Cultivating equitable and resilient housing solutions for Miami

A group of more than 60 community advocates, government leaders, architects, developers, and researchers came together this week to talk about how to equitably address the rapidly transforming housing landscape in South Florida.

Hosted by the University of Miami’s Office of Civic and Community Engagement (CCE), the symposium “United for Change: Miami’s Forum on Climate, Community, and Change” brought these stakeholders together Oct. 8 to focus on climate gentrification at HistoryMiami Museum. Climate gentrification refers to the process where neighborhoods that offer natural protections from climate impacts experience an increase in property values, which then often leads to the displacement of existing residents and a loss of cultural heritage.

“We can’t understand the impacts of climate gentrification without knowing how it effects people’s lived experiences,” said Robin Bachin, founding director of CCE and Charlton W. Tebeau associate professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Residents in vulnerable communities are already seeing rising rents, increased land speculation, and threats to neighborhood stability, so it’s imperative that we center community voices when considering solutions to climate gentrification.”

For the last two years, CCE has been studying this issue in Miami-Dade County, evaluating neighborhood environmental conditions through an initiative called “Listening and Learning: Understanding Climate Gentrification,” funded by a grant from JPMorgan Chase.

“The key to building resilient communities and helping families avoid climate gentrification-related displacement lie in increasing access to resources and collaborative programs,” said Maria Escorcia, head of global philanthropy for the Southeast at JPMorgan Chase. “JPMorgan Chase is proud to support sustainable and affordable housing initiatives in Miami and South Florida to help build and sustain a more inclusive economy.”

Through this initiative, CCE researchers delved into academic studies on climate gentrification and worked with partners such as Catalyst Miami, The Allapattah Collaborative, CDC, and Miami Homes for All to document individual and community experiences with climate gentrification. They also worked with the School of Law’s Environmental Justice Clinic to create a “Displacement Vulnerability and Mitigation Tool” that helps to forecast the risk of displacement in current neighborhoods across Miami-Dade County, which were presented to local stakeholders on Tuesday.

Diane Shelley, principal deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), provided opening remarks for the symposium, highlighting how HUD is focused on promoting equitable and resilient housing through programs like the  Green and Resilient Retrofit Program.

Jorge Damian de la Paz, director of policy for the Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Office, shared Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s commitment to addressing the affordable housing and climate challenges.  The keynote speaker was Lisa Rice, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance, which works to eliminate housing discrimination and ensure equitable housing choices for all people. In her remarks, Rice underscored that climate-related displacement often impacts underserved groups, and particularly racial minorities. She spoke about federal legislation like Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing , which is a tool local communities can use to hold their government accountable for promoting equity and ending race-based discrimination in housing.

Then, Bachin presented the findings from the community conversations her team conducted to understand how local residents are thinking about housing, neighborhood stability, and climate. She said residents voiced grave concerns about the intersecting local challenges of lack of economic opportunity, rising housing costs, and more extreme weather that are impacting their families and communities. They want more input in local government decision making that affects their neighborhoods. In addition, they called for investment in more parks, green spaces, and trees that benefit current residents. And residents of neighborhoods that may be vulnerable to climate gentrification would like developers to include equitable land use and antidisplacement strategies when proposing new development projects.

The event concluded with breakout groups where experts in housing, building, government, and climate resilience got a chance to discuss policy solutions for climate gentrification locally.

“We have a lot of tools at our disposal, and they've worked in the past, and so it's a matter of learning from one another, learning from other communities, where things have worked, and adopting those practices to make sure that we're not leaving anyone behind in the process,” said Shanti Abedin, vice president of housing and community development at the National Fair Housing Alliance.

Mileyka Burgos-Flores, CEO of The Allapattah Collaborative, CDC, added:  “I think that if we have these three things—the alignment in solidarity across organizations, the holistic planning, and the compassion for our community, I think we can find better solutions.”

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