Abstract
Low-income urban communities, and the individuals that live within them, continue to face disproportionate interconnected social, economic, and environmental challenges related to their built, natural, and social environments. The aim of our phenomenological research study was to elevate the experiences of residents living in low-income urban neighborhoods in terms of their communities’ environmental challenges. Our objectives were to (1) identify challenges across neighborhoods, (2) identify ways individuals and communities are addressing those challenges, and (3) assess the individual and collective efficacy and engagement of communities to lead environmental improvements in neighborhoods. This study brings forward the voices that are often ignored or misunderstood in these communities and uses an ecological-social perspective. We conducted focus groups (N = 68) in four low-income urban neighborhoods across two Ohio cities in the United States. Participants described five key challenges in their communities: Pollution, abandoned buildings with associated crime, low food access and health concerns, trash and illegal dumping, and lack of trees. We assessed engagement and efficacy using two frameworks focused on individual and community readiness to engage in and lead community change. Policymakers should acknowledge the valuable contributions and leadership capacity of residents in low-income communities to implement environmental initiatives.
Highlights
Low-income urban communities, and the individuals that live within them, continue to face disproportionate interconnected social, economic, and environmental challenges related to their built, natural, and social environments [1,2,3,4,5]
Community 1 (C1) and Community 2 (C2) are nested in the same city, and C3 and Community 4 (C4) are nested in another city
When asked to describe their communities, participants from each of the four neighborhoods discussed a range of observations they had of the built and natural environment, along with associated aspects of the social environment. From these observations and experiences, we identified five themes: (1) pollution, (2) abandoned buildings, low quality housing, and crime, (3) low food access and health, (4) trash and illegal dumping, and (5) lack of trees
Summary
Low-income urban communities, and the individuals that live within them, continue to face disproportionate interconnected social, economic, and environmental challenges related to their built, natural, and social environments [1,2,3,4,5]. Negative characteristics in the built environment (e.g., traffic, poor public transportation, lack of green space, concern for safety, dirtiness) can negatively impact the physical and mental health of individuals and the community [3,4,6,7,8,9]. Economic and social characteristics (e.g., low median income, poverty, stress, crime rates, race, food access) in neighborhoods contribute to poor health [3,10]. The aim of our phenomenological research study was to elevate the experiences of residents living in low-income urban neighborhoods in terms of the environmental challenges their communities were facing. Our research moves beyond previous research focused more on residents’ descriptions of their environment
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