RED
GREEN
LINE
In 1937, policymakers drew these lines on a map of Durham, NC:
Source: Mapping Inequality (1)
These "Residential Security Maps" were created to rank neighborhoods on how worthy they were of housing loans and homeownership programs.
Source: NPR Podcast (2) and NYTimes (3)
Neighborhoods were divided into four categories:
Green meant "best area/best people" (1)
Blue meant "still desirable" (1)
Yellow meant "definitely declining" (1)
and red was "hazardous." (1)
But what made those neighborhoods "hazardous"?
This debrief document paints a very clear picture:
Communities with a majority of black and foreign residents were those labeled "hazardous."
This became known as redlining.
What effect did that have on residents?
Residents living in neighborhoods marked red were unable to buy or refinance new homes through loans. In red zones:
Landlords abandoned their properties.
City services became unreliable.
Crime rates increased.
Property values plummeted.
Source: NPR Podcast (2)
Source: Clifton Hill (a)
What changed?
Shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. the United States Congress passed the Fair Housing Act in 1968 to put an end to redlining.
But its corrosive effects, which had disadvantaged black communities for over 30 years, are still visible today.
Source: NPR Podcast (2)
54 years later, homeownership rates are still unequal in Durham:
In 2022, after decades of disparity in funding, public resources, and quality of city services:
an average house in a historically green-zone suburb of Durham looks like this(5), whereas
houses in a historically redlined area looks like that(5).
Why are redlined areas less green?
By intentionally segregating and hence economically disadvantaging black communities, city planners in Durham further widened the infrastructure gap between majority white and majority black neighborhoods.
While residents of redlined areas were stripped of their opportunity for social mobility, the National Housing Act of 1934 introduced provisions for 30-year mortgages and low-interest rates for residents of green and blue zones.
Large numbers of white families took advantage of the provisions and moved to brand new suburban areas opening up in Durham. In most of those same suburban neighborhoods, covenants were issued to explicitly ban black individuals from buying property in the area.
Homes in white neighborhoods steadily increased in value, whereas black neighborhoods tended to remain underfunded and derelict. This economic gap continued to widen for 34 years, during which time three major factors played a key role in determining the amount of greenery:
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Type of Housing: White neighborhoods featured large single-family suburban homes, usually with private lawns and gardens. Black neighborhoods comprised of affordable housing units — multi-storeyed complexes with cheaper apartment units for residents and very little space for greenery.
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Disparity in Funding: As property rates (and consequently taxes) increased in white neighborhoods, so did resources for recreational infrastructure. White neighborhoods were able to build parks, children's playgrounds, gardens, and other green areas.
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Public Planning: Even after segregation rules were outlawed, public planners would prioritize the building of large parks in whiter, more affluent neighborhoods to prevent multiple-family affordable housing complexes from being established in those neighborhoods. Furthermore, polluting industrial areas were often constructed near lower-income neighborhoods, reducing the area upon which green spaces could be built.
Source: NPR Podcast (2)
Why does it matter that some areas are greener than others?
The answer lies in this map.
Areas with more green space experience less heat than those without. So far this year, the city of Durham has experienced temperatures over 90°F on 61 separate days. In the next 70 years, that number is expected to double(6).
These high temperatures pose great public health risks, worsening pre-existing health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and blood pressure. Even in healthy adults, the heat can become debilitating as it traps people indoors.(7)
Given the history of Durham's urban planning, these issues will disproportionately impact people of color and low-income communities.
Source: North Carolina State Univesity (6)
Additionally, green spaces help reduce the impact of natural disasters. With erratic rainfall being a major risk in North Carolina's changing climate, green spaces absorb excess rainwater and can hence prevent floods(8).
Due to stark disparities in green spaces between affluent and low-income neighborhoods, the latter is more vulnerable to climate-induced disasters while simultaneously being worse equipped to handle the economic losses that it may bring.
In coming years, as climate change continues to put communities at risk, climate planners in Durham will have to confront the roots of its fragility: racial inequality.
As sustainability expert Alicia Zatcoff eloquently puts it, "racial equity and climate equity are inherently entwined."(7)
Source: NPR Podcast (2)
How do we know this?