Northern Interstitiality: A GeoAI Analysis of Informal Jim Crow Spatial Legacies with Modern Contaminants and Infrastructure in Philadelphia

This project investigates the path-dependency of racialized urban planning in Philadelphia, specifically the liminal spaces occupied by Asian middleman minorities and Black residents during the Jim Crow era (1880–1940). Unlike the binary segregation of the South, Philadelphia’s informal Jim Crow operated at the micro-scale of alleys and street segments. By integrating historical IPUMS Census microdata and Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps with modern environmental data from the Philly Emerging Contaminants Initiative (PECI), this study uses computer vision and predictive modeling to determine if historical tri-racial interaction zones are statistically correlated with modern infrastructure contaminants—specifically, higher concentrations of PFAS and microplastics. The project tests the hypothesis that 19th-century tenderloin and bachelor society districts served as industrial buffers that created persistent environmental hazards.