Low-income Residential Areas Research Articles

Perception of the City Outskirts Women on the Barriers to Healthy Eating: A Qualitative Study

Background: A crucial prerequisite for managing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors is community experiences and perceptions about the challenges of unhealthy eating. On the other hand, there is no literature on nutritional literacy in the city›s outskirts, which are the vulnerable parts of society. Thus, this study aimed to examine the barriers to healthy nutrition for resident women in low-income areas of Mashhad. Methods: This qualitative study used 28 women as a representative sample of the residents of marginalized areas of Mashhad in Iran. Data collection was conducted using interviews between 2021 and 2022. Data analysis was done using a content analysis approach (open and selective coding). Results: The most critical obstacles related to healthy eating were listed as follows: (a) low income, high expenses or expensive, (b) incorrect habits or lack of awareness, (c) food preferences, (d) lack of feeling of necessity and insufficient motivation, (e) lack of convenient access in the area, and (f) illness or physical condition. However, participants stated economic, social, and cultural issues as the main barriers to choosing healthy food among residents of low-income areas. Conclusion: This study identified the main barriers to a healthy diet in marginal areas. Overcoming these obstacles can be a strategy for local and national planning to deal with NCDs.

Waste accumulation in Jakarta’s slums: Neoliberal flows of waste distribution

Urban slums in the Global South have a formidable challenge of mismanaged waste. Behind this challenge lies urban politics, creating disproportionate exposure to waste in marginalized settlements. This paper articulates an urban political ecology of uneven waste accumulation in slums with a case study of Jakarta, Indonesia. I apply a mixed-methods approach, by integrating a spatial regression model with a critical qualitative analysis, to draw the connection between the slums’ waste crisis and neoliberal waste infrastructure. Since the mid-2010s, Jakarta’s waste governance has shifted from a conventional collect-transport-dispose model to a circular economy model operating under a technocratic and neoliberal economy. Under the shifted governance, the informal sector has been strengthened through the integration of high-tech infrastructure to reduce waste and extract new profits from materials. However, the sector has been unevenly strengthened across the city, creating two flows of waste accumulation activities. First, the strengthening has been accelerated in low-income residential areas by introducing financial incentives for the informal sector to make up the shortfall created by public services. Consequently, the informal sector in slums—with its limited focus on recyclable materials—has led to the accumulation of mismanaged non-recyclable waste in unregulated dumpsites of slums. On the other hand, public services are relatively prevalent in capital-intensive areas to promote the economic growth. However, due to its compact land-uses in those areas, the services utilize the unregulated dumpsites in slums as semi-permanent landfills for storing the collected waste.

The Exclusion of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Planning Open Spaces in Namibia: The Case of Havana, Windhoek

The lack of accessible and valuable public open spaces for socio-cultural activities is a concern in low-income urban areas. Through an indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) lens, we explored indigenous cultural open spaces (the olupale and omuvanda) of two communities in Namibia and their relevance to urban areas. This qualitative study included interviews, informal discussions, sharing circles (focus groups) storytelling, and participatory observation with the two rural communities. In the Havana low-income area in Windhoek, observations, semi-formal interviews and discussions were used. The study found, on the one hand, that planning practices excluded marginalised urban communities due to reliance on a single modernist rational problem-solving process. On the other hand, and through an indigenous knowledge paradigm, aspects such as community respect, well-being, cooperation, environmental respect, and care being taught, lived, and experienced at cultural open spaces, were mostly excluded. Planning in Windhoek overlooked these vital well-being components, to the detriment of the communities. Existing spatial IKS could help planning in addressing the well-being of low-income residential areas and their residents. This paper is therefore foregrounding IKS in planning and argues that such IKS integration will facilitate the improvement of diverse forms of living spaces, including poor and low-income spaces in urban areas.

