Toxic Cycles of Development: Brownfield Redevelopment and Environmental Justice Implications
2020-05-21
Loading...
Persistent link to this item
Statistics
View StatisticsJournal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Title
Toxic Cycles of Development: Brownfield Redevelopment and Environmental Justice Implications
Authors
Published Date
2020-05-21
Publisher
Type
Thesis or Dissertation
Abstract
Toxicity, simply defined, indicates the presence of harmful, poisonous, or contaminant substances. The concepts of harm, poison, and contamination, however, are useless if we do not recognize how they interact with humans, the environment, and our social systems. From a human perspective, our concern with toxicity relates to the exposure and dosages of harmful substances that have detrimental effects on human health. Environmentally, the concept evokes processes of toxic waste dumping and air pollution and subsequent ecological degradation. Industrial polluters and landfill waste transfers environmental toxicity to humans in the form of adverse health outcomes. When this process of toxicity intersects with existing unequal social systems, historically under-resourced and systemically marginalized communities endure the brunt of toxic harm.
Meanwhile, proponents of urban renewal have espoused the advantages of promoting green development and the cleanup of post-industrial blight. At face value, the reclamation of contaminated land and the greening of urban spaces seems like a worthwhile project. Especially, considering that many of these toxic sites have been forsaken by government regulation and public financing for decades. However, the advantages of urban revitalization projects such as brownfield redevelopment are far from unconditional. If developers, planners, and policymakers carefully construct remediation and development projects, brownfield cleanup and renewal could be a step towards rectifying years of discrimination and cumulative toxic exposure in poor communities and communities of color.
Description
Professional paper for the fulfillment of the Master of Public Policy degree.
Related to
Replaces
License
Collections
Series/Report Number
Funding information
Isbn identifier
Doi identifier
Previously Published Citation
Other identifiers
Suggested citation
Davis, Evan A. (2020). Toxic Cycles of Development: Brownfield Redevelopment and Environmental Justice Implications. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/216490.
Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.