Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Sociohistorical Explanation of Urban Environmental Inequality

为了解释环境不平等的存在--环境危害不成比例地分布在低收入和少数族裔社区附近--这个项目对比了两种理论。一种是基于直接的种族歧视，另一种是基于阶级和种族的住房不平等的间接后果。对比理论的评价来自于对三个来源的数据的分析。一个消息来源确定了有毒设施的位置，另一个消息来源提供了住房拥有率的数据，第三个消息来源使用了美国人口普查的数据。利用1940-1990年间8个选定地区的数据，分析了住房隔离和环境不平等之间的关系。这些结果不仅有助于评估替代理论以及阶级和种族在促进环境不平等方面的相对作用，而且还解决了缓解这一问题的政策选择。

In aiming to explain the existence of environmental inequality - the disproportionate location of environmental hazards near low income and minority neighborhoods - this project contrasts two theories. One is based on direct racial discrimination, and another is based on the indirect consequences of housing inequality by class and race. The evaluation of the contrasting theories comes from the analysis of data from three sources. One source identifies the location of toxic facilities, another provides figures on home ownership, and a third uses figures from the U.S. census. With data over the 1940-1990 period for eight selected areas, the analysis examines the relationship between housing segregation and environmental inequality. The results not only help evaluate the alternative theories and the relative roles of class and race in promoting environmental inequality, but also address policy options in alleviating the problem.