Historic Redlining and Urban Health Today in U.S. Cities

This article from Environmental Justice explores the associations between redlining and urban health outcomes in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Oakland, San Francisco, and St. Louis. The Home Owners' Loan Corporation, established by the Federal government in the 1930s during the Great Depression, graded neighborhoods for investment purposes and shaded the areas green, yellow, or red depending on the desirability. The risk assessments were based entirely on the racial makeup of neighborhoods, and those occupied primarily by Black individuals were shaded red. In contrast, those occupied by white individuals were deemed "desirable" and colored green. Residents who lived in these "high-risk" neighborhoods were not given access to low-interest mortgages and thus limited black wealth creation.

This study examines whether historic redlining shaped neighborhood development and proximity to environmental hazards in the United States and how these factors may have contributed to health disparities. The authors found that redlined communities had higher rates of cancer, poorer mental health, a higher percentage of persons without health insurance, and a significantly lower household median income. Redlining and other structurally racist housing policies have been associated with disparities in poverty and wealth creation, access to healthy food, mass incarceration, gun violence, pollution concentrations, and other health determinants. This study contributes further to these findings.