Boston’s Chinatown exemplifies a complex sociopolitical landscape where immigrant families living at the heart of urban commerce and industrialization remain systematically marginalized from participating in and benefiting from its growth.
During the urban renewal movement of the 1960s, modern infrastructure such as highways and railroads cut through the urban fabric we know as downtown Boston today. As the middle and upper class move out to the suburbs, immigrant workers flocked to the inner cities.
As a result, Chinatown’s demographic grew highly concentrated with low-income, first-generation immigrants. Today, 70% of the neighborhood’s residents are Chinese-speaking and 64% do not speak English.
However, Chinatown’s public perception, much like its infrastructure, has been historically torn between sympathy and scrutiny. Located near rapidly expanding medical facilities, local tenants were among the first casualties. Chinatown nearly lost one-third of its original size during this period of unconfined institutional expansion.
The living conditions in Chinatown were also detrimental. A 1970 survey revealed that 78% of the housing was overcrowded and 72% was deteriorating or dilapidated — a stark contrast to the rest of Boston, where only 14% and 7% of housing faced these conditions, respectively. By 1990, Chinatown had “9,000 residences per acre of open space in the city, and the lowest housing vacancy rate in Boston.”
By far the largest singular blow, however, was the construction of the Massachusetts Turnpike lanes. This four lane highway connected downtown to Interstate 90, but also tore the local community in two halves. Hundreds of families living along Hudson Street had no choice but to move out, while the rows of houses turned to ramps and retaining walls.
Now, more than six decades later, the city is attempting to repair some of that damage. Under the Department of Education, the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Grant Program builds infrastructures that will mend the once eradicated urban fabric.
The initiative targets Parcels 19, 20, 21 and 22 along the Massachusetts Turnpike corridor. The vision includes green infrastructure, more open space and housing and community facilities — amenities which address the chronic lack of public space that has plagued Chinatown since the highway’s construction.
The project employs “air rights development,” — a planning method that builds on top of or immediately adjacent to major transportation infrastructure. By applying such a design provision, this project introduces decking on top of the Massachusetts Turnpike. It means constructing over the highway itself to literally stitch together neighborhoods that have been divided for generations.
Yet this initiative is not without its challenges. The MBTA Orange Line tunnel running beneath Parcel 20 makes it difficult to build structural support. While the mission remains ambitious, a thorough feasibility analysis must be conducted to ensure the construction meets the city’s sustainability and safety standards.
Air rights projects are notoriously expensive and logistically challenging. This one is no exception. However, the federal government recently rescinding $327 billion in funding for the Allston Multimodal Projects, painting an uncertain future for all RCP grant recipients. Potential financial drawbacks like these must be factored in during the planning process if the project is to carry forth smoothly in the future.
The Reconnecting Chinatown project remains a seed to reconsolidate past injuries to local communities. Whether it becomes a restorative urban project or another chapter in the neighborhood’s long history of broken promises remains to be seen.
