Primary Submission Category: Non-health institutions (business, political, education systems)
The Effects of the Interstate Highway System as a Racialized Policy on Downstream Socioeconomic Factors: A Rapid Literature Review
Authors: Pamela Bonsu, Angela Chen, Anjum Hajat, Deven Hamilton, Yeeli Mui, Keshia Pollack Porter, Julia Wolfson, Jessica Jones-Smith,
Presenting Author: Pamela Bonsu*
Background. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 transformed the landscape of major cities in the United States by routing highways through thriving communities of color under the pretense of “urban renewal”. This practice is increasingly regarded as a mechanism of structural racism, with critics asserting that highways further entrenched patterns of residential segregation. However, empirical research examining highway development using critical race theory remains limited. We sought to identify existing scholarship on the longitudinal effects of highway development and to what extent structural racism was examined in the research.
Methods. We registered our protocol with PROSPERO and followed PRISMA guidelines. Eligible studies examined highways as an exposure, were published between 2007 and 2024, and had at least one socioeconomic outcome. We searched PubMed, PAIS Index, TRIS Online, and Sociological Abstracts, supplemented by snowballing, grey literature, and references from team members. Two reviewers independently assessed all references during the review process.
Preliminary Results. Our search returned 1,227 references, and 1,175 were excluded. We conducted a full-text review with 52 articles, yielding 23 eligible articles. Twelve were quantitative; nine were qualitative; one applied mixed methods; and one was a literature review. Studies provided a historical review, revealed the socioeconomic trajectory of regions impacted by highway development, and captured analytical methods used to model highways. While historical articles described highways as a causal driver of racialized neighborhood outcomes, most empirical studies did not explicitly address this.
Conclusion. The limited application of social theory in empirical studies suggests a critical gap in research that examines the impacts of highway development. The divergence between historical scholarship and empirical research indicates a greater need for inquiry that employs an interdisciplinary approach.