Abstract
Although the goal of brownfield development is to clean up and redevelop abandoned or underutilized properties in distressed urban neighborhoods, the racial and socioeconomic disparities of brownfield cleanups have not been adequately examined. This study combines the locations of brownfields with 1990 and 2000 US Census data in the Detroit region. Results reveal that brownfields located near socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods tend to be cleaned up first. Brownfields located far from major roads also tend to receive priority. However, results also suggest that the amount of land devoted to industrial and/or commercial uses adjacent to brownfield sites is not significantly associated with the probability of brownfield sites being cleaned up. These findings indicate that the initial step of brownfield development—cleaning up environmentally contaminated properties—is heading in the right direction.
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Notes
A mothballed property refers to one at which there is neither physical activities nor delinquent property taxes. Because property owners often fear that their properties might be environmentally contaminated, they pay property taxes in order to avoid any property inspection from the government (Greenberg et al. 2000).
White-collar occupations include the professional and managerial occupations.
Blue-collar occupations include the construction, production, transportation, and material-moving occupations.
Although losing statistical significance, we do not think that race is unimportant in these social processes. Rather, the concentration of African Americans around brownfield sites in the Detroit metropolitan area is very high, and thus, there may be little statistical variation in the African American percentage around brownfield sites. For example, the mean African American percentage around the brownfield sites is 58.2%, with a standard deviation of 39.9%.
One of the anonymous reviewers raised this point.
One of the anonymous reviewers raised this point.
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Lee, S., Mohai, P. The socioeconomic dimensions of brownfield cleanup in the Detroit region. Popul Environ 34, 420–429 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-011-0163-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-011-0163-z