Let’s Get Real: Climate and Gentrification
Hosts: Liam Doll, Kylie Ip, and Kaitlin Wiebe
Welcome to this episode, where we delve into the complex topic of climate gentrification. How do our futures as landscape architects fit into the stark reality of gentrifying neighbourhoods and cities?
Since its inception, landscape architecture has served as a tool for exerting power over land. In recent years, there has been a growing dialogue surrounding social justice, equitable design, and the creation of inclusive spaces. However, despite these efforts to address climate change and promote inclusivity, there are still implications that inadvertently exclude or discriminate against certain groups. This can be seen in the phenomenon of climate gentrification, which leads to consequences such as increased property values and the implementation of hostile architecture in both public and private spaces.
In this podcast, we aim to explore this topic by interviewing experts in fields such as climate justice, social inequity, and displacement. Our goal is to gain insight into climate gentrification, understand its origins, and uncover its multifaceted impacts on urban landscapes.
summary
Hosted by Liam Doll, Kylie Ip, and Kaitlin Wiebe, the conversation opens with insights from Jesse Keenan, a renowned researcher credited with coining the term “climate gentrification” in 2018. Keenan provides a comprehensive definition, highlighting three pathways through which climate gentrification manifests. The dialogue then shifts to Vancouver, where Liv Yoon shares the unforeseen repercussions of climate adaptation efforts, such as increased rents stemming from well-meaning initiatives like free air conditioning programs during heatwaves. Keenan further delves into instances of infrastructure maladaptions that exacerbate climate gentrification, Melissa Plisic adds depth to the discussion by underscoring the emotional toll wrought by climate change, and Lorien Nesbitt provides insights into both the physical and psychological dimensions of displacement. finally, Yoon’s research on marginalized communities’ vulnerability and dispensable bodies adds a crucial perspective.
In unpacking this socio-economic-ecological-political complexity, the hosts and guests emphasize the need for community-centered, interdisciplinary approaches in landscape architecture that prioritize engagement, equity, and accountability. Lorien also shares insights on a forthcoming green gentrification toolkit aimed at guiding professionals in navigating the complexities of this issue.
The podcast culminates in a reflective exchange among the hosts, probing the interconnectedness of climate gentrification with broader social disparities and educational gaps within architecture.
We hope that through critical analysis and dialogue, this episode underscores the importance of transparent and inclusive strategies in tackling the complexities of climate gentrification within the realm of landscape architecture.
guests
JESSE KEENAN coined the term “climate gentrification” and is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Real Estate and Urban Planning at Tulane University in New Orleans. Keenan concurrently serves as a Research Advisor for Climate Adaptation Finance to the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research for the State of California and as a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He is also a former faculty member at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and his research focuses on the financial aspect of climate change in communities and the built environment.
LIV YOON is an Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology at UBC. Her research investigates the links between climate change, social inequalities, and health, emphasizing community engagement and participatory methods. She explores how bodies are affected differently by climate change and has focused past research on “just transitions” for communities.
LORIEN NESBITT is an Assistant Professor in Urban Forestry and Environmental Justice. Throughout her career, she has worked with communities across Canada and internationally as a environmental planner and facilitator, and now as a researcher at UBC. Her research focuses on nature-based solutions to global climate change through considerations of green equity and green gentrification, with a socio-ecological lens to examine physical and psychological displacement of residents and holistic approaches to environmental justice.
MELISSA PLISIC is a student conducting research as the UBC EDGES (Environment & Development: Gender, Equity, and Sustainability) lab. They view climate gentrification from a lens of equity, decolonial practices and queer ecologies, and her work includes raising awareness of non-human displacement due to climate change.
resources
scholarly literature
Anguelovski, Isabelle, et al. “Why Green “climate Gentrification” Threatens Poor and Vulnerable Populations.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116, no. 52, 2019, pp. 26139-26143.
Keenan, Jesse M., and Keely Maxwell. “Rethinking the design of resilience and Adaptation Indicators Supporting Coastal Communities.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, vol. 65, no. 12, 28 Sept. 2021, pp. 2297–2317, https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2021.1971635.
Keenan, Jesse M. “The Positive, Negative, and Neutral Outcomes of Designed Adaptation in the Built Environment.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, no. 15, 27 Jan. 2021, pp. 154–163, https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/zarch/article/view/4821.
Keenan, Jesse M, et al. “Climate gentrification: From theory to empiricism in Miami-Dade County, Florida.” Environmental Research Letters, vol. 13, no. 5, 20 Apr. 2018, p. 054001, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aabb32.
Kurth, Margaret H., et al. “Defining resilience for the US Building Industry.” Building Research & Information, vol. 47, no. 4, 3 Apr. 2018, pp. 480–492, https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2018.1452489.
Nesbitt, Lorien, et al. “Greening Practitioners Worry about Green Gentrification but Many Don’t Address it in their Work.” Ecology and Society, vol. 28, no. 4, 2023, pp. 29.
Plisic, Melissa. Plant-Based Research : A Queer Master’s Thesis Born of Mass Extinction, University of British Columbia, 2024.
Sax, Daniel L., Lorien Nesbitt, and Jessica Quinton. “Improvement, Not Displacement: A Framework for Urban Green Gentrification Research and Practice.” Environmental Science & Policy, vol. 137, 2022, pp. 373-383.
articles
“Buying out 400 Crescent Beach Homes an Option for Surrey as Sea Levels Rise | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 28 May 2018, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/surrey-crescent-beach-climate-change-1.4675432.
“Coroner’s Report on B.C. Heat-Dome Deaths Calls for Greater Support for Populations at Risk | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 8 June 2022, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-heat-dome-coroners-report-1.6480026.
Dembicki, Geoff, and Francesca Fionda. “World’s ‘Greenest City’ Will Be Totally Unaffordable Because of Climate Change.” VICE, 28 Oct. 2021, www.vice.com/en/article/7kbpv9/vancouver-climate-change-flooding-worsens-affordability-crisis.
Uguen-Csenge, Eva. “Landlords in B.C. Warning Renters against Installing AC Units despite Rising Heat | Cbc News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 21 July 2023, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-air-conditioner-renters-1.6906665.
videos
UMNDuluth. (2019, April 15). Destination Duluth: The Fact and Fiction of a Shared Climate Future by Jesse M Keenan. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUhSckQsrwY&t=2s
podcast
Everyday Environmentalism. (2021). Unnatural Disasters, Green Gentrification & Rejecting “Climate Resilience” with Dr. Kelly Britt. Spotify. Retrieved January 23, 2024, from https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Q7HTcsMOC9STBnCUviLop?si=aa3daae882944e48
reports
“Phase 1 Summary Report – Fraser Basin Council.” Fraser Basin , www.fraserbasin.bc.ca/_Library/Water_Flood_Strategy/FBC_LMFMS_Phase_1_Report_Web_May_2016.pdf. Accessed 9 Apr. 2024.
books
Taylor, Sunaura. Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation. Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority, Library, 2019.