High-income Neighborhoods Research Articles

Outcome Among Adolescents and Young Adults with Acute Myeloid Leukemia at Pediatric Versus Adult Centers: A Population-Based Study Using the IMPACT Cohort

Background: Survival outcomes among adolescents and young adults (AYA) with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remain poor. In AYA with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, outcomes differ between patients treated in pediatric vs. adult centers. This has not been well evaluated in AML. We therefore compared outcomes between AYA with AML treated at pediatric vs. adult centers using a population-based clinical database. In addition, we determined other predictors of outcome within this population. Methods: The IMPACT Cohort comprises all Ontario, Canada AYA aged 15-21 years diagnosed with one of six common cancers (including AML) between 1992-2012. Detailed demographic, disease, treatment, and outcome data were collected through chart abstraction and validated by content experts. Locus of cancer care (LOC - pediatric vs. adult center) was determined based on where the majority of therapy was delivered in the first three months after diagnosis. Linkage to population-based health administrative data identified additional cancer events (second cancers, relapse, death). Event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were determined using Kaplan-Meier methods. The impact of LOC on EFS and OS was determined using multivariable Cox proportional hazard models, adjusting for demographic, disease, and treatment variables. Events included disease progression, relapse, death, and second malignancies. Results: Among 140 AYA with AML, 89 (63.6%) received therapy at an adult center. AYA treated in pediatric centers were younger than those treated at adult centers (median 16 years vs. 19 years; p<0.001) and were more likely to live in higher-income neighborhoods [37/51 (72.5%) vs. 47/89 (52.8%); p=0.02]. Disease markers such as presenting white blood cell count and AML subtype did not differ by LOC. The 5-year EFS and OS for the whole cohort were 35.0%±4.0% and 53.6%±4.2%. Neither EFS nor OS differed by LOC (Table 1). In multivariable analyses adjusting for disease characteristics, LOC was not predictive of either EFS [adult vs. pediatric center hazard ratio (HR) 1.3, 95thconfidence interval (CI) 0.8-2.2, p=0.27] or OS (HR 1.0, CI 0.6-1.6, p=0.97). AYA with AML living in rural areas however experienced significantly inferior outcomes as compared to their urban counterparts (EFS: HR 2.5, CI 1.3-4.7, p=0.005; OS: HR 2.0, CI 1.1-3.8, p=0.04). Conclusions: In this population-based cohort, outcomes did not differ between AYA with AML treated at pediatric vs. adult centers, unlike what has been previously shown in AYA with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. However, rural AYA experienced substantially inferior outcomes than urban AYA, suggesting that even within a universal single payer system of healthcare, socioeconomic disparities persist in this population. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LENGTH OF HOSPICE STAY

The benefits of early referral to hospice services have been well documented. However, late admissions and short hospice stays are ongoing issues that are often barriers to improving terminally-ill persons’ and the caregivers’ quality of life and the quality of care. Using ordered logistic regression, this study analyzed the length of stay of 7,307 patients who died in 2015 while receiving care in the largest hospice agency in the DC metro region. Cancer diagnoses and residence in a higher median income neighborhood were associated with shorter lengths of stay. Female sex, older age, and residence in a lower median income neighborhood were associated with longer lengths of stay. The findings indicate that differences in demographic and diagnostic characteristics likely affect hospice length of stay.

Cross-Country Comparison of School Neighborhood Food Environments in Houston, Texas and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Studies in the U.S. and Mexico have observed the clustering of food resources around schools, which may promote the use of these resources. Our study characterized and compared school neighborhood food environments in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and Houston, Texas, and examined socioeconomic disparities in food resource availability across school neighborhoods. We used the Goods and Services Inventory to document the frequency and type of resources within each school neighborhood. School neighborhoods in Guadalajara had significantly more food resources than those in Houston. We found that convenience stores and table service restaurants were the most prevalent food resources in school neighborhoods in both cities. Guadalajara school neighborhoods had a higher prevalence of supermarkets and grocery stores than Houston. Low-income school neighborhoods in Guadalajara with poorly educated residents had significantly more food carts than high-income neighborhoods with more educated residents. In Houston, we found significantly more fast food restaurants and convenience stores in school neighborhoods with more educated residents than school neighborhoods with less educated residents. The influence of food resources within school neighborhoods on the dietary habits of schoolchildren should be further explored in both the U.S. and Mexico. The characterization of school neighborhood food environments can inform policymakers, city planners, and school officials who seek to implement policies to create healthier food environments.

