Disinvestment and development in two neighborhoods in Baltimore, MD
Download PDFAufseeser, Dena, & Dillon Mahmoudi. 2024. Interrogating narratives of urban change: Disinvestment and development in two neighborhoods in Baltimore, MD. Urban Geography 46 (3): 589-611. doi:10.1080/02723638.2024.2376907.
Featured by Nicholas Miles
Abstract
Popular press and academic narratives of neighborhood change frequently conflate the experiences of different non-white populations in working-class and poor areas, presenting them as detrimental to urban development and at risk of displacement and eviction. Such narratives provide justification for uneven disinvestment and overlook the variegated ways in which urban development strategies can be exploitative. Mislabeling urban change as gentrification and grouping multiple racial/ethnic groups can lead to inappropriate policy and misaligned forms of intervention. Building on arguments within Black geographies and critical urban studies, we seek to disentangle how Black and Latine/x populations are differently positioned in urban narratives of dis/investment. Combining archival analysis with data from the US Census, we analyze two formerly redlined neighborhoods in Baltimore whose development trajectories significantly diverged. We demonstrate that inequality is not simply due to the continued effects of historical redlining, but instead part of ongoing rounds of uneven dis/investment. We expose how racial capitalism exploits racial difference between non-white groups to extract profits. By focusing on specific neighborhoods, we enrich research interrogating how racial and ethnic hierarchies relationally shape urban change, making visible the necessity of spatially-specific contingent analyses.
Summary
This paper examines how conflating the experiences of different non-white groups in urban neighborhoods leads to detrimental and misaligned policies, perpetuating racial hierarchies and economic disparities. By exploring two historically redlined neighborhoods in Baltimore, we highlight how Black and Latine/x communities are positioned differently in narratives of investment and disinvestment, challenging the simplistic lens of gentrification as the primary model of urban change. Building on Black geographies and critical urban studies, we argue that inequalities in urban development are not merely remnants of historical redlining but are continually reinforced through cycles of uneven investment. Our analysis reveals that racial capitalism exploits relational racial differences, using specific neighborhood demographics and identities to justify either investment or extraction, resulting in unique trajectories for each neighborhood.
Baltimore’s treatment of majority-Black neighborhoods versus Latine/x areas illustrates how racist logics structure urban development. While Latine/x neighborhoods like Highlandtown are framed as vibrant immigrant communities worthy of preservation, Black neighborhoods like Upton are cast as slums primed for exploitation and “renewal.” This distinction impacts how each neighborhood experiences investment or neglect, with Latine/x areas more likely to attract capital while Black neighborhoods face predatory cycles of disinvestment. Our findings reinforce arguments for a relational approach to understanding land valuation and demonstrate the limits of viewing gentrification as the dominant mode of urban transformation. By unpacking the racialized narratives that drive investment patterns, this paper emphasizes the need for nuanced approaches to urban policy that recognize how different racial and ethnic identities are mobilized to shape, and profit from, neighborhood change.