Date of Award

Spring 5-10-2019

Department

Environmental Studies

Advisor(s)

John Van Buren

Abstract

This paper addresses green affordable housing initiatives in the South Bronx and the contemporary policy and development practices which support its rise. Additionally, it argues that this type of infrastructure is an effective measure in bridging the gap between affordability and sustainability in low-income neighborhoods, making sustainable and livable lifestyles more accessible to people who have been unable to access it up to this point. Correlating housing and income data with patterns of personal sustainability practices, this paper examines the South Bronx and the rise of the development of affordable housing projects that champions sustainability there. In the first two chapters, I explore rates of sustainability in low-income neighborhoods and historic conditions of housing in the Bronx, respectively. In the third chapter, I discuss the contemporary New York City housing and planning policies and developer’s benefits that motivate affordable sustainability. In the fourth chapter, I discuss green architectural and developmental practices that make sustainable living tangible and examine a contemporary South Bronx green housing project, Via Verde in Melrose. The concluding chapter argues that there must be more outside action in fostering the development of green affordable housing in South Bronx, a historically neglected and disadvantaged community which could become a mecca of sustainable living options in the future.

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