Public support for participation in local development

Public participation in local development is an integral part of democratic agendas across the world. Yet not much research specifically focuses on people’s perspectives of participation, especially among underprivileged populations. Gaining a better understanding of people’s support for public participation is, however, important as it may inform people’s interest in future engagements with the state for local development. This paper contributes to the extensive interdisciplinary literature on public participation in local development by taking a people-centric view. Drawing on an original face-to-face vignette survey experiment (n = 502) and group interviews in Bramfischerville, a low-income residential area in Johannesburg, we examine whether people generally support public participation in local development and explore how different design features of participatory processes inform public support for participation. Overall, our mixed methods study reveals strong support for public participation, with higher support levels for more inclusive and interactive forms, meaning processes, which are open to all residents and where participants are invited to discuss priorities and needs. This, despite people’s awareness of the transaction costs of participation, such as time and energy. Moreover, we find that people’s support for participation is influenced by their experiences and satisfaction with infrastructure provision. These findings underline the importance of understanding the specificities of the given socio-economic context and people’s everyday lived realities. It also draws attention to people’s relationship with the state, as the main provider of this infrastructure. Therefore, a context-sensitive interpretation of people’s infrastructural preconditions and their relationship with the state are necessary to understand their attitudes towards participation and, more generally, for advancing participatory governance in the given context and beyond.

Living in the ‘Blue Zone’ of a sea-level rise inundation map: Community perceptions of coastal flooding in King Salmon, California

As sea-level rise (SLR) inundation maps proliferate, it is important to study their politics – both how they are created and how they act upon and shape various lives and places. This paper uses the example of King Salmon, CA – a rural, low-income residential area projected to be one of the most at risk to SLR on the US West Coast – to examine how a community responds to external projections showing SLR risk to their homes and businesses. Through interviews with 17 King Salmon community members and observation of a county-hosted ‘communities at risk’ workshop, we examined the community’s social context, their past experiences with flooding, and their reaction to SLR projection maps including what next steps they would like to see taken. Residents expressed a strong connection to the place, noting that it is one of the few affordable places to live on the coast in California. We found that residents already live with regular flooding during larger tides of the year and have taken steps to adapt. We observed a strong generational component in responses to projection maps with many older respondents believing or hoping that the worst effects from SLR would not come until after they passed away. Residents expressed a lack of faith in government to address flooding concerns both at present and into the future, noting that general maintenance issues have gone unaddressed for decades. Many residents interviewed and observed seemed open or at least resigned to the possibility of relocation at a future undetermined time. This work reveals the power dynamics inherent in climate projections like SLR maps, which, due to their technical nature and mobility, can leave communities out of conversations related to potential futures. Findings also have implications related to climate and SLR work – highlighting the importance of understanding community context; contributing to equity considerations about how wealth and other demographic factors shape how communities interact with SLR planning; and spotlighting the need for sustained learning, engagement, and co-production with communities in the ‘blue zones’ of SLR inundation maps.

Effectiveness of cryotherapy delivered by nurses for treatment of cervical preneoplasic lesions

Introduction. Cervical cancer is a relevant public health problem for low- and middleincome countries. Follow-up of positive-screened women and compliance with treatment of precancerous lesions are major challenges for these settings. Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of cryotherapy delivered by nurses for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Materials and methods. Direct visual inspection with acetic acid and lugol iodine (VIAVILI), and colposcopy/biopsy were performed on women 25 to 59 years old, residents of low-income areas in Bogotá, Colombia. Trained nurses offered immediate cryotherapy to every woman with positive visual inspection. Colposcopy/biopsy was performed before treatment and at a 12-month follow-up. The effectiveness was measured as cure (outcome: no-lesion) and regression (outcome: CIN1) rates of CIN2/3 using colposcopic and histological verification. Results. A group of 4.957 women with VIA/VILI was valuated. In total, 499 were screen positive and 472 accepted immediate treatment. A total of 365 women (11 CIN2/3) received cryotherapy by nurses. Cure rate was 72% (95%CI: 39%-94%) and 40% (95%CI: 22%-85%) by colposcopic and histological verification, respectively. Regression rates were 100% and 60%. There were two related non-serious adverse events. Conclusions. Cure and regression rates by colposcopic verification are like those reported for cryotherapy delivered by doctors. The sample size (CIN2/3) hinders comparisons by type of verification. Our findings support the implementation of screen-and-treat algorithms by nurses among populations with limited access to health services.