Population awareness and attitudes toward waste-related health risks in Accra, Ghana

ABSTRACT Despite significant knowledge about the potential health hazards of waste, there are few studies in African cities that investigate awareness of health issues related to waste management, although such research is needed to lower population exposure. This paper examines the case study of Accra in Ghana, a city dealing with serious health and pollution problems. Three focus groups and 157 households in Accra were surveyed on household waste disposal and awareness of waste-related health hazards. Surveyed households had limited knowledge of waste-related health hazards in their neighbourhoods. Although the households reported diseases that could be associated with environmental factors linked to waste management, 87% of all surveyed households did not think that someone in their household could have fallen ill of a disease that can be related to waste. In middle- and high-income neighbourhoods, waste burning increases substantially when waste is not collected.

Socioeconomic status and alcohol use disorders across the lifespan: A co-relative control study.

ObjectivesAlcohol use disorders (AUD) is well known to aggregate in families and is associated with socioeconomic status (SES). The objective was to study the effect of education, income and neighborhood SES in adulthood on AUD, and to explore whether the potential associations were confounded by shared familial factors, by using a co-relative control design.MethodsData on AUD was drawn from the Swedish inpatient and outpatient care registers; prescription drug register; and crime data. Through national population registers we collected information on income, education and neighborhood SES at age 25, 30, 35 and 40 years in all individuals born in Sweden between 1950 and 1980. Each sex-specific stratum consisted of approximately 750,000–1,200,000 individuals, who were followed for AUD for a mean follow-up time ranging between 10 and 15 years until the end of 2013. Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate the risk of AUD as a function of income, education and neighborhood SES in the general population and in pairs of first cousins and full siblings within the same sex, who differed in their exposure to the SES measure.ResultsHigher educational level, higher income and higher neighborhood SES were all associated with a reduced risk for AUD for both males and females in all ages. The potentially protective effect remained but was attenuated when comparing pairs of first cousins and full siblings.ConclusionsHigh educational level and income in adulthood, as well as high neighborhood socioeconomic status, may represent protective factors against alcohol use disorders, even when shared familial factors, e.g. childhood socioeconomic status and genetic factors, have been taken into account.

Coworkings são para todos? Uma análise de preços dos ambientes de trabalho compartilhados em Recife – PE (Brasil)

The changes that occurred in the 20th and 21st centuries have changed the way people work. Currently the new resources available allowed for the establishing of co-working spaces, defined as shared work environments. Co-working spaces in Brazil started booming in the second decade of this century. It is observed that these enterprises are allocated in the consolidated regions and commercial centers, which raises questions as to the universality and extend of use by workers of different classes and enterprises due to the price and the structure favored. The aim of the paper is to analyze the price-structure-location of the Co-working spaces in Recife (Pernambuco - Brazil). The methodology involved the exploratory - descriptive character, with geoprocessing. Of the 36 Co-working spaces cataloged in Recife, 17 revealed their different plans of payment and prices. For the plans allowing unlimited use, among the 17, only one charged values below R$500,00 Reais (Brazilian currency), 6 establishments ranging from R$500,00 to R$600,00. The prices of the others were either above R$700,00 or there were no plans for unlimited use offered. On the structure, shared desks, internet and Wi-Fi, printers, recharging points, air conditioning, restrooms, water and coffee are those observed in common in most of the environments under study. Only two Co-working spaces are not in consolidated shopping centers or high-income neighborhoods, which leads to the rethinking of solutions for joining these establishments in these environments. Therefore, the proposition is that there is emergency for a theory in Social Co-working spaces and their definition involving Social Entrepreneurship, Networks and Collaborative Economy to become a viable alternative for Co-working spaces at decentralized points in the city.

