S337: Gentrification's impact on Health

PBHL-S337: Health Equity Final Project

Health and Society Issue Brief

This group presentation on gentrification's impact on health and health equity is the artifact I chose from PBHL-S337: Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health. This research, which was completed in coordination with fellow classmates, researched how neighborhood developments which are often known as financial regeneration does negatively impact long term individuals. We looked at gentrification's potential positive impacts as well as its significant disadvantages.

The approach when mainly disadvantaged neighborhood areas experience changes in society and economy as a result of an increase of more wealthy individuals is known as gentrification, based to our project's definition. Better housing, green spaces, and communal spaces can come from these improvements, but low-income families especially those in communities of ethnic minority groups are sometimes evicted as an outcome of these changes because they are unable to keep up with the growing expenses associated with housing and renting. Using research data, we focused on the relationship between gentrification and downstream health outcomes, like lower personal health impacts, higher stress levels, and isolation from society, and with upstream social drivers, like unstable housing, systemic injustices, and restrictive planning for neighborhoods.

Gentrification

Social Issue Overview

The process in which former low-income communities go through modification as an outcome of the addition of wealthier residents is known as "gentrification."
Increasing property values, emerging businesses, and improvements to houses can often be a part of this process.
When price increases or living expenses become unaffordable for continuous tenants, they are driven out.
Initial residents might feel excluded or detached as the outcome of developments in the neighborhood.
Significant tenant removal and increased eviction rates have been associated with gentrifying communities, according to studies.
Although gentrification can result in improved resources, greater green space, and decreased crime rates, these advantages mainly benefit wealthier individuals.

Gentrification as a Social Issue

Gentrification is a method in which previously impoverished areas experience significant changes in society and economy as a result of the relocation of wealthier inhabitants. Improving homes and businesses, increasing property prices, and changing the demographics and cultural foundations of communities are some examples of these changes (Anguelovski, 2023). Although gentrification is usually offered as a way of improving communities, it usually leads to the displacement of long term residents who feel disconnected from society or who are unable to pay the growing expenses of living.

Over the past several years, gentrification has significantly increased in size. Since the 1990s, the number of gentrified neighborhoods with low incomes in the 50 biggest American cities has doubled (Smith, 2020). According to a Toronto research, between 1991 and 2001, eviction rates were greatly increased in gentrifying communities (Chum, 2015). In the same way, a 2019 examination found that between 2000 and 2012, gentrification caused a relocation of almost 135,000 inhabitants. Even while there have been some recognized positive aspects, such more green space, less crime, and improved amenities, these benefits mainly go to new, wealthy buyers instead of the original community members (MacDonald & Stokes, 2019).

Families with lower incomes and racially disadvantaged groups endure an unfair amount of the harmful health and social effects of gentrification. Black inhabitants in gentrifying areas, for instance, experienced lower health outcomes than Black residents in financially secure communities, according to a California research (Acolin, 2024). Also, Black and Hispanic individuals in census areas that are gentrifying have higher levels of lower overall health, according to the CDC's 500 Cities Project (Acolin, 2024). Social exclusion, a decline of social and community associations, and limited opportunity for inexpensive options for living can all be the results of increasing costs of housing and displacement.

What I learned

This assignment is one of my strongest projects, and I chose it because it is an important topic to me. It inspired me to connect the challenging topic of gentrification to more universal ideas of health equality and the socioeconomic determinants of health. Also to understand how upstream issues like housing and economics affect the health of the population, and this project helped me improve my research and communication abilities. It provided me with resources that I could apply in my future academic and professional goals and demonstrated the benefits of collaborative approaches.