Abstract
Urban greening initiatives are often linked to enhanced human health and wellbeing, but they can also be a driver of gentrification. To date, few studies have focused on how green gentrification shapes health. In this scoping review, we analyzed existing peer-reviewed research on how greening initiatives in gentrifying neighborhoods impact health, well-being, and health pathways (e.g., physical activity, affordable housing). Using a multi-step approach to scoping the literature (including searches in PubMed, JSTOR, and Google Scholar), we identified 15 empirical studies that met our inclusion criteria. We found studies focusing on green space use, physical activity, sense of community, safety, and self-reported health. Overall, longtime, marginalized residents are negatively impacted by green gentrification as they experience a lower sense of community, feel that they do not belong in green space, and, in many studies, use green space less often than newcomers. Overall, the research in this area is limited, and more studies on mental health and cardiovascular health markers could advance this literature. Based on the limited available evidence, we suggest that public health, urban planning, and parks professionals could collaborate to enhance the use of green space for marginalized residents and their feelings of inclusion in gentrifying areas.
Highlights
Gentrification is an ongoing challenge for many cities worldwide [1]
We argue that examining whether green gentrification improves or aggravates the health of marginalized groups is key to informing urban greening initiatives in low-income and racially/ethnically diverse neighborhoods that are susceptible to gentrification
The results revealed insights that align with previous systematic reviews on gentrification and health (e.g., [8,9,10]), showing unique findings that relate to green gentrification, and demonstrate gaps in empirical evidence needed to advance urban health justice through urban greening [14]
Summary
Gentrification is an ongoing challenge for many cities worldwide [1]. It is often described as the process by which under-resourced neighborhoods are developed and experience a migration of affluent newcomers [2,3]. One United States (U.S.) study showed that the nation’s largest cities experience gentrification at a greater intensity than other cities, but gentrification can occur in smaller cities when in conjunction with the improvement of central business districts [4]. Entities such as the National Community Investment Coalition have recently seen increased concerns about gentrification and displacement among its membership, which spans over six hundred local and national non-profit, government, and educational organizations in the U.S [4]. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gentrification is a “housing, economic, and health issue that affects a community’s history and culture and reduces social capital, and it ‘has the potential to cause displacement of long-time residents and businesses’” [7]
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