The sensitivity of health impact assessments of PM2.5 from South African coal-fired power stations

Unabated emissions of precursor gases from coal-fired power stations in South Africa greatly contribute to ambient PM2.5 concentration in the region, but estimates of the number of associated premature mortalities vary vastly. The application of the exposure-response function is one of the reasons for the differences in estimates of premature mortalities; since the relationship between mortality and PM2.5 exposure flattens out at higher PM2.5 concentrations, a smaller number of premature mortalities is calculated if a reduction in PM2.5 concentration occurs at the actual ambient concentration (“avoidable deaths”), while a greater number of mortalities is calculated if other sources are not considered (at low ambient concentrations) (“single-source deaths”). It is more appropriate to attribute deaths to a source in proportion to the contribution made by the source to ambient PM2.5 levels (“attributable deaths”). Total ambient PM2.5 concentrations are extrapolated from 38 ambient monitoring stations in the north-eastern region of South Africa using a regression model based on household socio-economic factors, and PM2.5 concentrations derived from power station emissions are estimated using a reduced-form intake fraction model. It is estimated that there are around 800 attributable premature mortalities per year due to PM2.5 from coal-fired power station emissions in South Africa. The number of premature mortalities is 44% higher when calculating single-source deaths and 53% lower when calculating avoidable deaths. Using the attributable death approach is particularly important in highly polluted areas such as low-income residential areas where households use solid and liquid fuels.

Historical racial redlining and contemporary patterns of income inequality negatively affect birds, their habitat, and people in Los Angeles, California

Abstract The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) was a U.S. government-sponsored program initiated in the 1930s to evaluate mortgage lending risk. The program resulted in hand-drawn “security risk” maps intended to grade sections of cities where investment should be focused (greenlined areas) or limited (redlined zones). The security maps have since been widely criticized as being inherently racist and have been associated with high levels of segregation and lower levels of green amenities in cities across the country. Our goal was to explore the potential legacy effects of the HOLC grading practice on birds, their habitat, and the people who may experience them throughout a metropolis where the security risk maps were widely applied, Greater Los Angeles, California (L.A.). We used ground-collected, remotely sensed, and census data and descriptive and predictive modeling approaches to address our goal. Patterns of bird habitat and avian communities strongly aligned with the luxury-effect phenomenon, where green amenities were more robust, and bird communities were more diverse and abundant in the wealthiest parts of L.A. Our analysis also revealed potential legacy effects from the HOLC grading practice. Associations between bird habitat features and avian communities in redlined and greenlined zones were generally stronger than in areas of L.A. that did not experience the HOLC grading, in part because redlined zones, which included some of the poorest locations of L.A., had the highest levels of dense urban conditions (e.g., impervious surface cover), whereas greenlined zones, which included some of the wealthiest areas of the city, had the highest levels of green amenities (e.g., tree canopy cover). The White population of L.A., which constitutes the highest percentage of a racial or ethnic group in greenlined areas, was aligned with a considerably greater abundance of birds affiliated with natural habitat features (e.g., trees and shrubs). Conversely, the Hispanic or Latino population, which is dominant in redlined zones, was positively related to a significantly greater abundance of synanthropic birds, which are species associated with dense urban conditions. Our results suggest that historical redlining and contemporary patterns of income inequality are associated with distinct avifaunal communities and their habitat, which potentially influence the human experience of these components of biodiversity throughout L.A. Redlined zones and low-income residential areas that were not graded by the HOLC can particularly benefit from deliberate urban greening and habitat enhancement projects, which would likely carry over to benefit birds and humans.

South Africa’s Community Trenches: Limitations and Possibilities for Democracy from Below

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, South Africa has experienced a consistent wave of local protests rooted in impoverished residential areas. Given the centrality of ideas about community within these protests, and building on Gramsci and Katznelson, this paper characterizes low-income residential areas as the “community trenches” of contemporary working-class struggle. Drawing on 29 months of ethnographic fieldwork and 287 interviews, I probe the meaning of community within local protests and its relationship to possibilities for building democracy from below. I argue that current manifestations of community have both benefits and limits: they help protesters to build solidarity across division and infuse their struggles with moral weight, but they also encourage localization, geographic isolation, and internal conflict. With reference to both historical and contemporary South African examples, the paper offers three possible rearticulations of community that—when woven together through interscalar connections—may facilitate democracy from below: community as participatory democracy; community as a right to the city; and community as national citizenship.

