoods. Using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s ResStock tool, we modeled indoor temperature change in various building types over time under coincident extreme temperature and power outage scenarios. Additionally, we modeled energy efficiency upgrades to identify opportunities for enhancing building envelopes. We then examined performance differences for specific building types that are notably more or less prevalent in redlined and non-redlined neighborhoods in Durham, North Carolina. We identified several building types that were more prevalent in redlined areas and performed less efficiently on average compared to home types that were more prevalent in non-redlined areas. Lastly, we found that upgrades can enhance energy efficiency in homes, but further study is needed to elucidate potential differences in upgrade benefits between homes that are more prevalent in redlined areas compared to those more prevalent in non-redlined areas. Layered with other consequences of neighborhood disinvestment, such as urban heat island effects, these inequities can threaten human health, energy affordability, and overall resilience during extreme temperature events. Overall, this analysis provides insight into potential disparities underlying residential energy efficiency associated with redlining and spatial distributions of building characteristics, which could potentially inform policies and retrofit investments to build more equitable resilience in the face of future extreme temperature events.