Residential Crowding Research Articles

Too close for comfort? Impact of pandemic residential environment on women’s life satisfaction and spousal relationships

Few studies have examined the role of residential conditions during different phases of the pandemic on life satisfaction and spousal relationships. Using survey data on 440 married women collected before, during and after the COVID-19 lockdown in Singapore, this article tests the hypothesis that residential crowding, co-residence with children or parents/in-laws and lack of access to private open, green spaces during the lockdown are associated with worsened life satisfaction and spousal relationships. Multinomial logistic regression results suggest that married women in more spacious homes were significantly less likely to experience worsened life satisfaction at the peak of movement restrictions (RRR = 0.967, p = .037), and that having access to open spaces was associated with improved life satisfaction (RRR = 3.536, p = .018) and spousal relationships (RRR = 2.267, p = .032). Housing policy in dense urban settings can increase population well-being and resilience by increasing access to co-working spaces and open green spaces.

How the Other Half Died: Immigration and Mortality in U.S. Cities

Abstract Fears of immigrants as a threat to public health have a long and sordid history. At the turn of the 20th century, when immigrants made up one-third of the population in crowded American cities, contemporaries blamed high urban mortality rates on the newest arrivals. We evaluate how the implementation of country-specific immigration quotas in the 1920s affected urban health. Cities with larger quota-induced reductions in immigration experienced a persistent decline in mortality rates, driven by a reduction in deaths from infectious diseases. The unfavourable living conditions immigrants endured explains the majority of the effect as quotas reduced residential crowding and mortality declines were largest in cities where immigrants resided in more crowded conditions and where public health resources were stretched thinnest.

Residential Crowding and Chandigarh City Planning

Residential Crowding and Chandigarh City Planning

An Examination of Household Size, Geographic Remoteness, and Population of First Nation Communities in Canada: The Impact on Selected Wellbeing Indicators

Those living in First Nation communities tend to experience a lower quality of life than non-Indigenous Canadians as evidenced by a broad array of indicators such as employment and residential overcrowding. This research focuses on the relationship between household size and wellbeing among First Nation communities in Canada with consideration of the impact of remoteness and population as well. The research objectives are addressed with empirical analysis consisting of three stepwise linear regressions with community level data from the 2016 Census and First Nation government financial statements. Wellbeing, the dependent variable, is assessed with selected wellbeing indices consisting of education, housing quality, and workforce participation. The explanatory variables consist of a set of demographic factors, which includes household size, and a set of financial indicators. Geographic remoteness and community population are each added to the regression models in a stepwise manner. The results reveal that household size has the largest marginal impact on all three measures of wellbeing, suggesting that communities with relatively larger households, often associated with residential overcrowding, are more likely to have lower levels of wellbeing. The stepwise regression results illustrate the significance of including geographical remoteness for all three measures of wellbeing, while the addition of community population is only significant for the workforce index. In regard to geographical remoteness, the empirical results reveal that both educational outcomes and housing quality are lower in more remote communities. Community size, as defined by population, is found to be negatively associated with the workforce index implying that communities with larger populations tend to have lower workforce participation and employment outcomes. Given the ongoing social, health and economic costs associated with residential crowding in First Nation communities, the results will be of interest to policy makers and First Nation leaders in Canada and other countries who seek strategies to raise the level of wellbeing for their Indigenous communities. Policy recommendations include an increase in housing supply coordinated through the creation of an Indigenous-led housing and infrastructure authority. Other recommendations include long-term approaches to supporting education and job training programs with community level initiatives.

The effect of older sibling, postnatal maternal stress, and household factors on language development in two- to four-year-old children.

