The urban space not only reflects the profound changes in people's lives, but also reveals many social problems. Different element which includes the building, neighborhoods, housing and transportation create a sense of spatial relationship and emphasize the importance of equality in opportunity and comprehensive development. According to the article of “Why Spatial, Why Justice, Why LA”, Edward W. Soja defines the concept of “spatiality justice” as, “an integral and formative component of justice itself, a vital part of how justice and injustice are socially constructed and evolve over time” (1, Soja). In this way, he illustrates that the spatial justice becomes fundamentally important in our society and the struggle over geography is …show more content…
Meanwhile, its core is to maximize both efficiency and fairness in a region. However, today, many cities emerge a complex social contradictions and spatial injustice, the Mexico-U.S. border, Tijuana-San Diego is one of the example. Tijuana is a city where full of migrants. Since it is just a wall between the United States and Mexico, many Mexico immigrate to Tijuana to pursuit of a better job opportunity in the industry and start a new life. In fact, the background history of Tijuana is similar to the Chicano Park, both of the land are inhabited with Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans, and the resentment also grew with the rising of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. Behind the prosperity in Tijuana, many people has ignored the residents who explore from the industrial hazards in their neighborhoods. Their homeland was rezoned as mixed residential and industrial. Even though, they were suffering from different pollution, there is no one help them and lodge a formal complaint. At the same time, a lack of public transportation in Tijuana restricts their job opportunity and forces them to live near their working industry in …show more content…
Tijuana, San Diego, it is not only a a dominant manufacturing center in the San diego, but also a home of more than 4000000 people. The promotion of the industrial development results in the dramatically grew of the maquiladora industry. Nonetheless, few people notice the environmental health effects of maquiladoras which the low-income and minority group are facing in their neighborhoods. When the harmful industry activities are unevenly distributed in the area of Tijuana, the spatial injustice also emergences. Actually, the people who live in Tijuana expose in a higher age-infant mortality and perinatal mortality comparing to other district in San Diego. Everyday, the resident breathes in the toxic air and even uses the polluted water which flows from the maquiladoras. The growing of factories in this area causes a serious threat to the health of the resident due to the solvents, acids, and heavy metals. On the other hand, the air quality problem in Tijuana is extremely serious when the level of black carbon were two times higher than in other place of San Diego. In fact, Soja demonstrates about the idea of unjust geographies when he mentions, “Unjust geographies arises endogenously or internally from the distributional inequalities through decision making by individual, firms and government” (9, Soja). When the city planner and government allow the
They include; spatial analysis in environmental justice research that takes history into consideration, research that focuses on the forces that compel people to live beside hazardous facilities, studies that considers the impact that different facilities have on health, property values, jobs, host community compensation and many others. The author also emphasized the importance of studying the impact of pollution associated with the activities of small-scale organizations such as gas stations and garages on people living in such
This book illuminates the challenges and obstacles Chicano residents of Southeast San Diego have endured since the inception of their communities. Through multiple essays, it is pointed out that the efforts to fight for equal access have an “added dimension” due to its close proximity to the U.S -Mexican border. This relates to my topics because the struggles of San Diego are not only local, but national and international because the people that are negatively impacted by these issues such as environmental are immigrants. I hope to use this book to connect the national debate on immigration with the struggle for environmental justice because it is unfair that the people who do the least environmental damage are the ones suffering the most.
Here, she describes the health concerns of immigrants arising from polluted Latino communities. Mora explains how immigrants are harmed by “toxic waste, pesticide runoff, lead exposure from old housing, trash, graffiti, and air pollution”(Mora 662). She describes how this pollution contributes to many illnesses such as “asthma, learning disabilities, cancers, and birth defects” (Mora 662). Immigrants’ injuries caused by pollution angers me, because this is easily preventable. I do not understand why the U.S. government has not taken measures to ensure that Latino communities meet the standards for environmental cleanliness. The final section of Mora’s writing gives me hope that Latino immigrants can prevent the health problems associated with acculturating in America. This portion of the essay provides an inspirational ending in which the author focuses on ideas to protect the health and culture of Latinos in a foreign environment. I believe Juana Mora offers a compelling argument proving that immigration is detrimental to the health of Latino immigrants while providing solutions to help resolve this
In “New Axioms for Reading the Landscape: Paying Attention to Political Economy and Social Justice,” Don Mitchell incorporates old ideas from Peirce F. Lewis’s original “Axioms for Reading the Landscape.” At the same time, Mitchell includes new ideas into his axioms. In Axiom 1, he explains that “the landscape is not produced through ‘our unwitting autobiography’ (as Lewis describes it), but as an act of (social, not individual) will” (2007, 34). He also stresses the idea that landscape should be produced as a commodity. In contrast, Neil Smith explains the main causes behind gentrification. Smith explains how gentrification happens through a process which he calls “rent gap” (1979, 545). In gentrification, the landscape is a commodity because it loses and gains monetary value through disinvestment and investment.
