The sustainability myth : environmental gentrification and the politics of justice

Author / Creator

Checker, Melissa, author

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Physical

Summary

Are today's sustainable cities built on their own undoing? This book uncovers the hidden costs of sustainable policies and practices in an era of hyper-gentrification. From state-of-the-art parks t...

Are today's sustainable cities built on their own undoing? This book uncovers the hidden costs of sustainable policies and practices in an era of hyper-gentrification. From state-of-the-art parks to rooftop gardens, LEED-certified buildings, bike lanes, and organic shops and restaurants, industrial waterfronts are transforming into eco-friendly urban oases. But how sustainable is this green wave? Will it lift all boats? In New York City, Melissa Checker finds that sustainable initiatives have fostered resource-intensive, high-end development in some areas and left others overburdened with polluting facilities and under-protected from climate change. Checker weaves together ethnographic and historic detail to tell the story of local activists who struggle to improve the environmental health of their neighborhoods while maintaining their affordability.

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