Home to approximately 5,600 people and numerous businesses and industries, Duwamish Valley is not only a Superfund site in need of a long-term response to clean up hazardous material, but also an area where local communities face many other stresses, and which has received significantly less investment than other parts of Seattle over the years. In Duwamish Valley, local residents are disproportionately exposed to air and noise pollution and have limited access to open space and healthy food. Hospitalization rates for asthma are the highest in the country and the area frequently experiences flooding. The DVP started with an 18-month process that engaged residents, workers and businesses to identify their priorities, values and aspirations, which resulted in a co-designed action plan to expand livelihood and housing opportunities, improve environmental and health outcomes and increase investments in Duwamish Valley.
To tackle these objectives comprehensively, the DVP relied on the community-led Healthy Living Assessment tool to understand how racial inequality and health disparities correlated, where such disparities were found, what impacts these had and for whom. This georeferenced system enabled key interconnections between social and built-environment health determinants to be identified, and specific measures and investments in health-promoting infrastructure and opportunities to be targeted to where they were most needed. For example, the Healthy Living Assessment revealed that life expectancy in predominantly African-American low-income areas was 13 years lower than in white upper-income neighbourhoods. Similarly, about 24 per cent of women and men living in disadvantaged areas lacked any form of health insurance – almost twice the city-wide average. A lack of mobility options, high incidence of diabetes and food insecurity are also very prevalent in these areas. The DVP included equity indicators to track impacts and housing displacement according to race, ethnicity and income, as well as demographic information to understand who was benefiting from local authority investments (Coven 2018).
The DVP also enhanced political participation in local decision-making beyond male-dominated leadership through improving its diversity. For example, a coalition of Latino women led local efforts to pursue affordable housing and anti-displacement strategies, making the reality of low-income renters in the Duwamish Valley a more prominent issue. Actions to prevent city-wide displacement were supported by the adoption of the Displacement Risk Index, a living map that shows where marginalized population displacements are more likely to occur. The establishment and use of accessible georeferenced information tools showed how key factors change over time and made it possible to project essential trends for forward planning.
Figure 5.11 shows how the programme evolved from short-term accomplishments into long-term strategies. The Environmental Justice Committee works as a bridge between the city administration and local communities to ensure that environmental actions are meaningful at the local level and to anticipate and tackle real estate trends that could lead to green gentrification and displacement.
Figure 5.11: Duwamish Valley action YEARS 50
NEAR-TERM ACCOMPLISHMENTS
MID-TERM OPPORTUNITIES
37 5
LONG-TERM STRATEGIES
Source: Coven 2018 FIGURE 5.9: Duwamish Valley Action Plan Achieving Urban Transformation: From Visions to Pathways 115 4 6
The City took 50 actions in South Park from Georgetown from 2016 through early 2018 to address community priorities, show responsiveness, and build trust.
With specific strategies and actions, the City will begin implementing in 2018.
Bold and ambitious goals related to: Anti-Displacement, Workforce Development, Climate Change, Parks & Open Spaces, and Health.
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