The neighborhood flourishing field is an emerging interdisciplinary field that focuses on addressing racial and economic urban inequities through a place-based lens. In the United States, a history of discriminatory public policies and private actions has led to segregated cities, where wealth and opportunity are inequitably distributed. This systematic disinvestment by race and class has created distressed urban areas that generate poor outcomes—such as failing schools, health disparities, crime and violence, and a lack of economic mobility—which most acutely affect low-income Black families.
Not only are the racial equity gaps in our city are sizable and morally indefensible, they also represent the most serious impediment to our future prosperity. Research suggests that unhealthy environmental conditions have a direct impact on children because they expose them to sources of toxic stress that impede their healthy neurological and physiological development.1,2 Sources of toxic stress come in many forms, but prominent among them are the conditions of the neighborhoods where children are conceived, born and raised.3 Hyper-local hazards such as exposure to lead or air-borne contaminants, noise that disrupts normal sleep patterns, relatively high ambient air temperatures, a lack of accessible green space, crime and violence, housing instability, limited access to healthy food options, racial discrimination and the lack of strong and stable social networks are all sources of toxic stress.4 The children growing up in our country's disinvested neighborhoods have inequitable access to resources and opportunity and disproportionate exposure to sources of toxic stress, undermining their full potential. These children represent an incredible resource, and a lack of investment in their future threatens everyone's future prosperity.
The Neighborhood Flourishing Field seeks to reverse these outcomes by investing in transformative initiatives, public policies, and research for historically disinvested neighborhoods.
Key pillars of the field include:
- Centering Residents: Centering residents to prioritize neighborhood agency and empowerment.
- Holistic Approaches: Recognizing the interconnectedness of factors like affordable housing, education, healthcare, and transportation, and addressing them collectively rather than in isolation.
- Place-based Interventions: Understanding that inequities are not just individual but are deeply tied to the specific geography. This field identifies neighborhoods as the unit of transformative change.
1“Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development” (2023) The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
2Shonkoff, Jack and Andrew Garner (2012) “The Lifelong Effects of Early Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress” Pediatrics Vol. 129 No. 1
3Swope CB, Hernández D. (2019) “Housing As A Determinant Of Health Equity: A Conceptual Model.” Soc Sci Med.
4Heard-Garris NJ, Cale M, Camaj L, Hamati MC, Dominguez TP. (2018) “Transmitting Trauma: A Systematic Review Of Vicarious Racism And Child Health.” Soc Sci Med.
Why Place-based?
The interventions implemented over the past sixty years intended to break the cycle of intergeneration poverty has failed to eliminate racial equity gaps across the country. These traditional anti-poverty programs and policies are focused on people-based solutions delivered through systems-based silos in housing, education, health, economic development, public safety, transportation and food access. The implied theory of change is that by shielding families from the most harmful consequences of poverty, people can invest in themselves until they find a path to prosperity. These programs are thus often designed to be temporary and, on balance, provide minimal levels of support.
After sixty years of the widespread application of these programs, intergenerational poverty and racial inequities continue to persist.5 By some measures the situation is getting worse.6 While proponents argue that these programs may be underfunded or lack innovation, the country spends approximately $1 trillion annually on these programs and there is little evidence that the size or strategy of these programs are to blame for their failure to sustainably close racial equity gaps. In contrast, scholars believe that these inequitable outcomes have been intentionally designed, segregating people geographically and zoning neighborhoods by race and class. Hence any solution must focus on place. If the conditions in a neighborhood are producing poor outcomes for children and families, the task at hand is to shift our programs and policies to focus on the health of places.
5Creamer, John, Emily Shrider, Kalee Burns, Frances Chen (2022) “Poverty in the United States: 2021”. Bureau of the Census,
6Marcus, Jon (2023) “The College Degree Gap Between Black and White Americans Was Always Bad. It is Getting Worse”. The Hechinger Report.
Neighborhood Flourishing Ecosystem
There are already many organizations and institutions with a mission to transform historically disinvested neighborhoods. These include public agencies, philanthropies, universities, think tanks, and nonprofits. These organizations may focus on specific strategies to improve the social fabric, housing, health & wellness, education, and community and economic development even as they adopt a holistic approach to improving the health of the entire neighborhood.
Resources
Look through these resources to learn more about the Neighborhood Flourishing Field:
- Place Matters Podcast
- Fragile Neighborhoods by Seth Kaplan