Heavy Industry, People, and Planners: New Insights on an Old Issue

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Abstract
Protecting people from harm caused by nearby heavy industry is an old, and almost forgotten, goal of city planning. In this case study of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I show that industrial pollution is a serious source of con cern for nearby residents, who are dispropor tionately black. Analysis of factors associated with concern about neighborhood safety indi cates there is much that local planners can do, in cooperation with industry and state and federal regulators, to lessen fears about indus trial land uses. These findings provide the foundation for a discussion of policy options that planners can apply in dealing with heavy industry, once they realize that industrial uses are still a serious source of distress, particularly for poor and minority communities.