Infant Mortality in Moscow: the Perils of Progress in Russia’s World City

This paper examines changes in infant mortality (IM) in Moscow, Russia's largest and most affluent city. Along with some remarkable improvements in Moscow's health system over the period between 2000 and 2014, the overall IM rate for Moscow's residents decreased substantially between 2000 and 2014. There remains, however, substantial intra-city variation across Moscow's 125 neighborhoods. Our regression models suggest that in higher-income neighborhoods measured by percent of population with rental income as a primary source, the IM rate is significantly lower than in lower-income neighborhoods measured by percent of population with transfer income as primary source (housing and utility subsidies and payments to working and low-income mothers, single mothers and foster parents). We also find that the density of physicians in a neighborhood is negatively correlated with the IM rate, but the effect is small. The density of nurses and hospital beds has no effect. We conclude that overall progress on health outcomes and measures of access does not, in itself, solve the challenge of intra-urban inequalities.

An urban data framework for assessing equity in cities: Comparing accessibility to healthcare facilities in Cascadia

As cities continue to grow worldwide, policymakers and urban planners face the dual task of meeting rising demand for essential services while ensuring that benefits accrue to their citizens equitably. We propose a framework for assessing inclusivity and equity in cities, which leverages open data and machine learning techniques to inform urban infrastructure investment strategies. The framework is applied at a regional scale to compare differential access to healthcare facilities (public hospitals and clinics) via public transit in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. We find important distributional impacts on vulnerable populations across the three cities. Portland displays the highest inequity in hospital and clinic access, and Vancouver the least, owing to Vancouver's relatively compact geographic area and high population density. For seniors, over 75% are socially excluded from hospitals and over 50% from clinics in Portland, compared to 30% and 3% respectively in Vancouver. In all three cities, significantly more residents of low-income neighborhoods are excluded from healthcare compared to their counterparts in high-income neighborhoods. This translates into proportionally higher transportation costs for low-income area residents compared with high-income area residents, regardless of whether they are socially excluded or not. Transportation costs are notably high for low-income seniors in Seattle and Vancouver. These findings pose a challenge for inclusive planning, since low-income and senior populations may require specialized services and are more reliant on public transportation than the average population. Our evaluation framework provides a systematic approach for municipalities to account for the distributional effects of transportation and service infrastructure planning, to integrate equity into their decision-making, and to learn from the successes and pitfalls of each other's urban policies.

Access to cannabis retail stores across Canada 6 months following legalization: a descriptive study.

On Oct. 17, 2018, Canada legalized recreational cannabis with the dual goals of reducing youth use and eliminating the illicit cannabis market. We examined factors associated with access to physical cannabis stores across Canada 6 months following legalization. We extracted the address and operating hours of all legal cannabis stores in Canada from online government and private listings. We conducted a descriptive study examining the association between private/hybrid (mixture of government and private stores) and government-only retail models with 4 measures of physical access to cannabis: store density, weekly hours of operation, median distance to the nearest school and relative availability of cannabis stores between low- and high-income neighbourhoods. Six months after legalization, there were 260 cannabis retail stores across Canada: 181 privately run stores, 55 government-run stores and 24 stores in the hybrid retail system. Compared to jurisdictions with a government-run model, jurisdictions with a private/hybrid retail model had 49% (95% confidence interval 10%-200%) more stores per capita, retailers were open on average 9.2 more hours per week, and stores were located closer to schools (median 166.7 m). In both retail models, there was over twice the concentration of cannabis stores in neighbourhoods in the lowest income quintile compared to the highest income quintile. Marked differences in physical access to cannabis retail are emerging between jurisdictions with private/hybrid retail models and those with government-only retail models. Ongoing surveillance including monitoring differences in cannabis use and harms across jurisdictions is needed.

Geographies of Sexual Assault: A Spatial Analyses to Identify Neighborhoods Affected by Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

Emergency departments are a common access point for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), but very little is known about where survivors live and the neighborhoods they return to. The objectives of this study were to describe the patient population that present for a sexual or partner-based assault and explore the geographic distribution of cases across the Ottawa-Gatineau area. Data for this study were extracted from the Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Care Program (SAPACP) case registry (January 1 to December 31, 2015) at The Ottawa Hospital. Spatial analyses were conducted using six-digit postal codes converted into Canadian Census Tract units to identify geographic areas with concentrated cases of SGBV. Concentrated areas were defined as Census Tracts with seven or more SGBV cases within a single calendar year. In 2015, there were 406 patients seen at the SAPACP and 348 had valid postal codes and were included in the analyses. More than 90% of patients were female and 152 (43.68%) were below 24 years of age. More than 70% knew their assailant and the most common locations of the assault were at the survivors' home (31.03%), assailants' home (27.01%), or outdoors (10.92%). Eight concentrated areas were identified including three in the downtown entertainment district, three lower income areas, one high-income neighborhood, and one suburb more than 20 km from downtown. The findings from this study describe the typical clinical presentation of sexual and domestic assault survivors and also challenge geographic stereotypes of where survivors live and what areas of the city are most affected by SGBV. Using residential information provides a survivor-centric approach that highlights the widespread nature of SGBV and supports the need for population-based approaches to improve care for survivors.

