Short reportSocial and local variations in the use of urban neighbourhoods: a case study in Glasgow

Abstract

As part of a continuing series of studies of two socially contrasting areas in Glasgow City, we have previously documented poorer provision of a range of potentially health enhancing opportunity structures (e.g. physical recreation facilities, primary care, public transport, retail food outlets) in the more deprived area. It was therefore argued that those wishing to promote the health of disadvantaged groups in society should pay attention to features of the local social and physical environment which might in uence health or people's opportunities to lead healthy lives (Macintyre et al., 1993; Wyke et al., 1992; Sooman et al., 1993). That argument assumes that the quality and quantity of local facilities matter to local residents, and to their health, because residents use local facilities. However, residents may range much further a®eld than their local areas, and it is possible that there are socially structured di€erences in the signi®cance of the immediate local environment for people's everyday lives. It has, for example, been suggested that women, older people and more socio-economically deprived people may be more constrained than others to their local areas (Schwirian and Schwirian, 1993; England, 1991; McDowall, 1993; Wellman and Leighton, 1979; Farrington, 1994). If this is the case then the lack of availability of health promoting facilities in the local area may impinge more on some social groups than others. This short report presents a brief new analysis of hitherto unpublished data relevant to the question of whether there are di€erences by age, gender, social class and neighbourhood in reported use of the local area for health promoting activities. It also examines the relative importance of these sociodemographic and local variables for people's use of use of area.