Emily Louise Wurth, Political Science, Lehigh University, 525 Sixth Avenue, Bethlehem, PA 18018, 6108669846, emilywurth@hotmail.com

Recent urban health research has revealed that the structural and environmental factors present in areas of highly concentrated poverty are having a detrimental impact on the health of urban residents. Data based on the 2000 census revealed a nationwide decline in the concentration of poverty in metropolitan areas across the US. However, Washington, DC is one of 29 cities, exceptions to that national trend, whose concentration of poverty increased during that time. This increase is surprising, considering the recent widely recognized revitalization of Washington, DC. It causes one to question conventional wisdom that urban redevelopment benefits all city residents by encouraging investment in the city, and to instead consider that the gentrifying effects associated with urban redevelopment cause disparate outcomes for residents. This paper argues that by forcing low-income residents from revitalized areas of the city into areas of highly concentrated poverty, gentrification is exposing them to the structural issues of economic isolation, residential segregation, neighborhood conditions, poor social networks and stress, which studies have associated with a higher incidence of chronic disease and mortality among residents. Consistent with these findings, comparisons of mortality rates in DC by political ward showed that the areas of highly concentrated poverty had higher mortality rates. This suggests that by increasing the concentration of poverty, gentrification could be contributing to the poor health of some DC residents. Available data provides support for this relationship, but suggests that more research is needed to further understand the association between gentrification and the health of urban residents.

Learning Objectives:

• Define concentrated poverty and examine the changes in the concentration of poverty in metropolitan areas around the United States in the past ten years.
• Analyze the relationship between gentrification and the increased concentration of poverty in Washington, DC.
• Describe the ways in which the structural and environmental factors present in areas of highly concentrated poverty affect the health of urban residents.
• Discuss urban policies that could alleviate the detrimental health effects accompanying urban revitalization in Washington, DC and other cities.

Keywords: Urban Health, Social Inequalities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.