Page 1 |
Save page Remove page | Previous | 1 of 346 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
This page
All
Subset |
CITIES ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FRONTLINE: THE
INTRACTABILITY OF HAZARDS AND THE GOVERNABILITY OF AMENITIES
by
Diane E. Yoder
________________________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION)
December 2009
Copyright 2009 Diane E. Yoder
Object Description
| Title | Cities on the environmental justice frontline: the intractability of hazards and the governability of amenities |
| Author | Yoder, Diane E. |
| Author email | yoder@usc.edu; diane.personal@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Public Administration |
| School | School of Policy, Planning, and Development |
| Date defended/completed | 2009-06-26 |
| Date submitted | 2009 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2009-12-02 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Tang, Shui-Yan |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Schweitzer, Lisa Sellers, Jefferey |
| Abstract | In 1982, the predominantly African American residents of Warren County, NC, protested for six weeks against the siting of a landfill to contain illegally contaminated dirt. Though unsuccessful, those protests sparked the Environmental Justice Movement, a movement dedicated to reducing the exposure of poor and minority populations to environmental hazards. Since then, only one Executive Order has been issued, no federal legislation has passed, and judicial efforts have been mixed. Moreover, local governments have little guidance or financial support to address environmental inequity.; I examined the spatial proximity of environmental hazards and goods to poor and minority people in 18 U.S. cities at the Census-tract level. Using Geographic Information Systems, I mapped the distribution of Toxics Release Inventory facilities and large-quantity generators of hazardous waste. I also mapped the distribution of city parks and community gardens. My general research question was: Are minorities and poor populations over-represented in neighborhoods where environmental disamenities cluster and under-represented in neighborhoods where environmental amenities cluster? Using the GIS results, I investigated the city-level institutional factors that may contribute to improved environmental equity. Guided by the Social Movements Framework, I examined eight propositions to answer: What are the city-level political processes and institutional variables that are more likely to be associated with better disamenities and amenities distributions?; The GIS results suggested that in a majority of cities, the distributions of disamenities and amenities are not random, and often, the hazards cluster in minority and/or poor areas, while amenities only sometimes do. Regression analyses using the traditional explanatory variables failed to explain adequately the distribution pattern in most cities. As well, the institutional analysis failed to show a consistent combination of political structures or processes that might explain environmental equity, with the exception of the combination of a strong mayor-council government and formal neighborhood organizations. Further analysis identified the path dependency of environmental inequity as a policy problem. Case-study analysis revealed that a history of strong mayor-council governments, formal neighborhood organizations that work directly with city government, and vibrant citizen participation resulted in Boston being the study’s most equitable city in both disamenities and amenities. |
| Keyword | environmental justice; environmental equity; institutional analysis; social movements |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 2000/2006 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m2778 |
| Rights | Yoder, Diane E. |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-Yoder-3125 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume40/etd-Yoder-3125.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | CITIES ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FRONTLINE: THE INTRACTABILITY OF HAZARDS AND THE GOVERNABILITY OF AMENITIES by Diane E. Yoder ________________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION) December 2009 Copyright 2009 Diane E. Yoder |
Comments
Post a Comment for Page 1
