The role of community-based strategies in addressing metropolitan segregation and racial health disparities

This paper is a conceptual analysis of the effects of racial residential segregation, which is a major contributor to racial and ethnic health disparities. Metropolitan segregation has had adverse health consequences for economically disadvantaged and minority populations because they are exposed to higher levels of environmental pollutants and have limited opportunities to gain a quality education, access to healthcare, and increase their economic opportunity. Based on our empirical and theoretical analysis we provide a holistic framework that takes an ecological systems approach to understand the affects of urban health and health disparities. We contend that in order to improve the urban/environmental health conditions for the most vulnerable urban populations, it will require comprehensive community and regional focused strategies that link local community development efforts to larger macro-level metropolitan regional strategies.