Jason Briscoe/UNSPLASH
Climate Gentrification: How Extreme Weather is Displacing Low-Income Residents From Their Communities
Some in Miami have serious cause for concern about their real estate. Miami is the fourth-largest population vulnerable to sea-level rise in the word, and with levels rising faster than ever, people are looking inland in search of higher ground. Situated within the 2.7 million residents of Miami Dade County - ‘ground zero’ for climate change - Miami has the largest amount of exposed assets and the county is within the second most populous state in the US exposed to the dangers of climate change. Miami’s Mayor acknowledges the gentrification pressures these movements create, already underway with developers eyeing low-income immigrant and refugee communities like Little Havana, Little Haiti and Liberty City.
But not only Miami, extreme weather events have forced those with means to consider relocation. Flagstaff, Arizona’s Mayor noted a 25% increase in second-home purchases among people he coined “climate refugees” fleeing heat, while raising costs on low-income communities in the process. (Yahoo Finance)
Analysis
Last year the Miami City Commission green-lighted a billion dollar urban investment project called Magic City in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood meant to draw tourism, businesses and spur creative innovation. Community and social justice activists saw another side, concerned the development would raise rents, property values and costs of living for the already struggling poor and working class residents.
A 2018 Harvard University Study popularized the term ‘climate gentrification’ - referring to Miami real estate transactions of increased property values in higher elevation neighborhoods. Their theory largely is that climate change impacts make some property more desirable than others and some populations, with the luxury of choice in movement to higher ground, will contribute to raised costs that could lead to displacement of existing populations.
It’s interesting to note they actually use the term ‘displacement’, a term more commonly used in the contexts of conflicts and natural disasters.
Just as it is with conflict scenarios, it’s difficult to say with any certainty whether climate change is driving development and relocation in Miami. But in both scenarios, experts can attest that climate change can certainly be a factor contributing to displacement. Meena Jaganathath, co-founder of the Community Justice Project that represented some Little Haiti residents and someone Climate Refugees spoke to as well, says climate change is “increasingly becoming a major factor.”
It could be that Miami proves to be a test case for the dangers the UN warns climate change could pose to poverty, displacement and hunger. In a report last year on climate change and poverty, Philip Alston, the UN’s former special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, warned of the potential for a ‘climate apartheid’ scenario, where the rich would escape the ravages of climate change - overheating, hunger and conflict - simply because they could afford to, while the poor would be left to suffer.
Little Haiti, known for the haven it is for Haitian immigrants and refugees fleeing political turmoil who arrived more than 40 years ago, now potentially face further displacement in their newly established homes in exile. Perhaps that’s the harshest cruelty of all.