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Urban heat and within-city residential sorting

Author

Listed:
  • Borsky, Stefan
  • Fesselmeyer, Eric
  • Vogelsang, Lennart

Abstract

This study presents new causal evidence on how urban heat contributes to sorting within a city. We estimate a discrete choice residential sorting model that includes census-tract fixed effects and controls for open space and green coverage to analyze how differences in urban heat at the census-tract level influence the location choices of New York City homeowners given their race, ethnicity, and income. Our results show clear patterns of residential sorting, with whites and high-income households outcompeting other racial/ethnic groups and low-income households for housing in cooler neighborhoods. Our counterfactual exercise, inspired by Cool Neighborhoods NYC, reveals that heat-mitigation policies can make poorer and minority households, on average, worse off. These findings are striking, considering that such programs often aim to enhance welfare in heat-exposed neighborhoods predominantly inhabited by low-income and minority households.

Suggested Citation

  • Borsky, Stefan & Fesselmeyer, Eric & Vogelsang, Lennart, 2024. "Urban heat and within-city residential sorting," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:127:y:2024:i:c:s0095069624000883
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2024.103014
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Urban heat; Environmental justice; Sorting; Housing; Structural model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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