The Social Equity of Urban Parks in High-Density Urban Areas: A Case Study in the Core Area of Beijing

Urban parks beautify the environment and promote urban public health, and their spatial allocation is significant in maintaining environmental justice. However, the current allocation of urban parks focuses on quantity fairness and pays insufficient attention to accessibility and quality fairness. This study investigated the core area of Beijing and analyzed the fairness of urban park allocation based on park accessibility, area, and quality. We used big data crawling, the two-step floating catchment area method, comprehensive equity evaluation of parks, spatial autocorrelation, and non-parametric tests. The results showed inequality in terms of accessibility, area, and quality, with high spatial distribution in the north and low spatial distribution in the south. The accessibility, shortest distance, and total area of urban parks in high-income residential areas were 3.0, 2.1, and 1.8 times higher, respectively, than those of the low-income residential areas. This indicates that high-income groups have better accessibility, live closer to, and have access to larger urban parks. Middle-income and above groups had access to green space, whereas medium-to-low-income residential areas had poor access to parks, particularly high-quality parks. These findings provide decision-making and planning references for the optimal allocation and rational planning of urban parks.

Evaluation of WA Township's Public Toilet Management and the Adequacy of Services Provided to Commuters and Households without Toilets

Around the world, commuters use public toilets, often in public places. In Ghana, most people use public toilets (PTs) because of inadequate household toilets. Due to high pressure and insufficient maintenance, these PTs are usually dirty, smelly, unhygienic, etc. This study investigated PTs' maintenance and Operation in Wa township, Ghana. A total of 44 PTs in Wa were included in the study. The geographical coordinates of the PTs were recorded using hand-held GPS receivers. The results showed that the majority (95.46%) of the PTs were in the central business districts and low-income residential areas, with an average usage of 8,022 people per day in all 44 PTs and 191 people per PT daily. The majority (95.46%) of PTs did not have adequate staff for regular cleaning, inadequate hand washing facilities, or other disinfectants needed for cleaning. The number of cesspit emptier trucks (3) was not sufficient to operate in all PTs; some PT operators momentarily closed their toilets when the septic tank was full until they finally got the trucks to pump out the excreta. Others hired workers to manually collect the sludge with a bucket and pour it into the yard. It was also found that about 70% of Municipal Assembly PTs (MAPTs) were poorly constructed, maintained, and repaired. Despite these problems, PTs can be clean and hygienic if adequately managed. This paper recommends that MAPTs be privatized to ensure proper and efficient management. PT operators who inappropriately dispose of fecal sludge should be prosecuted. Keywords: Water, Hygiene, Public, Private, Toilet DOI: 10.7176/CER/15-1-05 Publication date: April 28 th 2023

Community-Based Urban Kampong Design in Kelurahan Sorosutan, Kemantren Umbulharjo, The City of Yogyakarta

Participatory planning methodology is a method that is often used to develop urban areas, especially for low-income residential areas. Low-income community settlements, also known as urban kampong, are always exist in Indonesian urban areas, so participatory planning is very useful for developing urban kampong. In Yogyakarta, there are many urban kampongs in each sub-district area inhabited by low-income residents. One sub-district area that also has urban kampongs is Kelurahan Sorosutan, Kemantren Umbulharjo, the City of Yogyakarta. To carry out the development of urban kampong in Kelurahan Sorosutan, the KOTAKU program from Director General of Cipta Karya, Ministry of Public Works is implemented through collaborating support with several stakeholders including academics. The Urban and Residential Environment Laboratory, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana carried out community service in Kelurahan Sorosutan using community-based participatory planning methods. As a housing scheme, this method does not develop new houses for low-income people but carries out upgrading programs in existing kampong settlements. The involvement of students, teaching staffs, the sub-district government and the local community greatly supports the planning process. The most important stakeholder is the local community who clearly know the potential and problems they face on a daily basis. The purpose of the community service is to make a Master Plan that can be used as a reference to carry out regional development in some stages. The results obtained from this community service are the Master Plan for Regional Development Kelurahan Sorosutan, Kemantren Umbulharjo, the City of Yogyakarta.

