Association between historical redlining and current environmental quality in five North Carolina cities
On this page:
Background/Aims
Environmental quality varies between neighborhoods, with lower environmental quality observed in neighborhoods with lower income levels and/or lower proportion of white residents. In the 1940’s, the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) created maps of neighborhood ratings considered high risk for mortgage lending, which denied residents, usually racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, the opportunity to become homeowners and accumulate wealth.
METHODS
We explored if designation as a redlined neighborhood in 1940 predicted more contemporary (2006-2010) census tract-level environmental quality in five North Carolina (NC) cities (Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Winston-Salem). Environmental quality was characterized using EPA’s census tract-level Environmental Quality Index (EQI). The EQI is a composite measure of environmental quality that combines data from 5 domains (air, water, land, built, sociodemographic) to assign a score for each census tract. To create the exposure, a census tract shapefile layer was overlayed high-resolution digital maps of historical redlining. These maps include the 1940 neighborhood assignment of redlining ratings, which include Best, Still Desirable, Declining, and Hazardous. These ratings were combined to create a two-category exposure as follows: Best or Still Desirable (desirable) and Declining or Hazardous (redlined). Linear generalized estimating equation models estimated the associations between historical redlining ratings and environmental quality.
RESULTS
EQI scores assigned to census tracts with redlining ratings ranged from -2.93 to 2.59, where higher EQI scores (outcome) indicate lower environmental quality. When comparing redlined areas to desirable areas, we observed poorer overall environmental quality (1.72 change in index score [95% CI: 1.29, 2.15]).
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that one of the United States’ racist policies – redlining neighborhoods – is associated with poorer environmental quality 70 years later and may contribute to disparities in exposure to detrimental environments. We plan to use the results of these analyses to further study impacts of environmental justice on human health.