Mapping Uneven Geographies in Newark

Newark, New Jersey

By Michaela Kramer
income, race, historical analysis, environmental justice

Mapping the historical and contemporary conditions of class, race and place in Newark, New Jersey.

Newark, New Jersey experienced dramatic demographic shifts over the course of the 20th century. From the Great Depression-onwards, the city encountered a declining industrial center, patterns of “white flight” and loss of population. Much of those who remained or moved in, mostly communities of color, struggled against widespread government and private disinvestment. These conditions show themselves in the uneven geographies of Newark. The following maps serve to explore the intersection of class, race and place throughout Newark’s history and today.

The practice of “redlining” affected cities across the United States. Redlining refers to a series of maps created by the Home Owner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC) for the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in 1935 which classified sections of cities by how attractive they were for real-estate investment. Neighborhoods where investment was thought of to be strongest received “A” grades and those seen as weakest received a “D”. Consequently, high-ranking neighborhoods enjoyed high levels of investment while low-ranking ones were largely excluded from investment. What the maps did not explicitly show is that predominantly white communities received A grades and communities with greater minority populations received D grades. The “redlining” maps became a tool for denying people of color loans and naturalizing moralistic myths about the inner city Other.

The HOLC maps, and other discriminatory practices of the housing market, were outlawed by the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Still the impacts of redlining cast a long shadow on neighborhoods, which can be felt today.

Newark saw major population decline in the 20th century. The population only began leveling off in the past decade.

Patterns of white flight and the Great Migration of Southern African Americans to Northern cities is clear in Newark.

Another important demographic shift in Newark was the change in median household income.

Today, the city is marked by uneven geographies, for example that communities of color in Newark have higher exposure to contaminated sites compared to their white counterparts.

This map provides a closer look into the contemporary context of Newark. The relationship between race, income, flood zones and contaminated sites shows how geography reflects and reproduces the practices of the past 100 years in Newark.