‘They know they’re not coming back’: resilience through displacement in the riskscape of Southwest Washington, DC

The lack of a strong national US strategy to respond to the threat of climate change places significant responsibility on urban areas to mitigate their risks through resilience planning. However, urban riskscapes include a complex and unequal layering of risks, with historically disadvantaged populations often bearing the brunt of many forms of cumulative risk while realising the fewest benefits from urban amenities. This article contributes to scholarship on resilience planning through an analysis of current development plans and resident perceptions in a neighbourhood in Southwest Washington, DC, by integrating insights on social inequality from the study of urban development, social capital and riskscapes.

One City for All? The Characteristics of Residential Displacement in Southwest Washington, DC

This paper examines two periods of renewal in Washington, DC, USA’s southwest quadrant and their relationship with displacement. The paper situates this discussion within both the local historical continuum and globally-recognized paradigms, such as “the right to the city”. This article primarily serves as an overview of urban planning consequences in Southwest Washington DC based on extant academic literature and policy briefs. Compared with the abrupt physical displacement in the 1950s and 1960s precipitated by a large-scale federally funded urban raze and rebuild project, urban planning in present-day DC includes mechanisms for public engagement and provisions for housing security. However, countervailing economic incentives and rapid demographic changes have introduced anxieties about involuntary mobility that the literature suggests may be born out of forced or responsive displacement. Two potential case studies in the area warrant future study to understand present-day mobilities in the context of the economic and socio-cultural factors shaping the actions of present and prospective residents and decision-makers.