Rising Scholar: The Long-term Effects of Redlining on Climate Vulnerability and Food Insecurity.

• Date: 01 December 2024

Segregation promulgated by lending and real-estate institutions since the 1930s continues to impact historically marginalized communities today. Nearly a century ago, the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) denied credit to individuals of color seeking housing in urban areas, effectively creating racially segregated neighborhoods. Private banks and mortgage companies relied on color-coded maps created by the HOLC to channel people of color into neighborhoods deemed low-yield investments. (1) Residents in redlined communities, who were predominantly Black, continued to face systemic barriers when trying to access loans or credit for business or other ventures. This made it difficult for them to invest in their communities, expand their employment opportunities, access education, and improve their homes. Redlining policies, and subsequent restriction of funding to Black residents, reinforced racial inequities. (2) Redlining created lasting inequities that span far beyond the realm of real estate and finance.

Since redlined neighborhoods were designated as undesirable for investment, they received less public and private funding. Over time, this lack of investment led to deteriorating infrastructure. Roads, public transportation, schools, and utilities were underfunded and fell into disrepair, further hindering business development. Underinvestment in these communities and insufficient infrastructure further depressed property values and intensified poverty.

In addition to poor infrastructure, redlined neighborhoods lacked grocery stores, greenspaces, and health care facilities. (3) This made it harder for residents to access nutritious food, enjoy recreational spaces, and receive adequate medical care, contributing to poorer health outcomes and lower quality of life. Furthermore, the lack of green space created "heat zones." As temperatures rise, these areas bear the brunt of climate change.

Climate change exacerbates both food insecurity and heat vulnerability in historically segregated communities. (4) Evaluating the impacts of climate change and food insecurity through the lens of historically racist lending policies sheds light on the intersection of environmental impacts, socioeconomics and social justice.

The Impacts of Climate Change on Redlined Communities: Green Spaces Aren't Just for Fun

Denial of investments in environmental capital, combined with continued underinvestment in historically redlined communities, intensifies climate vulnerability. As climate change worsens, regions lacking shade and heat absorbing greenspaces grow dangerously warm. Known as the "urban heat island" effect, temperatures in marginalized neighborhoods are on average significantly higher than in non-redlined areas. This makes these low-income communities more vulnerable to heatwaves, a growing concern as climate change intensifies. (5)

Foliage plays an equally important role in urban ecosystems as it does in natural environments. Leafy trees shield neighborhoods from the sun, providing respite from spells of extreme heat that will only increase in frequency as climate change intensifies. Redlined areas still experience lower property values which impact local taxes and prevent neighborhoods from investing in vegetation, trees, and green infrastructure. (6) As a result, these neighborhoods tend to be deficient in "environmental capital," such as tree canopy coverage and parks, that naturally mitigate the impacts of climate change. (7) As shade coverage is often sparse in redlined communities, residents are more vulnerable to heat waves. (8)

In addition to tree canopy, ground surface perviousness is a valuable measure of environmental capital: regions with more permeable surface area are better able to absorb rainfall and intercept storm water runoff, whereas regions with impervious surfaces are prone to flooding, erosion, and water pollution. (9) In their study on The Long Term Effects of Environmental Risk Exposure, Conzelmann et al. found that redlined neighborhoods have significantly reduced permeable surface area compared to their wealthier counterparts. The lack of permeable surfaces in redlined neighborhoods directly contributes to the increased flood risk.

Since environmental and economic capital are inextricably linked, a lack of either results in a series of mutually reinforcing consequences: the absence of tree canopy coverage and flood management techniques depress property values in historically deprioritized communities, perpetuating the underinvestment in sustainable infrastructure. (10) The relationship between ecological and fiscal wealth is bidirectional: Financial disadvantage prevents climate resilience, while climate vulnerability complicates socioeconomic disadvantages in racially segregated neighborhoods. (11)

Economic Impacts Resulting from Low Investment in Environmental Capital

As climate change worsens, lower-income households will face unprecedented financial strains as they navigate health-care costs and property damage caused by environmental catastrophes. (12) Reluctance to invest in historically redlined communities siphons resources away from sustainable development initiatives. Cash-strapped neighborhoods struggle to invest in environmental capital that could mitigate the effects of climate change, even as climate-related disasters and their financial repercussions jeopardize basic needs. Capital investments and infrastructure improvements are funneled to wealthier communities, where resources for safe and accessible food and water, education, healthcare, transportation, and recreation are not only expected but readily available. (13)

Infrastructure extends to building codes and housing construction that impact the lives of low-income residents. Poor building insulation can exacerbate the effects of extreme temperatures. Many buildings in low-income neighborhoods lack air conditioning. When it is available, it is expensive to operate and maintain. Meanwhile, inadequate drainage systems can lead to more severe flooding, causing property damage and loss of housing. The disproportionate financial strains caused by heat stress, flooding, and other climate events, compounded by a lack of solid infrastructure reinforce the vicious cycle of low property values, underinvestment, and health vulnerability in historically redlined communities. (14)

The Intersection of Climate Change and Food Insecurity

The dual effects of climate change and redlining further impact the many forms of social vulnerability and health consequences that stem from food insecurity. As climate change intensifies, food prices rise precipitously. (15) Droughts, shifts in seasonal weather patterns, extreme heat, changes in precipitation pose a direct threat to crops. (16) Lack of tree canopy plays a role here, as well.

Forests, which are not intuitively associated with domestic crop production, play an important role in agricultural resilience: they stabilize temperatures and water distribution within woodland ecosystems, and harbor crucial crop pollinators. Historically redlined communities, already lacking tree coverage, suffer even more from nearby forest damage. As climate change damages forest ecosystems, nearby food crops will grow more vulnerable. (17)

Climate change exacerbates global food insecurity through decreased food production and nutrient value, as well as through increased pricing. This can result in food shortages, particularly for fresh and healthy foods, which are already scarce in many low-income areas. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN asserts:

'Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and
                economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets
                their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy
                life' (World Food Summit, 1996).' This definition gives rise to four
                dimensions of food security: availability of food, accessibility
                (economically and physically), utilization (the way it is used and
                assimilated by the human body) and stability of these three dimensions
                (18)
                

Low-income communities of color are particularly sensitive to shifts in food availability and affordability. Food insecurity often forces people to rely on cheaper, less nutritious food options. As climate change exacerbates food scarcity, this issue is magnified, leading to higher rates of malnutrition and diet-related diseases like diabetes and heart disease, particularly in vulnerable populations already at increased risk for these health consequences. Food deserts, areas without easy access to affordable, healthy food, are more common in low-income neighborhoods, compounding health disparities.

As climate change drives up food prices and reduces the availability of essential goods, residents of historically redlined communities may need to spend a larger portion of their income on basic necessities. This financial strain can push families deeper into poverty, making it even harder to escape the cycle of deprivation.

Climate change threatens food security on a global scale, which in turn impacts food systems at the community level. (19) As reported in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) study modeling the projected impact of climate change on food security, "the highest scenario of warming found a mean effect on yields of four crop groups (coarse grains, oil seeds, wheat and rice, accounting for about 70 percent of global crop harvested area) of minus 17 percent globally by 2050 relative to a scenario with unchanging climate." (20) If climate change causes these staple food groups to grow more scarce, they will become increasingly expensive. Rising food prices form yet another barrier to access for low-income communities where nutritious food is already in short supply. Urban-rural linkages between consumers and farmers are therefore threatened by climate change. Failed crop yields not only hurt growers financially but reduce access and affordability of fresh...