Gentrification in City of Pittsburgh
Mapping a Wicked Problem — TEAM CATALYST
Team Members
- Charmaine Qiu, charmaiq@andrew.cmu.edu
- Aman Sinha, amansinh@andrew.cmu.edu
- Gloria Moon, gmoon@andrew.cmu.edu
- Yongwen Dai, yongwend@andrew.cmu.edu
Assignment Overview
Assignment #1, Mapping Wicked Problems, is the first of five assignments that explores the transition design approach for tackling complex, wicked problems and initiating systems-level changes. In particular, our team dove deep into the wicked problem of Gentrification in Pittsburgh. Mapping a wicked problem is a great introduction to transition design because it allows the team to see the overall emerging issue and major connections across multiple sectors of life.
Background
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood by the influx of more wealthy residents and businesses, usually accompanied by the displacement of the current inhabitants. Pittsburgh is one of the most gentrified cities in the US with some of the famous neighborhoods continuing to be gentrified. For example, Hill District was once a prosperous black majority community but since the 1950s, it has been largely changed for ‘urban renewal’ with the sacrifice of 8000 residents displaced and 400 shops shut down. Gentrification is still a major issue in Pittsburgh that has a multitude of external forces and factors.
Research Process
Before mapping the wicked problem and drawing connections between sectors, our team jumped right into intensive secondary research. We absorbed and learned information on the internet ranging from the newspaper, articles, journals, videos, and more. We also took notes, wrote stickies, and shared key observations and insights with our peers in meetings. Once we felt familiar with the direction and topic of gentrification in Pittsburgh, we started grouping stickies through affinity diagramming. We saw major categories where notes started to align and connect. From there we dove deeper into each sector’s issues and insights. After mapping with the given template of a wicked problem diagram, our team decided to utilize a bullseye structure to make our process and the thread of events within each category. We realized that following a circular structure can visually storytell the logic behind each root cause, and determine the layer of events by following a chronological or cause-and-effect order.
STEEP Framework
To better understand gentrification on a larger scale, our team utilized the STEEP framework1. This is a common framework to analyze the different external factors that impact an inner entity. The acronym STEEP stands for Social, Technological, Economical, Environmental, and Political.
Overall Map
The pdf version of the mapping can be accessed here.
Social
We realized that gentrification is a central ingredient in the reproduction of capitalism and it shows the downside of the endless capital accumulation. The root of this phenomenon is people’s mindset. The priority of private developers is making money which ignores the needs from the disadvantaged and original residents. New coming wealthy people, for example, many of them are from New York, are willing to pay more money to have a high quality life, which increases the living standards in the neighborhood and makes it unaffordable for the original residents. Original residents had no choice but to move out of the place that they spent a long time living in, destroying the culture and community sense. Sadly, these negative impacts are always made up with the decline of the crime rate and revitalization of the local economy.
Local institutions formed by original residents can have positive effects in this process. Good examples such as Lawrenceville in Pittsburgh, the local institution offers both assistance and listen to the demands from neighborhood residents, protecting people from displacement and culture destruction.
Technological/Infrastructural
In Pittsburgh, technological advancement has influenced gentrification in a number of ways. First off, as technology-related businesses and sectors have grown, a highly educated and affluent populace has drawn to the city, raising housing demand and prices in some areas. Low- and middle-income residents are now unable to afford housing, which causes them to be evicted from their houses. Second, previously underinvested areas are now more accessible thanks to the growth of new technology and transportation infrastructure, which attracts investors and residents with greater incomes. As a result, long-term residents are evicted and housing expenses rise. The confluence of gentrification and technological advancement in Pittsburgh emphasizes the need for laws that guarantee equitable access to resources and opportunities for all citizens.
Economic
When mapping the Economic/Business issues of Gentrification in Pittsburgh, our team focused on events and paradigms that created instability in Pittsburgh’s economy, which further led to the displacement of its residents. We looked at historical events like the Collapse of steel mills, as well as the current effects of COVID-19 as root causes of the issues. We were able to learn how the fluctuation of the economy can create opportunities for real estate developers to invest in gentrification.
