Rethinking Housing in the Post-COVID Era: Just Transitions or Ecogentrification?
Channel: USSEE
Date: 2021-12-03

The 2nd Event in the United States Society for Ecological Economics’ 2021 Webinar Series: The Post-COVID Economy: Centering Justice, Sustaining Ecosystems

The COVID-19 pandemic and attending economic crises have exacerbated an ongoing crisis in U.S. housing markets. Despite eviction moratoriums, evictions and unhoused populations have risen sharply over the last 18 months and represents the second major shock to housing markets in the last decade, following the Great Recession. These crises have caused harm to marginalized communities, specifically BIPOC and low-income households, and reflect the legacies of segregationist policies such as redlining which have long relegated these households to sub-standard housing in neighborhoods. This has made housing justice a growing priority to environmental justice and activists. However, efforts to address historical disparities in access to affordable housing in livable neighborhoods in the last decade have revealed a new source of tension: ecogentrification. As historically marginalized communities have received renewed attention and environmental remediation, this has been followed by increased pressure on housing prices, often displacing current residents in favor of wealthier households. These tensions highlight the limitation of the neoclassical approach to housing as a commodity, as opposed to a fundamental human need. In this webinar, we will discuss these historical and present tensions, and engage in dialogue about the potential future of an equitable housing future.