The impacts of racially discriminatory housing policies on the distribution of intra-urban heat and tree canopy: A comparison of racial covenants and redlining in Minneapolis, MN

Abstract

Research has demonstrated the impact of historic discriminatory mortgage lending (i.e., “redlining”) on the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens, while the environmental legacies of other racially discriminatory housing policies remain unexplored. Using a novel dataset of racial covenants in Minneapolis and its suburbs, the first complete map for any U.S. city, we find a significant positive association between historic racial covenant presence and cooler temperatures, increased tree canopy, and reduced impervious surface today. When compared to redlining, we find that covenants have an environmental impact comparable to the two highest HOLC designations (A or B). Further, within each HOLC grade, covenant presence is associated with additional environmental benefits that mitigate the negative environmental impact associated with redlining. This analysis reveals that the positive environmental benefits associated with covenants are not simply driven by an urban-suburban land-use gradient but, rather, are related to the privilege afforded to the legal guarantees of whiteness embedded in the covenant itself.