Previous literature has shown that family structure affects language development. Here, factors relating to older siblings (their presence in the house, sex, and age gap), mothers (maternal stress), and household size and residential crowding were assessed to systematically examine the different roles of these factors. Data from mother-child dyads in a Singaporean birth cohort, (677-855 dyads; 52% males; 58% to 61% Chinese, 20% to 24% Malay, 17% to 19% Indian) collected when children were 24, 48, and 54 months old, were analyzed. There was a negative effect of having an older sibling, moderated by the siblings' age gap, but not by the older sibling's sex, nor household size or residential crowding. Maternal stress affected language outcomes in some analyses but not others. Implications for understanding the possible effects of family structure on language development are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Home-made blues: Residential crowding and mental health in Beijing, China

Although residential crowding has many well-being implications, its connection to mental health is yet to be widely examined. Using survey data from 1613 residents in Beijing, China, we find that living in a crowded place – measured by both square metres per person and persons per bedroom – is significantly associated with a higher risk of depression. We test for the mechanisms of such associations and find that the residential crowding–depression link arises through increased living space-specific stress rather than increased life stress. We also identify the following subgroups that have relatively stronger residential crowding–depression associations: females, those living with children, those not living with parents, and those living in non-market housing units. Our findings show that inequality in living space among urban residents not only is an important social justice issue but also has health implications.

Sociodemographic Inequalities in Urinary Tract Infection in 2 Large California Health Systems.

BackgroundUrinary tract infection (UTI) accounts for a substantial portion of outpatient visits and antibiotic prescriptions in the United States. Few studies have considered sociodemographic factors including low socioeconomic status (SES)—which may increase residential crowding, inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, or comorbidities—as UTI or multidrug-resistant (MDR) UTI risk factors.MethodsWe used 2015–2017 electronic health record data from 2 California health care systems to assess whether 3 sociodemographic factors—use of Medicaid, use of an interpreter, and census tract–level deprivation—were associated with overall UTI or MDR UTI. UTIs resistant to ≥3 antibiotic classes were considered MDR.ResultsAnalyses included 601 352 UTI cases, 1 303 455 controls, and 424 977 urinary Escherichia coli isolates from Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) and Sutter Health in Northern California. The MDR prevalence was 10.4% at KPSC and 12.8% at Sutter Health. All 3 sociodemographic factors (ie, use of Medicaid, using an interpreter, and community deprivation) were associated increased risk of MDR UTI. For example, using an interpreter was associated with a 36% (relative risk [RR], 1.36; 95% CI, 1.31 to 1.40) and 28% (RR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.22 to 1.34) increased risk of MDR UTI at KPSC and Sutter Health, respectively, adjusted for SES and other potential confounding variables. The 3 sociodemographic factors were only weakly associated with UTI overall.ConclusionsWe found low SES and use of an interpreter to be novel risk factors for MDR UTI in the United States.

Developing occupant-based understandings of crowding: a study of residential self-assessment in Eabametoong First Nation

On-reserve housing crises have been measured by governments, agencies and First Nations for decades. In Canada, housing evaluation is conducted using a universal metric, Core Housing Need, which also forms the basis of policy and program responses. The three Core Housing Need components—adequacy, affordability and suitability—have been critiqued for being inapplicable in many non-urban settings and especially on-reserve. Using a community-developed housing needs assessment tool in Eabametoong First Nation it is revealed that residential crowding has multiple dimensions and causes which are not currently captured. New understandings of crowding—or housing suitability—allows for distinct solutions to be created breaking the cycle of colonial approaches to addressing the housing crisis.

Design Moderators of Perceived Residential Crowding and Chronic Physiological Stress Among Children

Chronic crowding within housing adversely affects psychological well-being, yet little is known about how design attributes contribute to these effects, especially among children. This cross-sectional study first examined associations between residential interior density and children’s ( M = 9 years of age) perceived bedroom and home crowding. Second, analyses investigated whether interior design attributes (residential floor plan arrangement measured by space syntax [depth and permeability]; bedroom ceiling height, volume, and window area) buffer negative effects of perceived crowding on multimethodological indices of child development, including psychological distress, learned helplessness, and physiological stress. After adjusting for home type, clutter, income, gender, and age, interior density was significantly associated with perceived home and bedroom crowding. Regression results suggested that bedroom ceiling height was associated with reduced negative effects of home, but not bedroom, perceived crowding on blood pressure, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and allostatic load among participants who reported higher levels of perceived crowding.

Are housing characteristics experienced by children associated with their outcomes as young adults?

