Mapping Humboldt Park: Climate Displacement of the Puerto Rican Diaspora of Chicago

• In Event: Barrio Dreams, Diaspora Memories

Abstract

The Puerto Rican population of Chicago has a long history of displacement and facing multiple obstacles of oppression. Important aspects of this history have been examined by scholars. However, little attention has been devoted to the politics of climate. Seeking to begin to address this gap in the scholarly literature, this presentation explores how policy-derived climate dynamics have been used to uproot Puerto Ricans within the Humboldt Park area, from the greener East side to the heat island of West Humboldt Park. Census tract and land satellite data reveal that East Humboldt Park has lower land surface temperature due to more tree canopy cover. In contrast, the West Side of the neighborhood is marked by disparities of greening and excessive invasive plants, which have diminished biodiversity, excessive pollen, and lack of shade creating excessive heat. Armed with interconnected data, I show how historically rooted and politically-imposed climatic vulnerabilities harm marginalized communities and expose them to urban governmentalities that further displace them.

Author

• Anissa Camacho, University of California Berkeley