Housing Market Discrimination and Residential Segregation, 1920-1970

Racial and ethnic segregation in U.S. cities has been linked to a wide range of contemporary social problems, including inequalities in employment, education, and health. This study investigates the origins of the very high levels of residential segregation in metropolitan areas that were reached by the mid- to late-20th Century. The project examines which neighborhoods were targeted for restrictive covenants, deeds that restrict a property owner from renting or selling to identified racial and ethnic groups.

The study considers the impact of both restrictive covenants and mortgage redlining – the designation of racial and ethnic minority neighborhoods as high-risk for lending – on neighborhood and socioeconomic change. In addition to the experience of African Americans, this study investigates the segregation of Hispanic Americans, who were a major presence in many urban areas as early as the 1930s.

The research generates new data infrastructure that will be useful to other social scientists, including high resolution GIS maps and census data across 45 major cities for every decade from 1920 through 1970.

To better understand the origins and impacts of residential segregation, this project intensively studies 45 major metropolitan areas in the period 1920-1970. Data sources include newly available redlining maps prepared by the Home Owners Loan Corporation in the late 1930s, mapped data on the location of restrictive covenants in several cities, and Census data at the enumeration district scale.

Data visualization is paired with models of neighborhood change that estimate the effects of redlining and restrictive covenants over time. Better understanding the processes that created residential segregation is useful to decision-makers who are taking steps to undermine residential segregation and its social and economic harms.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.