Charles Hostovsky presents on gentrification, with a focus on Washington, DC. Transforming Transportation 2015: Smart Cities for Shared Prosperity is the annual conference co-organized by the World Resources Institute and the World Bank.

1. www.TransformingTransportation.org
Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Without
Gentrification: Towards Smart Cities That
Promote Social Justice
Charles Hostovsky, Professor - Catholic University
of America
Presented at Transforming Transportation 2015

2. TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT (TOD)
WITHOUT GENTRIFICATION: TOWARDS SMART
CITIES THAT PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE
Prof. Charles Hostovsky, PhD, MCIP
Catholic University of America – Washington DC
School of Architecture & Planning
City & Regional Planning Program

3. MY STORY
 Born, raised, and
educated in Toronto
Canada
 Faculty at the University
of Toronto for 15 years
 Moved to Washington DC
(Brookland) 2 years ago
This naive Canadian urban planner, academic,
and hockey player felt “slapped in the face by
gentrification as I discovered I was a
“gentrifier”

4. EL FUTURO QUE QUEREMOS
 “… to ensure that
social inclusion,
economic growth
and a clean and
secure environment
go hand in hand…”
 UNDP 2012

5. US HUD
 “Gentrification
process by which a
neighborhood
occupied by lower-
income households
undergoes
revitalization or
reinvestment through
the arrival of upper-
income households.” Shaw/U St. area 2013
photo C. Hostovsky

6. USA NEW URBAN RENEWAL (1992-2007)
 240,000 people displaced
by demolition of public
housing in USA
 80% African American
who suffered
disproportionately as they
make up only 48% of this
housing nationwide
 Although certain
segments of the African
American community
benefited
 (Edward Goetz 2011, Derek Hyra 2012)
Pruitt–Igoe 2,870 unit public
housing in St. Louis
demolished 1978
"Pruitt-igoeUSGS02" by United States Geological
Survey Licensed under Public Domain via
Wikimedia Commons

7. CONTROVERSY
 “Gentrification… has emerged as one of the most
controversial issues in the urban United States today.”
 “The fear of displacement has been one of the
motivating forces behind community activists organizing
against gentrification.”
 Lance Freeman, Columbia U, 2005
Facebook.com/EmpowerD
C

8. CONSENSUS IN THE RESEARCH…
 1. Central city neighborhoods
 2. Predominantly African American low-income
households that have experienced
disinvestment
 3. Influx of the relatively affluent or “gentry”…
predominantly white
 Notwithstanding it has more to do with “class”
than race
 4. Increase in neighborhood investment e.g.
TOD
 5. Displacement of inner-city Black population
results in shift in the suburban population i.e.
“White flight”

9. FERGUSON: SUBURB OF ST. LOUIS
 By 2008 the population of the poor
in suburbs across the USA growing
twice as fast as in city centers
 St. Louis - public housing
demolished
 gentrifying & growing white
population
 St. Louis Housing Authority –
vouchers to displaced for subsided
rentals in Ferguson
 1970 - 1% Black
 1980 - 14% Black
 1990 - 25% Black
 2010 - 67% Black
1 .Newsone.com
2. HuffingtonPost.com

10. DC IN “GENTRIFICATION OVERDRIVE”
 One of the fastest
revitalizing cities in the
USA
 Substantive Metro transit
system mostly built in the
1970s through 1990s
 …delayed Transit
Oriented Development
 “perfect storm of
converging forces took
hold in the late 1990s and
propelled the downtown
area toward an economic
crescendo in 2007”
 Gerry Widdicombe, Director of Economic
Development at the DowntownDC BID
9th & N St – DCrealestate.com
before
after

11. DC CENSUS DATA
 1970 Black 71%
 1980 Black 70%
 1990 Black 66%
 2000 Census
 572,059 residents
 Black 59%
 White 27%
 2010 Census
 621,321 residents
 Black 49%
 decrease of 39,000
 White 35%
 larger than the increase in
the city’s population
KEY: Ethnicity
Red = White
Blue = Black
https://zgeography.wordpress.com/2013/03/

12. RESULT
 In new mixed-race communities, Blacks
experience:
 Not only a physical displacement to the suburbs, but
also a cultural displacement for those who remain
 Loss of identity, small Black businesses and culture
landmarks, feeling of alienation
 Loss if political power as the assertive gentry take
control
 Research indicates that many Blacks who can
afford to stay decide to move out anyway
 Interview with Derek Hyra, American U

13. MICRO-SEGREGATION & CONFLICT
 Separate entrances
for condo-owner
gentry and
subsidized rental in
the same building in
New York City
Rich Door Poor Door
time.com/money/
Sarina Finkelstein—Marcus Lindström/Bronxgebiet/Getty
Images

14. CREATIVE INNOVATIONS NEEDED
 Political Equity:
 How do we ensure that
African Americans in
revitalizing
neighborhoods have
effective and meaning
say in local decision-
making?

15. CREATIVE INNOVATIONS NEEDED
 Social Equity:
 How do we ensure that
African Americans cultural
landmarks, architecture,
and history are preserved
in revitalized
neighborhoods?
Shaw/U St. area 2013
photo C. Hostovsky

16. CREATIVE INNOVATIONS NEEDED
 Education Equity:
 Schools which remain largely
segregated as the gentrifiers send
their children to private schools out
of the neighborhood
 DC Black high schools described
as “drop-out machines”
 55% Black graduation
(www.osse.dc.gov)
 87% White graduation
 How do we ensure that African
Americans benefit from changes in
the schools
Facebook.com/EmpowerD
C

17. CREATIVE INNOVATIONS NEEDED
 Racial Equity:
 Interview with Don Edwards
 Mediator, civic engagement
designer
 CEO of Justice & Sustainability
Associates in DC
 “How ready are residents to
remove the barriers of residential
segregation”
 “We need Neighborhoods of
Choice”
twitter.com/mencerdonahue
justicesustainability.com

18. ACCORDING TO EDWARDS…
 Transit Oriented Development
also needs
 Co-location of services
 Government buildings
 Government services
 Multi-purpose centers
 Broader range of housing types
with a rethink on the Area Median
Income affordable housing
formula
 Provide affordable “work-force”
housing

www.facebook.com/onedcorganizing#!

19. CASE STUDY: REGENT PARK TORONTO
 Canada's oldest & largest social housing project,
1940s
 69 acres entirely social housing to alleviate social
problems and crime, but problems reemerged
 Average income half of Torontonians, 68% below
poverty line – Black Caribbean, Chinese, SE Asian
immigrants
canadianimmigrant.ca
www.rapdict.org

20. CASE STUDY: REGENT PARK TORONTO
 Mixed Use Revitalizing Plan
 - Guaranteed replaced RGI
Rental Units: 2,083
 - New Affordable Rental
Units: 310 (Additional units
in future)
 - New “Market Units”: 5,400
 - New amenities Arts and
Cultural Centre, Aquatic
Centre, park, Athletic
Grounds
 - New Retail Space & New
Employment: 755 jobs
 - Employment and
Enterprise Hub
 - Support for employers in
screening and hiring local
residents
http://leadinggreen.ca/

21. CONCLUSION
 City Planners need to go beyond preventing or
minimizing displacement.
 We need to find ways to integrate race and
class.
 We need political, racial, educational and
cultural equity in revitalized neighborhoods
 We must work hard together to find creative
innovations.
 I wish I had the answers…..