Why Poor Families Move (And Where They Go): Reactive Mobility and Residential Decisions

Despite frequent moves, low–income black families are more likely than any other group to churn among disadvantaged neighborhoods, and the least likely to escape them. Traditional explanations for neighborhood inequality invoke racial preferences and barriers to living in high–income neighborhoods, but recent work suggests that it is also involuntary mobility—such as eviction—which predicts the neighborhood destinations of poor African American families in urban areas. However, we know little about how individuals actually make residential decisions under such unplanned and constrained conditions. Using longitudinal interviews with low–income African–American families residing in Mobile, AL, and Baltimore, MD, we describe the array of factors that lead poor black families to move, and describe how families secure housing in the wake of unplanned mobility. We observe that moving among the poor is more reactive than it is voluntary: Approximately 70 percent of most recent moves are catalyzed by landlords, housing quality failures, and violence. We show how this reactive mobility both accelerates and hampers residential selection in ways that may reproduce neighborhood context and inequality. Where mobility is characterized by a greater degree of agency, we show that the strategies families use to make decisions often prohibit them from investigating a wider range of residential options.

Uneven Neighborhood Recovery: Hurricane Damage and Neighborhood Change in the Houston–Galveston Region since 1970

Despite the growing number of natural disasters around the globe, limited research exists on post–disaster patterns of neighborhood change. In this paper, we test two theories of neighborhood change, the “recovery machine” and “rent gap,” which predict opposing effects for low socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods following damage from hurricanes, tropical storms, and other natural hazard events. The recovery machine theory posits that after natural hazard events, local communities experience patterns of recovery based on their pre–disaster SES and access to resources, suggesting that wealthier neighborhoods will recover robustly while lower status neighborhoods languish. In contrast, the rent gap theory suggests that developers will identify a profit opportunity in the depressed values created by damage from natural hazard events, and seek to redevelop low SES areas. We use fixed effects models with census data from 1970 to 2015 to test the impact of damage from natural hazards on neighborhood change. We find substantial recovery and change in low–income neighborhoods, but not in the high–income neighborhoods supporting the rent gap theory. We conclude that natural hazard events resulting in damage produce uneven recovery by socioeconomic status of neighborhoods, potentially leading to displacement of low SES groups.

P114: Geographies of sexual assault: using geographic information system analysis to identify neighbourhoods affected by violence

Introduction: Emergency Departments are a common point of access for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), but very little is known about where survivors live and the characteristics of the neighbourhoods. The objective of this study was to use hospital-based data to characterize sexual and domestic assault cases and identify geographic distribution across the Ottawa-Gatineau area. Methods: Data for this study were extracted from the Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Care Program (SAPACP) case registry (Jan 1-Dec 31, 2015) at The Ottawa Hospital. Spatial analyses were conducted using 6-digit postal codes converted to Canadian Census Tracts to identify potential geographic areas where SGBV cases are clustered. Hot-spots were defined as Census Tracts with seven or more assaults within a single calendar year.Data for this study were extracted from the Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Care Program (SAPACP) case registry (Jan 1-Dec 31, 2015) at The Ottawa Hospital. Spatial analyses were conducted using 6-digit postal codes converted to Canadian Census Tracts to identify potential geographic areas where SGBV cases are clustered. Hot-spots were defined as Census Tracts with seven or more assaults within a single calendar year. Results: In 2015, there were 406 patients seen at the SAPACP, 348 had valid postal codes from Ottawa-Gatineau and were included in the analyses. Over 90% of patients were female and 152 (43.68%) were below 24 years of age. Eight hot-spots were identified including 3 in the downtown entertainment district, 3 lower income areas, 1 high income neighbourhood, and 1 suburb more than 20km from downtown. Conclusion: This study is of the first to use hospital-based data to examine the geographic distribution of SGBV cases, with key findings including the identification of high-income neighbourhoods and suburbs as SGBV hot-spots. Alongside efforts like the #MeToo movement, this evidence challenges stereotypes of assault survivors and highlights the breadth and widespread nature of SGBV.