We study the association between childhood housing characteristics and homeownership and a set of behavioral outcomes of young adults. The primary data set is the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-1979 cohort (NLSY79) and the Child and Young Adult surveys of the children of the female NLSY79 respondents, augmented with a record of the characteristics of dwellings occupied by respondents and their children throughout childhood. We find that living in an owner-occupied home during childhood is positively associated with young adults’ educational attainment, and is negatively associated with teen pregnancy, criminal convictions, and the likelihood of being on welfare. In contrast, a measure of residential crowding during childhood has an independent relationship only with youths’ criminal convictions. We explore several mechanisms that could explain these long run patterns, including unobserved parental heterogeneity and childhood cognition.

Residential crowding and asthma in preschool children, a cross-sectional study

BackgroundAsthma is the most common chronic disease in children, and associations with crowding have been reported. The aim of this study was to explore possible associations of crowding with asthma in children. MethodsSeven cross-sectional surveys with preschool children were conducted within the framework of the health monitoring units in Bavaria, Germany, from 2004 to 2014. Residential crowding was defined as habitation of more than one person per room or less than 20m2 living space per person. Logistic regression models examined temporal changes in crowding, applying the first survey as reference. The relationship between crowding and physician-diagnosed asthma, asthma defined by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and asthma symptoms were analyzed. ResultsAnalyzing temporal changes of crowding rates did not reveal any differences over the years. However, the stratified descriptive analysis indicated a crowding increase in time in urban households where parents had a low education level (47.9% in 2004/05, 55.8% in 2014/15). No association was found between crowding and the variables “physician-diagnosed asthma” in 2014/15, “asthma defined by ISAAC” in 2014/15, or “wheezing” in 2014/15. A positive association with cough was identified in 2014/15 after adjusting for confounders (aOR=1.42 [95% CI: 1.20–1.69]). ConclusionsIn general, residential crowding did not change from 2004 to 2014; however, there seems to be a small upsurge for children with low-educated parents, living in urban areas over the years. A statistically significant association between crowding and cough was only found in the survey from 2014/15.

Early Child Development, Residential Crowding, and Commute Time in 8 US States, 2010-2017.

To examine relationships of residential crowding and commute time with early child development. We used the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a teacher-reported, population-health measure of child development. The sample included child-level observations spanning 8 US states from 2010 to 2017 (n = 185 012), aggregated to the census tract (n= 2793), stratified by percentage of households in poverty. To test the association of commute times, crowding, and child development, we tested overall readiness and 5 EDI domains by using adjusted census tract-level multivariate regression with fixed effects. In the full sample, a 1-standard-deviation increase in crowding was associated with 0.064- and 0.084-point decreases in mean score for cognitive development and communication skills, respectively. For the high-poverty subsample, a 1-standard deviation increase in commute time was associated with 0.081- and 0.066-point decreases in social competence and emotional maturity. In neighborhoods with increased crowding or commute time, early child development suffers. This study suggests a potential relationship between the changing urban landscape and child health. Children would benefit from more multisector collaboration between urban planning and public health.

Housing trajectories of immigrants and their children in France: Between integration and stratification

Immigrants have been found to exhibit different housing tenure patterns from the rest of the population in a number of contexts. This article tests whether observed differences in tenure in France can be explained by differences in socio-demographic characteristics or whether unexplained differences might result from housing market mechanisms that affect immigrants differentially from the rest of the population, and extends this to the second generation. The article relies on data from TeO, a survey of 21,761 persons designed to oversample and identify immigrants and their children, providing information about the outcomes of children of immigrants that is otherwise lacking in French statistics. The results indicate that while immigrants are significantly less likely to be homeowners, even after controlling for compositional difference, the gap in homeownership between the second generation and the rest of the population is smaller and not statistically significant. This suggests a progressive integration in the housing market over time and over generations rather than overall stratified housing trajectories. Differences in terms of the share of social housing residents, the level of residential crowding, and housing and neighbourhood characteristics also decline across generations. However, children of immigrants from some non-European origins are experiencing higher levels of stratification than other groups, with continued significant differences in tenure.

