From redlining to gentrification: The policy of the past that affects health outcomes today

Individual Author(s) / Organizational Author
De los Santos, Hannah
Jiang, Karen
Bernardi, Julianna
Okechukwu, Cassandra
Publisher
Harvard University
Date
May 2021
Publication
Harvard Medical School Primary Care Review
Abstract / Description

In the 1980s, a set of historical city maps resurfaced to reveal a hidden facet of our neighborhoods—the redlined status. As it turns out, the implementation of these maps saved the housing sector and bolstered prosperity for some demographic groups but increased disparities in homeownership, wealth, and health for others. The structural inequalities set in place by federal policies over 80 years ago are still evident in communities today. As our nation continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the historic designations of a neighborhood between “hazardous” and “best” continue to parallel inequities in testing, case rates, fatalities, and vaccinations. These historic lessons shine a light on the importance of explicitly including an equity lens for current policy decisions, not only to address current disparities, but the lasting effect decades later. (author abstract) 

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Artifact Type
Application
Reference Type
Blog
Priority Population
Ethnic and racial groups
P4HE Authored
No
Topic Area
Policy and Practice » Policy & Law » Housing Discrimination
Social/Structural Determinants » Environment/Context » Physical Environment
Social/Structural Determinants » Environment/Context » Systemic Determinants