More private than public: The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative as another tool for state-led gentrification

Abstract

In 2010 the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) introduced the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) to redevelop distressed public housing. Through CNI, private investors and developers replace public housing with new mixed-income and mixed-use developments. Although these projects promote community involvement and are purported to prioritize community input and to benefit residents, private investors have disproportionate power and often modify redevelopment to favor the market-rate units while receiving tax incentives, extremely low-cost and long-term land-leases, and government funds for demolition, construction, maintenance, and management. We leveraged a CNI redevelopment in Denver (US) to identify and examine the hardships experienced by its residents. Within the process of demolition and construction, CNI transitioned public housing residents toward modern living amenities and mixed-income arrangements—enforced through stricter economic barriers and divisions—which created a loss of community and negatively impacted residents’ mental and physical health. Our initial findings highlight how this regeneration process does not guarantee integration and higher quality of life for the public housing residents, but rather promotes state-led gentrification that can lead to degeneration, displacement, fragmented communities, and poor health outcomes for residents. Federal and local agencies should commit to programs that ensures collaborative community-centered planning from beginning to end.