Environmental
With the environmental factors, we tried to map the relationships between gentrification and environment — not from a human perspective but nature’s. Keeping people aside, this part of the map explored how gentrification relates to flora, fauna, and other natural resources. This aspect was particularly interesting as gentrification does not necessarily have a negative impact on the environment always — while it does good by bringing in greens in areas being developed, this eventually leads to them becoming huge sinks of energy and resources. In the case of Pittsburgh, as low-income and working-class residents lose their homes, they are compelled to relocate to neighborhoods farther from the city center, where there is less access to public transportation and green spaces. This results in a greater reliance on private automobiles, increasing carbon emissions as well as air and water pollution.
Political
The Political/Legal section mapped how laws and governance are failing to address or exacerbate Gentrification in Pittsburgh. We realized that current policies are not addressing the long-term needs of the general public, while Local leaders, who make decisions driven by privileged mindsets, urge to attract investment to boost the economy. We also examined historical implications that led to the current challenges of the decreasing minority population and the above-average property tax rate.
Challenges
Mapping gentrification in Pittsburgh was a challenging exercise for our team, as wicked problems like ours are complex and interconnected in numerous facets. Without expertise in the STEEP categories related to gentrification, it was difficult to comprehensively understand the entire system. However, this prompted us to conduct research and expand our knowledge around each category before working on the map. One major challenge for our team was to determine the root causes related to each category. As there are many interdependent components and relationships involved in every incident, it can be ambiguous to give logical reasoning toward the underlying cause of each thread of events. To rationalize our decisions, we recognized and accepted that mapping wicked problems can be subjective based on the experience and understanding of its creators, and tried to trace every incident back to its origin that makes the most sense in terms of the flow of events. Additionally, not only are the inner connections complex but also the outer connections between categories. The more we understood the different parts of the STEEP framework, the more connections we saw and themes started to overlap. Thus, our team made connections across the map and connected pieces to even other wicked problems besides gentrification in Pittsburgh.
Next Steps
Upon completing the mapping of the wicked problem, our team now better understands the interdependencies and dynamics of gentrification in Pittsburgh. Our next step is to analyze the stakeholders involved in this wicked problem. Thus, we have already started to identify as many stakeholders that are impacted by gentrification and will continue to analyze and draw connections between groups.
Reflection
Overall, mapping a wicked problem introduced all team members to the detailed approaches in transition design and the complex factors that influence other surrounding factors. This exercise was helpful and eye-opening to the root causes and connections of gentrification in Pittsburgh. One thing we found helpful was understanding the different layers of information. Through various colors, transparencies, shapes, and lines, our team carefully built an information architecture that conveyed the level of complexity on gentrification as we wanted. Many of the class examples seemed overwhelming at first, but we quickly learned ways to make our diagram easily digestible by the reader.
As a team, we really enjoyed this assignment and found the collaboration on Miro and Google Drive to be effective. Miro is really a good place for placing stickies, grouping similar categories, and synthesizing new insights based on former observations. It is also a very new experience for some team members working in such a collaborative and interdisciplinary team. Coming from different backgrounds, our team members each provided a different perspective and approach to completing the assignment. Despite differences in academic background, studies, timezone, age, and more, our team used our communication and collaboration skills to our advantage. We’re excited to learn more about gentrification in Pittsburgh from different lenses and also about each other!
References
- Contributor, PESTLEanalysis. “What Is Steep Analysis and 5 Steps to Conduct One.” PESTLE Analysis, 1 Dec. 2022, https://pestleanalysis.com/what-is-steep-analysis/.
- Ncrc. (2019, April 9). Pittsburgh City Paper: Pittsburgh is one of the most gentrified cities in the U.S. “ NCRC. NCRC. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- Special to the Capital-Star, P. C.-S. M. 4. (2021, May 4). How rising rents and renovations have displaced Pittsburghers and added to the city’s ongoing issues with gentrification — pennsylvania capital. Star. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- The Pittsburgh Neighborhood Project. (2022, November 19). Gentrification and displacement in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Neighborhood Project. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- You don’t have to go far to find gentrification in Pittsburgh. utimes. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2023.