Residential Urban Overcrowding in Alexandria, Egypt: A Spatial Econometrics Analysis

Although residential crowding has various impacts on household socioeconomic and health circumstances, there has been a dearth of research investigating and predicting spatial patterns of overcrowding in Arab nations. In this work, analytical modeling techniques are applied to investigate the interrelationships between residential overcrowding and other explanatory variables in Alexandria, Egypt. Global (Ordinarily Least Squared) and local (Autoregressive, Error Term and Geographically Weighted regression) models are employed to conduct the analysis. As global model, OLS assumes homogeneity among spatial predictors and it fails to account for spatial non-stationary. In contrast, the proposed local spatial econometric models can easily model spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity. Population density and one-room-dwelling were found to be positively and significantly associated with overcrowding, while higher education of residents and five rooms dwelling were negatively related to residential overcrowding across Alexandria districts. Significant implications ranging from governmental subsidy to planning public housing are discussed.

Residential urban overcrowding in Alexandria, Egypt: A spatial econometrics analysis

Although residential crowding has various impacts on household socioeconomic and health circumstances, there has been a dearth of research investigating and predicting spatial patterns of overcrowding in Arab nations. In this work, analytical modeling techniques are applied to investigate the interrelationships between residential overcrowding and other explanatory variables in Alexandria, Egypt. Global (Ordinarily Least Squared) and local (Autoregressive, Error Term and Geographically Weighted regression) models are employed to conduct the analysis. As global model, OLS assumes homogeneity among spatial predictors and it fails to account for spatial non-stationary. In contrast, the proposed local spatial econometric models can easily model spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity. Population density and one-room-dwelling were found to be positively and significantly associated with overcrowding, while higher education of residents and five rooms dwelling were negatively related to residential overcrowding across Alexandria districts. Significant implications ranging from governmental subsidy to planning public housing are discussed.

Quelle est l'association entre les caractéristiques résidentielles et du quartier et le développement de l'enfant à la maternelle?

Evaluate the association between residential and neighbourhood characteristics of families and children and the latter's development, using data from the Montréal Survey on the Preschool Experiences of Children in Kindergarten (MSPECK). A sample of 1101 children was extracted from a survey frame that included Montréal children assessed in the 2012 Québec Survey of Child Development in Kindergarten (2012 QSCDK). Data collected from the children's parents were used to document the following residential and neighbourhood characteristics (independent variables): material deprivation in the neighbourhood, housing health, residential crowding, housing instability, neighbourhood safety, and access to resources. Linking QSCDK data provided a measure of development for children in kindergarten (dependent variable). Logistic regression was used to predict the probability of kindergarten children being vulnerable in at least one domain of development, or in two or more domains. Children living in neighbourhoods perceived to be dangerous are 1.5 times more likely to be vulnerable in at least one domain of development, compared with their peers living in neighbourhoods perceived to be safe (95% CI: 1.02-2.14). A similar result is observed for vulnerability in two or more domains of development (OR 1.67; 95% CI: 1.07-2.61). Children living in families who lack access to resources are also more likely to be vulnerable in two or more domains of development than their peers in families who have easy access to resources (OR 1.56; 95% CI: 1.003-2.44). Parents' feelings of insecurity and lack of access to local resources can limit children's opportunities for socialization and their exposure to enriching experiences.

The effect of a husband's history of political imprisonment on intimate partner violence: evidence from the occupied Palestinian territory using propensity score matching

BackgroundLittle is known about the direct effect of political imprisonment on men's subsequent violent behaviour within the family. Availability of these recent survey data about intimate partner violence and measures of men's detention in prison and their associated physical and emotional torture provides a unique opportunity to assess the causal association between these two factors. We aimed to examine the effect of political imprisonment on intimate partner violence, using data from the 2011 Palestinian domestic violence survey, which included the West Bank and Gaza Strip. MethodsThe study was based on data from a 2011 cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of 4413 married Palestinian women. A total of 3988 women were included in the matching analysis, of which 640 women had husbands who had been detained. The outcome variable was the women's exposure to partner physical violence during the past year. The treatment effect was whether a husband had been detained before 2010. We used propensity score matching and propensity-based weighted regression models to assess the effect of a whether a husband had a history of detention on intimate partner violence. Score matching was undertaken with the variables of age, education, region, type of residence, refugee status, residential crowding, labour force participation, poverty, financial stress, decision making index, and husband control index. FindingsSevere physical intimate partner violence during the past year was reported by 455 (11%) women and sexual violence by 439 (11%) women. 640 (16%) women reported that their husbands were detained before 2010. Analysis of model-based estimates and average treatment effect showed a positive effect of a husbands who had been detained on their physical violence (mean treatment effect 0·036, 95% CI 0·008 to 0·62), but not with sexual violence (mean treatment effect −0·014, 95% CI −0·040 to 0·11) towards their partner. InterpretationThe results are important for the design of specific interventions that might mitigate the negative effect of a husband's detention on their wives's lives. A potential confounder is that Palestinian men who are more likely to be imprisoned (eg, active in demonstrations) might also be more likely to commit intimate partner violence. An important implication is the need to consider rehabilitation services or counselling for previous detainees in this context. FundingNone.