The immigration story of the United States includes groups of individuals from many different countries, one such group was that of the U.S.’s southern neighbor Mexico. In the book, Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945, George J. Sánchez writes about the Mexican immigrants’ experience migrating to California and settling there, particularly in the Los Angeles area. Sánchez argues that many Mexican immigrants felt “betwixt and between” their homeland and the United States, and his book examines the forces pulling them in both directions. On the one side, Americans wanted the Mexicans in the
Environmental ethics has widely circled around human interactions with biotic ecosystems. Little voice has been given to city residents who are overexposed to environmental hazards. It is a subject rarely touched upon by mainstream environmentalist. Though conservation efforts receive much media attention and advocacy, environmental pollution in urban areas inhabited by minorities and the impoverished receive less attention despite it clearly being a grave injustice. It fact, it can be argued that minority and impoverished neighborhoods are deliberately targeted by corporations and governmental agencies because of the inherit vulnerability of the inhabitants. It is no secret that the impoverished in this country frequently live in areas characterized
One other glaring example of the injustice committed by gentrification is the attack on localized social life, which in itself is a manifestation of the many wrongs perpetuated by this so called “painless” process, because before gentrification many of these areas were able to create and foster this sense of communal solidarity, which afforded and allowed them to build generational relationships, which placed an emphasis on creating a real sense of community pride. Therefore, many of the local residents took to the heart in looking out for what was best for their neighbors, thus there was not this sense of entitlement exhibited in residents, but a real sense of pride in knowing that they themselves were able to create something uniquely their own
Mexico has experienced many reforms economically, socially, and politically in recent history leading itself into becoming a more well developed country. Typically, when people think of Mexico they think of the corruption in the government, the violent drug cartels, the widespread poverty, and the long time one party dominance of the government. Although these are major problems, they are not problems that are impossible to fix, or are currently being fixed. They are not persistent all throughout Mexico either, there are places where poverty, violent drug cartels, and corruption is non existent. Mexico is often misunderstood and generalized for a few flaws and characteristics it possesses. By the previously accepted definition,
Throughout history of the United States and Mexican border there has been multiple depths of changes and immigration. From the area trading country ownership to population changes to having a fence line created on it. Seen in Figure1, the U.S.-
In the film ‘’Maquilapolis’’ it tells the story of the human cost of globalization; focusing on group of female factory workers in Tijuana, which is home to hundreds of factories. Over the course of several years, a group of factory workers were a part of the documentary to tell their stories. The workers faced issues that included human rights abuses, danger from toxic chemicals both in the factory and in the environments all around the factories. A group of ‘’maquiladoras’’ became community advocates, and actively pushed to improve their situation and attempt to make a change and let their voices be heard. Large corporations play a key role in widening this gap. These corporations/companies move there productions to places like Tijuana to and other foreign places to for tax breaks and for cheap labor. They also use their connections to ensure government policy works for them. There is a huge gap between the super-rich and the rest of the world population that traps millions in poverty, fracturing our societies and undermining our democracy. It leaves more people living in fear and fewer in hope. Migration is a complex process and has been a feature of human societies for many centuries. There are many reasons why people choose to migrate. Migration means merely the movement of humans from one place to another with the purpose to find better opportunities. Many migrate to the states in search for
Due to recent changes in legalization of Marijuana, the question of it being an addictive substance has come up often. According to Dale Archer, M.D., the vast majority of people that are avid marijuana users show no addictive symptoms, they can take it or leave it (Archer, M.D., 2012). This topic is of great interest as the response to the legalization of marijuana is gaining differing opinions from different generations. Many people assume that marijuana itself is addicting, research shows that the main ingredient THC or Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol is not chemically addictive (Archer, M.D., 2012). There is a line between use and abuse; any substance can be abused, whether it is soda, food, cocaine or other drugs. The question is do the chemicals in
