| Chapter 1: | Spatial and Environmental Justice in the Metropolis |
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an ideal site for exploring both extant and emergent inequities in the sociospatial distribution of environmental risks and burdens. Hillsborough is by far the largest county in the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, occupying approximately 1,050 mi2 with a population of 1,180,784 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). The county seat and the largest city is Tampa, which accounts for almost one-third of the county's population. Apart from dominating Tampa Bay demographically, the county also is the largest metropolitan market in Florida and the 10th largest consumer market in the United States. In 2008 the population composition of Hillsborough County was 16.6% African American 22.8% Hispanic, 3.1% Asian, and 57.0% non-Hispanic White, reflecting the county's racial and ethnic diversity (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). Due to this rich ethnic admixture, spurred on no doubt by the county's endless growth and rapid expansion since the early 1970s, the area has acquired a reputation as a low-waged, mostly low-skilled immigrant labor market which is dominated by a few economic sectors—tourism and recreational services, manufacturing, and construction. The county is also home to fairly significant phosphate mining and agribusiness industries which supply national and international agricultural markets with pesticides, fertilizer, and fruits and vegetables. Most of these sectors, particularly the agricultural sector, are infamous for their despotic labor practices, feudal working conditions, and penurious wages (Greene, 2003). Finally, the county possesses one of the largest airports in the southeastern United States and boasts the largest and most diverse deep-water container port in Florida in terms of tonnage and maritime services.
The Port of Tampa is being repositioned as a global crossroad for trade and commerce, particularly with Latin America and the Caribbean. It is considered a strategic asset in the promotion of the Tampa Bay city-region on the global economic stage. As a