Association Between Neighborhood Income, Patterns of Use, and Physical Activity Levels in Fitness Zones of Curitiba, Brazil.

Background: Socioeconomic characteristics of locations where physical activity equipment is installed may affect the activity level of users. The purpose of this study was to verify patterns of use and physical activity levels in fitness zones installed in low- and high-income neighborhoods in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. Methods: Over 1200 observations were conducted in 20 fitness zones in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. Data were collected during the months of November and December 2012, in 4 periods of the day (8 AM, 11 AM, 2 PM, and 5 PM), on 2 weekdays and 2 weekend days. Results: A total of 2232 people were observed in the fitness zones. Age group, level of physical activity in the area, use of fitness zones during weekend days, and occupation of spaces were significantly associated with neighborhood income. Moreover, users of fitness zones located in high-income neighborhoods showed higher odds ratio (OR = 1.74; 95% confidence interval, 1.46-2.07) of moderate to vigorous physical activity than light or sedentary activities, regardless of gender or day of the week. Conclusions: The sole presence of equipment does not seem to favor the use of fitness zones in low-income neighborhoods. Future studies should investigate intrinsic factors for the use of fitness zones for physical activity.

Do-Not-Resuscitate and Do-Not-Hospitalize Orders in Nursing Homes: Who Gets Them and Do They Make a Difference?

ObjectivesTo describe the rate of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) and do-not-hospitalize (DNH) orders among residents newly admitted into long-term care homes. We also assessed the association between DNR and DNH orders with hospital admissions, deaths in hospital, and survival. DesignA retrospective cohort study. Setting and participantsAdmissions in all 640 publicly funded long-term care homes in Ontario, Canada, between January 1, 2010 and March 1, 2012 (n = 49,390). MeasuresWe examined if a DNR and/or DNH was recorded on resident's admission assessment. All residents were followed until death, discharge, or end of study to ascertain rates of several outcomes, including death and hospitalization, controlling for resident characteristics. ResultsUpon admission, 60.7% of residents were recorded to have a DNR and 14.8% a DNH order. Those who were older, female, widowed, lived in rural facilities, lived in higher income neighborhoods prior to entry, had higher health instability or cognitive impairment, and spoke English or French were more likely to receive a DNR or DNH. Survival time was only slightly shorter for those with a DNR and DNH with a mean of 145 and 133 days, respectively, vs 160 and 153 days for those without a DNR and DNH. After controlling for age, sex, rurality, neighborhood income, marital status, health instability, cognitive performance score, and multimorbidity, DNR and DNH were associated with an odds ratio of 0.57 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53-0.62] and 0.41 (95% CI 0.37-0.46) for dying in hospital, respectively. Those with a DNR and DNH, after adjustment, had an incidence rate ratio of 0.87 (95% CI 0.83-0.90) and 0.70 (95% CI 0.67-0.73), respectively, days spent in hospital. Conclusions and implicationsThis study outlines identifiable factors influencing whether residents have a DNR and/or DNH order upon admission. Both orders led to lower rates, but not absolute avoidance, of hospitalizations near and at death.

The economic geography of civic crowdfunding

Civic crowdfunding combines the power of private crowdfunding with grassroots organization to directly fund local public projects. This article presents an empirical analysis of fine scale geographic data on 18,000 donations to roughly 800 campaigns from a leading civic crowdfunding platform. These features of the dataset allow us to empirically assess distributional impacts of crowdfunding and how policymakers should interpret donations. There are several findings that have implications for the role of civic crowdfunding in urban transformation. First, neighborhood characteristics of projects, including median household income, do not impact the ability to raise capital, which addresses the concern that civic crowdfunding will exacerbate inequality in neighborhood amenities. The average distance of a donor to a project is over 300 miles and the median distance is 8 miles, indicating that while projects elicit donations from outside their community local donations are very important. Donors' neighborhood income does not influence whether they contribute to projects in low-income or high-income neighborhoods. The findings serve as a guide to future research on civic crowdfunding and inform how the expansion of this new funding mechanism can integrate into local government policy.

