Carolyn Swope MPH, Well AP, is a doctoral student at Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Her research interests focus on the relationship between housing and health disparities, with particular attention to historical housing policies producing present-day housing inequities. Prior to pursuing doctoral studies, Carolyn worked at various organizations promoting healthy housing and communities, spanning the private, nonprofit, and local government sectors. Carolyn received her MPH in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and BA in Anthropology and International Studies from Washington University in St. Louis.

The Problematic Role of Public Health in Washington, DC’s, Urban Renewal

Show Notes-Urban Renewal and Public Health with Carolyn Swope

Carolyn Back Story 

Carolyn Swope is an MPH, Well AP, and a doctoral student at Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. Her research interests focus on the relationship between housing and health disparities, with particular attention to historical housing policies producing present-day housing inequities. Prior to pursuing doctoral studies, Carolyn worked at various organizations promoting healthy housing and communities, spanning the private, non-profit, and local government sectors. Carolyn received her MPH in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and BA in Anthropology and International Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. To listen more to Carolyn’s back story, tune in at 03:15.

The Mysteries Behind Anthropology

At 5:28, Carolyn explains the anthropology phenomenon, what it’s and its importance in the history of any society. Anthropology is a broad field, and apart from dealing with human evolution, it also covers human differences across many forums and how communities have created others. The aspect that interests her most in this field is recognizing how artificial some of the categories are yet very consequential in how things are able to thrive within society. 

The Transformations in Urban Development

Carolyn worked in healthy housing before shifting to public health, where her awareness and interest in the intersection and demystification on the rapidly transforming corridors was grounded. She explains how urban developments have transformed the urban environment. According to her, there is a significant displacement of that what was there before, but many businesses that have been around for decades are still thriving in the new environment. To hear more about Carolyn journey in healthy housing and the transformation in housing and architecture, tune in at 06:22

The Inspirations That Cultivated Carolyn Interest in Public Health 

Carolyn did not grow up in the city; she grew up in the suburbs, going back and forth from environments with different levels of investments and advancements sparked up her passion for healthy housing. At 08:45, she shares how recognizing abandonment and disinvestments changed her desires into a passion. She envisioned how investment put in place, or lack of investments can reflect demystification in the environment. 

Urban Renewal and The Problematic Public Health 

Health is not all about behaviors, diet, fitness, or genetics; it covers a broad scope, including your surroundings. According to Carolyne, our physical and social environments also have a huge influence on our health. She arguably says that the sum of all different exposure that we come to in life, such as racial discrimination, displacement, chemicals, and contaminated water, can affect a community’s health span over a different period. Carolyn also talks about her research findings on urban renewals in DC and how it has impacted health. To hear more about how people’s attachment to their location, physical neighborhood condition, and how structure without higher safety standards can affect your health, go to 11:06.

The Impacts of Urban Renewal 

At 16:45, Carolyn talks about how the federal government has worked significantly to protect the urban renewal to enhance long-term healthy housing. She also describes how urban renewal displaced early homes, which directly affected people’s health due stress and trauma that resulted from an entire community been uprooted and detached from its neighborhood. Lastly, Carolyn explains urban renewal catalysts and models that were followed in moving the people to different places, how segregation in some areas made it easier for them to be denied resources, and how displacement affected people’s ability to access more resources.

Greedy Algorithm and Quality Structures Cannot Coexist.

Investment in Tyler House during the 1990s was a real urban renewal crisis whose fall was not only shocking but also very impactful as people lost their assets tremendously. Poor management and irresponsibility made the building a safety concern and raised insecurity in the neighborhood. At 21:25, Melissa shares her story on how she went through trauma during childhood because of poor decisions that were made to save money as opposed to providing a high-level safety structure.  This inspired her toward public health, and she created a go-back to ensure she don’t forget the moment to help the next generation. 

Resources Allocation and Priority Setting in Public Health 

Carolyn describes how public health investments have been privatized to ensure there are adequate funds. The presence of sufficient resources ensures there is the proper enhancement of healthy housing. There is so much priority placed on housing conditions and people in power should ensure they keep the conditions healthy and provide stability by keeping unhealthy conditions from happening and addressing them to help them retain people in their homes.  To hear more on how health housing concerns can affect people well-being and tear down communities, listen at 27:12 

Urban Planning, Displacement, and Health Impact

According to Carolyn, in public health a technical orientation process has thrived for a long time, and it does not adequately account for urban manual. The American public housing association created different strategies to identify neighborhoods targeted for urban development. Priorities are given to neighborhoods based on the recommendations provided after an assessment score on the physical conditions. She arguably states that past experiences have been an eye-opener to many people, and the public is more aware of the processes and effects of urban renewal. To learn more about urban planning processes and public health, go to 29:45.

The role of Architects in Urban Planning and Urban Resilience

At 33:55, Carolyn shares the roles of architect in urban renewal and planning for the buildings created in the neighborhoods in the context of ideologies, overall design, and structures can achieve a concentric neighborhood for people to live effectively. She stresses that all professions, including architecture, should have goals for their work and strategies on how to arrive at and develop their goals. Their culture and ideologies should make the neighborhood better than before.

Architects design buildings and decide on the projects to undertake and they should ensure they have phasing projects to create housing for people without displacing them from their property. This way, everybody will be happy; they will not be wiping out the community, losing the school system, or anything that matters to the neighborhood. To listen to Melissa’s thoughts on how architectures should strategize urban renewal to keep the community intact in the context of demystification, go to 41:28

Divergence in Planning for Affordable Housing 

There is a fundamental housing attempts to address housing affordability but developers view them as low income-generating projects. According to Carolyn, despite the high number of people struggling with housing affordability in DC and New York, the government fears that if it tries to make it a requirement for the developers to provide affordable housing, they will not undertake such projects. Carolyn argues that promoting different models for delivering affordable housing by moving housing outside the speculative market and the pressure that drives up the prices can help resolve housing problems. To hear more about urbanization and affordable housing, listen at 48:07.

The Facts About Displacement 

When people think about displacement, they often think of it in the sense of physical displacement from their neighborhood. But according to Carolyn, we should also think about it in terms of the removal of neighborhood that people knew and lived in. When everything changes around us, that is a formal displacement, and it can leave us feeling like our neighborhood is leaving us. 

Changing the system of how things are done in urban renewal will take time, probably our lifetime, but according to Carolyn, neighborhoods that experience demystification so rapidly often has appropriate conditions and opportunities that allow that to happen. To listen more on how and why neighborhoods are changing and the aspects that should be retained, tune in at 53:23

KEY NUGGETS:

[03:15] Carolyn back story 

[05:28] The mysteries behind anthropology

[06:22] The transformations in urban development

[08:45] The inspirations that cultivated Carolyn interest in public health 

[11:06] Urban renewal and the problematic public health 

[16:45] The impacts of urban renewal 

[21:25] Greedy algorithms and quality structures cannot coexist.

[27:12] Resources allocation and priority setting in public health

[29:25] Urban planning, displacement, and health impact

[33:45] The role of architects in urban planning and urban resilience

[48:07] Divergence in planning for affordable housing 

[53:23] The facts about displacement