Review of “Delivery as Dispossession: Land Occupation and Eviction in the Post-Apartheid City”

How do postcolonial states manage increasingly urbanized surplus populations, or those rendered superfluous to global capitalism? Zachary Levenson’s Delivery as Dispossession tackles this question from the vantage point of land occupations in South Africa. This is an extreme case: unemployment is dramatically high, often hovering around 40 percent (including discouraged job-seekers). Under apartheid, policies of racial exclusion restricted urbanization, but with the lifting of influx control restrictions, the poor and jobless today concentrate in urban areas. In post-apartheid cities, a sizable housing backlog remains, informal settlements proliferate, and overcrowding defines low-income residential areas—all this, despite the fact that the democratic state has delivered approximately four million homes in less than three decades (Levenson 2022, p. xi). Levenson’s account focuses on two land occupations in Cape Town: Kapteinsklip and Siqalo. Both represented attempts by residents to escape overcrowded conditions in nearby townships and informal settlements, and to build new communities where they could find some dignity and autonomy in their living situations. Yet, the two land occupations met with varied success: Kapteinsklip was evicted, Siqalo was not. The cases raise two important questions: first, why is the post-apartheid state, committed as it is to redressing the ills of apartheid and colonialism, evicting poor Black residents—including so-called “African” and so-called “Colored” residents—from vacant land; and second, why are some evicted but others not?

Assessment of Solid Waste Management Privatization and Continued Pollution in Makadara Sub-County Residential Areas, Nairobi – Kenya

The study sought to assess how private waste companies have contributed to continued pollution in Makadara Sub-County, Nairobi City County. The study employed mixed method design, specifically concurrent triangulation strategy. Simple random sampling was used to select 218 resident leaders whereas purposive sampling was used to select 1 Sub-County environmental officer and 23 managers of private waste firms. Instruments for data collection were questionnaires, semi-structured interview guides and observation guide. Quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Ver. 27.0) and presented in tables and pie charts. Qualitative data was analysed using content analysis and presented through narrative forms and thematic text approach. The study findings revealed that Private Waste Companies (PWCs) contributed to continued pollution in Makadara Sub-County by insisting on prompt waste collection charges, littering and waste spillage, irregularity in waste collection, creation of mini-dumps and poor maintenance of waste collection points, and inadequate finances. The study concluded that insufficient funds was the main challenge facing private waste companies leading to continued pollution in the residential areas and therefore there was need to review the terms and conditions of operation between PWCs and the residents that gear towards environmental sanitation that is fit for human survival. The study recommended that the PWCs to increase frequency of waste collection while the City County Government to implement the policy on contracting private waste companies that operate in residential areas and develop a policy on public-private partnership which focuses on the government subsidizing PWCs that carry out waste management in low-income residential areas.

How do the socio-economic indicators influence the travel behaviour pattern?: Case study Amman-Jordan

Limited research has been conducted in developing countries on travel behavior and its prediction. This study aimed to investigate if socio-economic conditions affect travel behavior patterns in Amman, Jordan, and propose regression models for trips defining the contributory factors. A total of 681 interviews were conducted with households (210) and workplace employees (335), assessing behavioral travel styles in two neighborhoods with different characteristics. Compared to residents of high-income areas (HIA), residents of low-income areas (LIAs) travel more by all modes of transportation; in LIA and HIA, the trip rate per person was (2.2) and (2.0), respectively, while in low-income and high-income areas, the number of trips per household was 5.14 (153.6 minutes) and 3.7 (155 minutes). Most household trips in low-income neighborhoods, mainly for education and work, were made on foot, while private cars were more common in high-income areas. For trips related to the office and shops, the private car was the most common mode of transportation. In low-income neighborhoods, shared taxis were commonly used for household and shop trips, and buses were often used for commutes. School and university students, as well as household size, provided valid trip predictions. Employees can predict work trips to the office, customer visits, and shop-related trips.