Social and spatial inequalities of educational opportunity: A portrait of schools serving high- and low-income neighbourhoods in US metropolitan areas

Neighbourhoods and schools are both important contexts for children’s wellbeing. While often posited, little evidence documents inequalities in schools serving high- and low-income neighbourhoods. In this article, we use geospatial techniques to combine five administrative data sets to examine the characteristics of local public schools serving high- and low-income neighbourhoods in US metropolitan areas in 2013–2014. We find that high-income neighbourhoods are served by schools with greater social, financial, and instructional resources and greater student achievement than schools serving low-income neighbourhoods. Moreover, when metropolitan neighbourhoods are highly segregated by income, these inequalities are exacerbated. Our results demonstrate the link between neighbourhood and school disadvantage, with implications for policymakers concerned about social mobility and inequality.

Segregation and the Cost of Money: Race, Poverty, and the Prevalence of Alternative Financial Institutions

Abstract Payday lenders, check cashers, and other “alternative” financial services (AFS) have garnered attention from policymakers and advocates for the poor because they are more expensive than traditional banking—constituting what some call a “Ghetto Tax.” This is the first study to explore neighborhood-level AFS geography on the national scale. Leveraging a dataset comprising the universe of AFS in 2015, I show that not only are there substantial differences in AFS presence between white and non-white neighborhoods, but that these disparities are largest in the most segregated metropolitan areas. This finding supports theories that racial segregation creates easily identifiable markets for institutions to avoid, target, and exploit. I further show that while AFS presence declines with neighborhood income, the gap between black and white neighborhoods is widest among high-income neighborhoods, reflecting the unique vulnerability of even affluent blacks to institutional marginalization. This work documents how the overlapping geographies of racial isolation and AFS prevalence shape the very cost of money for different racial groups, illustrating the importance of institutions transmitting the effects of racial isolation.

Financial aid, debt management, and socioeconomic outcomes: Post-college effects of merit-based aid

Prior research has demonstrated that financial aid can influence both college enrollments and completions, but less is known about its post-college consequences. This study is the first to link college and financial aid information to credit bureau data later in life, enabling us to examine the impacts of grant aid on homeownership, neighborhood characteristics, and credit outcomes. We use a regression-discontinuity (RD) strategy to identify causal effects of the WV PROMISE scholarship, a broad-based state merit aid program, up to 10 years after college-entry. The RD is imperfect because our sample is limited to college students and the scholarship program increased enrollment, but there is little evidence of selection on observables at the threshold. We find that scholarship recipients near the test score cutoff for eligibility are more likely to earn a graduate degree, are more likely to own a home and live in higher-income neighborhoods. Effects on annual earnings and credit outcomes are similarly positive, but imprecise. These positive effects are primarily due to substantial reductions in time to degree, rather than to reduced student debt upon graduation.

Estimating land value uplift around light rail transit stations in Greater Kuala Lumpur: An empirical study based on geographically weighted regression (GWR)

Introducing a rail transit system into an urban region is expected to increase land values, and subsequently, residential property values. Despite this general belief, little is known about the spatial distributional effects of land value uplift. Thus, the goal of this paper is to provide new insights on how proximity to light rail transit stations may affect residential property values in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia using geographically weighted regression (GWR). The results provide information on spatial variations in the effects of a light rail transit system on residential property values. This study utilises GWR to account for spatial heterogeneity and spatial dependence. The results suggest that residential property values benefit from the provision of a light rail transit system but with considerable spatial variation over a geographical area. Evidently, proximity to the nearest light rail transit station gives positive premiums of up to 8% for a majority of properties located in lower-middle and upper-middle income neighbourhoods such as Wangsa Maju, Setapak, Keramat, Setiawangsa, Ampang and Sentul. In contrast, the impact of proximity to the nearest light rail transit station for properties located in high-income neighbourhoods such as Petaling Jaya was found to be non-significant. These findings can assist policy makers to better understand how properties around light rail transit stations accrue benefits. However, since the benefit of a light rail transit system on nearby properties varies over a geographical area (and where a positive premium can swing from positive to negative depending on the area), it may be difficult for policy makers to impose a single-value tax if there is a land value capture policy to be considered for implementation.