Revisiting revitalization: exploring how structural determinants moderate pathways between neighborhood change and health

Vacant housing can produce many issues that affect residents’ quality of life, especially in historically segregated communities of color. To address these challenges, local governments invest in strategic, place-based revitalization initiatives focused on the regeneration of vacant housing. Yet, the outcomes of these efforts remain contested. To maximize health benefits of revitalization investments, a more nuanced understanding of pathways between neighborhood changes and residents’ responses, adaptations, and ability to thrive is necessary, though, remains largely absent in the literature. Using the Vacants to Value initiative in Baltimore, MD as a case study, we explore (1) how health manifests among certain groups in the context of vacant housing revitalization; (2) how vacant housing and its regeneration engender social and cultural environmental change i.e., gentrification; and (3) what structural determinants (cultural norms, policies, institutions, and practices) contribute to the distribution of material resources and benefits of revitalization. Results suggest that vacant housing revitalization requires more than just physical remedies to maximize health. Our findings demonstrate how vacant housing revitalization influences the physical environment, social environment, and structural determinants of material resources and community engagement that can ultimately impact residents’ physical, mental, and social health. This study recommends that because housing disparities are rooted in structural inequalities, how policies, practices, and processes moderate pathways for residents to adapt and benefit from neighborhood changes is consequential for health and health equity. Establishing shared governance structures is a promising approach to foster equitable decision-making and outcomes. Going forward in urban regeneration, pathways to retain and strengthen the social environment while revitalizing the physical environment may be promising to achieve healthy communities. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12939-022-01771-9.