A Tool-kit to Measure the Urban Quality of Life for Low-income Residential Areas

A Tool-kit to Measure the Urban Quality of Life for Low-income Residential Areas

사회자본의 커뮤니티시설이 사회주택의 주거안정에 미치는 영향

This study surveyed the effects of community space and community programs on the residents of social housing on the resident's continued life intentions, trust, networks, social norms, and social norms. The study method used multiple regression analysis. The research results are as follows. Community space had a positive effect on social capital formation and housing stability, but the community program did not show significant results on social capital formation and housing stability. In addition, as a result of analyzing the effect of community on housing stability through social capital, community space had a significant effect on the intention to continue residence through social capital, but connection with the local community did not have a significant effect. The implication is that social housing can improve the stigma of low-income residential areas by revitalizing the local community and provide an alternative to integrating double-rental housing through connection with the local community. Improvements to the current community operating system include designing a space suitable for the characteristics of the housing type, operating a program suitable for the characteristics of the occupants, and preparing an evaluation system suitable for the type of community.

Locally Driven Options for Managing Sanitation Issues in Kalingalinga Township of Lusaka

In recent years, the challenge of sanitation has manifested itself in the perennial outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and dysentery, as well as pollution of water resources, contamination of air, soil and land proliferation of pests and vermin and the loss of aesthetic beauty particularly in low income residential areas. These areas are densely populated implying that externalities resulting from unsanitary conditions will impact more people compared to high residential areas. Further, as long as sanitation management solutions introduced to the locals do not seem to be locally driven, promoters are likely to face dis-adoptions. This study aimed at investigating locally driven options for managing sanitation issues in Kalingalinga Township. It utilized 126 respondents who were systematically randomly sampled. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, correlation techniques and the least square difference (LSD) methods. The study identified sanitation issues related to waste disposal, unsanitary toilets, intermittent water supply and flooding due to blocked drainages during the rainy season as key sanitation issues affecting residents of Kalingalinga Township. The ratings of the sanitary conditions in the area were largely influenced by one’s level of education and exposure with respondents who had undergone higher levels of formal education being more stringent in their ratings. While level of income was a determinant of access to water supply in the Township, the residents’ poor attitude towards solid waste disposal was a major challenge contributing to unsanitary conditions in the area. The study identified the need to separate generated waste into usable categories that could be recycled, reused and sold as raw materials to particular manufacturing industries. The success of locally driven options would hinge on residents being educated on the sustainable waste management techniques which would also contribute to household income generation through selling off usable wastes. Further, a change in the attitude of residents towards waste management, use of designated solid waste collectors who take waste to designated dump sites, use of disinfectants in toilets and avoidance of stagnating waste water would also help to manage sanitation in the area. Poor sanitation and hygiene have contributed to malnutrition cases in Zambia which may be caused by diarrheal diseases. If sanitation is well managed in this Township, then diarrheal cases, caused by poor sanitation, can be minimized. While the Lusaka City Council was often mentioned as a major solution towards waste management in the area, the study recommended participatory education of the locals in sustainable waste management, conversion of household waste into household income and a change in residents’ attitude as the starting points in ensuring successful sanitation management.

Can bike-sharing contribute to transport justice? Exploring a municipal bike-sharing system

• Bike-sharing systems can contribute to transport justice. • These systems typically only target already mobile groups. • Stakeholders must prioritise equality objectives to promote transport justice. New mobility solutions have so far primarily been designed to meet the mobility needs of affluent user groups and have had limited impacts on objectives related to justice. This paper sheds light on a bike-sharing system implemented by a local authority in Sweden and discusses the findings in relation to the literature on transport justice. The study is based on a single case study and demonstrates that the system mainly attracts users who already have high accessibility. That docking stations were placed in low-income residential areas, combined with the fact that the price model was affordable, suggests that the system has potential to promote transport justice. The study indicates that this equality profile was primarily treated as an add-on in the design and setting up of the system.

The Impact of Meteorological Factors On-Road Pm10 Emission Factors in South African Low-Income Residential Areas: A Case in Mantserre

The Impact of Meteorological Factors On-Road Pm10 Emission Factors in South African Low-Income Residential Areas: A Case in Mantserre