Innovation, Intention and Inequities

This paper analyzes how the development of innovation districts in industrial waterfront zones affects the social vulnerabilities of working class, minority and immigrant neighborhoods towards gentrification. Research uses Sunset Park, Brooklyn as a neighborhood case study and incorporates a mixed-methodology design through archival research and qualitative interviews. This study first defines the pre-existing risks and relationship between industrial use zoning and neighborhood social vulnerabilities through archival research of neighborhood history and recent urban developments. Qualitative data is generated through interviews of neighborhood residents, community activist organizations and non-profits of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, tenants of Industry City, advocates of Innovation Districts, and urban planners to understand the potential, social impacts of innovation districts and their adaptive re-use schemes upon working class neighborhoods.