When a big technology company moves to town, it often promises eco-friendly infrastructure and encourages a sustainability ethos to go along with it.
When a big technology company moves to town, it often promises eco-friendly infrastructure and encourages a sustainability ethos to go along with it.
That was the idea when Amazon announced plans to bring its headquarters to Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood a decade ago. It coincided with low-carbon investments the area had already been making—a new light rail between downtown and the airport, more protected bike lanes—and the company’s desire to promote a climate-friendly lifestyle.
But as well-paid tech workers arrived in South Lake Union and adjacent neighborhoods, moving physically close to the headquarters building and public transit options, the area’s demographics started to shift in what Pennsociologist Daniel Aldana Cohen and colleagues describe as “carbon gentrification.” Beyond that, instead of a resulting in a lower carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions and overall consumption there likely increased.
Read more at University of Pennsylvania
Image: When Amazon announced plans to bring its headquarters (seen here) to Seattle a decade ago, it promised eco-friendly infrastructure and encourages a sustainability ethos to go along with it. But according to new research from Penn and others, its arrival likely led to gentrification and stable or increased carbon emissions. CREDIT: University of Pennsylvania