Mapping fine-scale population distributions at the building level by integrating multisource geospatial big data

ABSTRACTFine-scale population distribution data at the building level play an essential role in numerous fields, for example urban planning and disaster prevention. The rapid technological development of remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) in recent decades has benefited numerous population distribution mapping studies. However, most of these studies focused on global population and environmental changes; few considered fine-scale population mapping at the local scale, largely because of a lack of reliable data and models. As geospatial big data booms, Internet-collected volunteered geographic information (VGI) can now be used to solve this problem. This article establishes a novel framework to map urban population distributions at the building scale by integrating multisource geospatial big data, which is essential for the fine-scale mapping of population distributions. First, Baidu points-of-interest (POIs) and real-time Tencent user densities (RTUD) are analyzed by using a random forest algorithm to down-scale the street-level population distribution to the grid level. Then, we design an effective iterative building-population gravity model to map population distributions at the building level. Meanwhile, we introduce a densely inhabited index (DII), generated by the proposed gravity model, which can be used to estimate the degree of residential crowding. According to a comparison with official community-level census data and the results of previous population mapping methods, our method exhibits the best accuracy (Pearson R = .8615, RMSE = 663.3250, p < .0001). The produced fine-scale population map can offer a more thorough understanding of inner city population distributions, which can thus help policy makers optimize the allocation of resources.

Residential Crowding and Young Children's Social and Emotional Behaviors in a Burundian Refugee Community

Residential crowding has been shown to negatively impact child social-emotional development and behavior. The current study used a mixed-method approach to examine residential crowding and young children's behavior among Burundian refugees in the U.S. through observations of 21 children in homes and interviews with primary caregivers. Caregivers' perceptions of crowding predicted children's positive and distress-related behaviors, whereas more traditional measures of crowding (i.e., people per room) did not predict children's behavior. Caregivers described crowding in relation to valuing large families, and their assessments of crowding were related to the child-to-adult ratio in their home and the age of their youngest child.

The relationship between indicators of socioeconomic status and cesarean section in public hospitals.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To assess the relationship between indicators of socioeconomic status and cesarean section in public hospitals that adopt standardized protocols of obstetrical care.METHODS This was a prospective cohort study conducted between May 2005 and January 2006 with 831 pregnant women recruited from 10 public primary care clinics in São Paulo, Brazil. Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected during pregnancy. The three main exposures were schooling, monthly family income per capita, and residential crowding. The main outcome was cesarean section at three public hospitals located in the area. Crude and adjusted risk ratios (RR), with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using Poisson regression with robust variance. We examined the effects of each exposure variable on cesarean section accounting for potential confounders by using four different models: crude, adjusted by mother’s characteristics, by obstetrical complications, and by the other two indicators of socioeconomic status.RESULTS Among the 757 deliveries performed in the public hospitals, 215 (28.4%) were by cesarean section. In the bivariate analysis, cesarean section was associated with higher family income per capita, higher education, lower residential crowding, pregnancy planning, white skin color, having a partner, and advanced maternal age. In the multivariate analysis, after adjustment for covariates, none of the socioeconomic status variables remained associated with cesarean section.CONCLUSIONS In this group, the chance of women undergoing cesarean section was not associated with indicators of socioeconomic status only, but was defined in accordance with major obstetric and clinical conditions.