The Central Brooklyn Oral History Atlas project is…
A community mapping project focused social change in central Brooklyn neighborhoods — especially change related to gentrification. We use a combination of geographic information science (GIS) and digital humanities to analyze the long term impact of gentrification. We’re interested in what happens after a neighborhood has already gentrified. We study topics such as:
- Varying degrees of gentrification, as it intensifies over time
- Interactions between newer and historical communities
- New types of development patterns (e.g. new build luxury housing)
- New forms of displacement (e.g. displacement of the middle class)
Our team
We are an academic research partnership between scholars at two central Brooklyn universities: Medgar Evers College and the Pratt Institute. The principal investigators include John Lauermann, Darrel Alejandro Holnes, and Maria DeLongoria. We also work with a group of talented student research assistants. Our funders and partners include the National Science Foundation, the CUNY Research Foundation, Brooklyn Public Library, the Spatial Analysis and Visualization Initiative, and the Caribbean Research Center.
Get involved
We are very interested in connecting with central Brooklyn stakeholders. If you want to participate, please fill out this short survey form.
In phase 1 of the project, we are recruiting participants for oral history interviews. The oral histories explore themes related to gentrification: how it changed your neighborhood, and how that impacted your perception of the neighborhood (e.g., your sense of belonging, or your interactions with neighbors). If you have lived or worked in central Brooklyn for more than 10 years (or were displaced from central Brooklyn), we’d love to connect!
In phase 2, we will partner with researchers, students, artists, and citizen-scientists to work on community mapping projects. The maps will be available online, and through print publications.