Serial Forced Displacement in American Cities, 1916–2010

Abstract

Serial forced displacement has been defined as the repetitive, coercive upheaval of groups. In this essay, we examine the history of serial forced displacement in American cities due to federal, state, and local government policies. We propose that serial forced displacement sets up a dynamic process that includes an increase in interpersonal and structural violence, an inability to react in a timely fashion to patterns of threat or opportunity, and a cycle of fragmentation as a result of the first two. We present the history of the policies as they affected one urban neighborhood, Pittsburgh's Hill District. We conclude by examining ways in which this problematic process might be addressed.

Policing, Community Fragmentation, and Public Health: Observations from Baltimore

“…1,2 Community fragmentation, or lack of social cohesion, can result from many processes and is associated with poor health. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] One process that may be linked to community fragmentation and ill health is violent policing.…”

Hospitality Invites Sociability, Which Builds Cohesion: a Model for the Role of Main Streets in Population Mental Health

“…These policies include residential segregation and redlining (discriminatory lending and insurance practices); the Housing Act of 1949 resulting in urban renewal, displacement (often to low-quality housing projects removed from community life), and the construction of freeways that linked white suburbs to downtowns while bypassing and cutting-off minority neighborhoods; further disinvestment and physical deterioration; deindustrialization; and mass incarceration. 26,30,31 This cycle, characteristic of the sorted-out city, affects main streets at every level of the box-circle-line model.…”

“…39 Second, the cities and neighborhoods of Essex reflect many of the most fundamental forces that have shaped the twenty-first century urban landscape, including policies of racial and socioeconomic exclusion, deindustrialization, sprawl, urban renewal and forced displacement, and New Urbanism. 25,26,[29][30][31]40 Third, Essex County's geography is conducive to study. The county is layered in a vaguely semi-circular pattern comprised of successively more suburban rings around Newark, New Jersey's largest city.…”

“…[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Contemporary cities are marked by geographic disparities in collective efficacy and other indicators of social well-being resulting from the cyclical reinforcement of poverty, disadvantage, and instability. 11,32 There is a growing literature linking residential segregation with health disparities, [33][34][35] and it stands to reason that much of this relationship may be related to the downstream effects of constantly sorting the city to the marked disadvantage of the most vulnerable.…”

“Aging in Displacement: Urban Revitalization and Puerto Rican Elderhood in Chicago”

“…The Housing Act of 1954 made federal monies available to local governments for the acquisition and clearance of land, but the initial commitment to low-income housing development was later waived to make hospitals and universities key beneficiaries (Gans 1965;Avila and Rose 2009;Fullilove and Wallace 2011). Today, a parking lot for Illinois Medical District/Rush University Medical Center stands in the place of Evelyn's first Chicago apartment.…”