Firstly, environmental racism is referring effect on industrial pollution on lower income group and working community with color. Environmental racism brings social inequality to the minority people, excludes them from the community and any exclusion is an act of racism (Pulido, 2010, p.538). Moreover, environmental racism can be most detrimental to the specific group of people. The harmfulness of environmental racism exists in the relationship between community residents and environment. In the case of water crisis in Flint, the serious situation is caused by industry pollution and government inaction. The emergency manager aimed to save five million, changed the extracted water from Detroit system to Flint river (Ruth, 2017). Flint car brand general motor poured out the industrial toxic rubbish into flint river. Furthermore, Flint river used half a century sematic system. It means the water sources from the Flint river is not safe. Therefore, Government add the chlorine gas in Flint river to eliminate water bacteria. The new chemical byproduct THEM caused deadly outbreak. The Flint government did not handle urban metabolism well. On the one hand, the vehicle company pour the rubbish to the river and damage the natural environment. On the other hand, Lead poisoned water harm to people’s health. Local residence drink poisoned water will feel bone pain, muscle pain and fatigue. Moreover, children drink poisoned water will permanent damage intelligence and immune system (Ruth, 2017). Children always get sick and cannot go to school normally. Since Local residence does not have clean water to drink, and severely affecting their normal life. On the one hand, scale is the important tool to analyze the environmental racism. In 2000, Pulido demonstrates that Environmental racism should concern the various scale in “the
Hazards and pollutants are apparent in a variety of outcomes. Possible outcomes include asthma, cancer and chemical poisoning (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004: 1647). Furthermore, “Although debated, the main hypothesis explaining these disparities is that disadvantaged communities encounter greater exposure to environmental toxins such as air pollution, pesticides, and lead” (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004: 1647). Therefore, disadvantaged groups, such as people of color and the poor, experience greater environmental risks. Additionally, “Blacks in particular are exposed to a disproportionate amount of pollution and suffer the highest levels of lead and pesticide poisoning and other associated health problems” (Jones and Rainey 2006: 474). People of color, essentially, compete to live healthily. For example, African-Americans and Africans alike, struggle with the negative affects of oil refineries and unresponsive governments. The same can be said for Hispanics in California and the natives of Ecuador, who are forced to cope with the pollution of the Texaco oil refineries (Bullard 2001: 4). Environmental racism not only exploits natural resources, it abuses and profits from the communities involved. Governments and polluting facilities will continue to capitalize on the economic susceptibilities of poor communities, states, nations and regions for their “unsound” and hazardous operations (Bullard 2001: 23).
Gentrification has been a controversial issue both in urban planning and politics primarily due to the displacement of poor people by the rich folks (Shaw & Hagemans, 2015). Many individuals have viewed gentrification as an illegal act that should be avoided at all costs. On the other hand, another group of people believe that gentrification is the way forward to promoting growth and development. With such contrasting ideas, this paper is going to take a look at gentrification from a positive and negative perspective, its effects, and how it can be prevented or contained. Apart from this, the paper will also address the following questions.
As I have mentioned above, the origin of spatial mismatch phenomenon was found through the empirical test. However, the theoretical conception is still unclear. There was no literature which provides the micro foundations for this hypothesis until Brueckner & Martin (1997) develop a theoretical model to directly address the welfare effect of spatial mismatch hypothesis. The authors adopted a fixed-wage model with a setup of the linear city. Besides taking the traditional assumption of the hypothesis, the authors also take two spatial elements into account, that is, job decentralization and a restriction of non-white housing relocation to the suburbs. Under the analyses, Brueckner & Martin indicated that spatial mismatch has caused the non-white inner-city workers to pay higher rent at a certain commuting distance and thus obtain lower real wage. This was translated as a welfare loss for non-white.