Guide to Identify and Mitigate the Negative Effects of Gentrification Caused by Transportation Investment

Gentrification generally refers to land use and transportation redevelopment initiatives in older, often under-resourced communities. The effects of gentrification are positive and negative. The positive effects include the influx of new capital, infrastructure, and business that contribute to community quality of life, economic vitality, and aesthetics. However, gentrification often contributes to increased property values and rents that can force less-resourced (often lower income and minority) businesses and residents to leave. Not only do these factors force residents and businesses to find new homes and markets, they reduce community diversity and change its character. State departments of transportation (DOTs) and other transportation agencies seek to understand the specific role transportation investment plays in contributing to the negative impacts of gentrification. Investments are made with the expectation that they will overwhelmingly benefit the communities, often by providing needed mobility and accessibility to jobs, goods, and services in communities undergoing public and private sector reinvestment. By understanding the conditions under which gentrification can cause residential and business displacements, agencies can enact policies and strategies to avoid or mitigate these impacts. Research is needed to examine and define the specific role of transportation investment in contributing to the negative effects of gentrification and the investment decision-making processes that lead to them. Specifically, this research should identify strategies, policies, data, and other information that state DOTs can use to predict, avoid, or mitigate potential displacement and the other adverse impacts of gentrification on vulnerable communities, ideally while providing needed improvements to mobility and accessibility. The objective of this research is to develop a guide and supportive resources that provide practical instruction on how to predict, avoid, and mitigate the negative gentrification effects of transportation investment. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques and methods are sought.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5138

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $400000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 08-160

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Weeks, Jennifer

• Performing Organizations:

  Urban Institute

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Freemark, Yonah

• Start Date: 20230130
• Expected Completion Date: 20260729
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Communities; Decision making; Infrastructure; Investments; Low income groups; Minorities; State departments of transportation; Transit oriented development; Urban renewal
• Subject Areas: Finance; Planning and Forecasting; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01772194
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 08-160
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: May 24 2021 11:17PM