Associations between life expectancy at birth and historical redlining, gentrification, and household-level residential mobility in Philadelphia Metropolitan Area.

Abstract

Historical redlining, a housing policy widely applied in numerous US cities during the 1930s and resulted in disinvestment in predominantly Black neighborhoods, has been linked to various adverse health outcomes. However, there is limited understanding of how recent urban renewal initiatives and gentrification have impacted health outcomes in historically redlined neighborhoods.
In the present study we evaluate the associations between life expectancy at birth and historical redlining, gentrification, and household-level residential mobility in Philadelphia Metropolitan Area during 2010-2020.
Census tract-level data on life expectancy at birth were derived from the CDC’s US Small-area Life Expectancy Estimates Project. US Census/American Community Survey data were used to define tracts’ eligibility to gentrify, and gentrification status in 2000-2010 and 2010-2018. Residential mobility data 2011-2020 for >2.8mil. Philadelphia households were obtained from the DataAxle company.
Compared to historically unclassified tracts, life expectancy at birth was lower in historically redlined and declining neighborhoods, with the lowest estimates in non-gentrified areas. This observed disparity can be partially attributed to the residential mobility patterns, characterized by an influx of high-income and the exodus of low-income households. Neighborhoods with a higher concentration of low-income populations, including those relocated from gentrified areas, were found to have some of the lowest life expectancy estimates. Interestingly, areas with earlier onset of gentrification (2000-2010) showed higher life expectancy values compared to those that underwent gentrification later (2010-2018).
Analyzing household-level residential mobility, may help to gain a deeper understanding of how 'population exchange' contributes to shifts in health outcomes over time.