Residents Of Urban Neighborhoods Research Articles

Investigating the Relationship between Social Capital and Quality of life among Residents of Urban Neighborhoods in Rafsanjan

Investigating the Relationship between Social Capital and Quality of life among Residents of Urban Neighborhoods in Rafsanjan

Neighborhood Food Environment Associated with Cardiometabolic Health among Predominately Low-income, Urban, Black Women.

This study sought to: 1) understand how the perceived food environment (availability, accessibility, and affordability) is associated with cardiometabolic health outcomes in predominately low-income Black residents in urban neighborhoods with limited healthy food access; and 2) examine the association of shopping at specific store types with cardiometabolic health outcomes. We report on cross-sectional data from 459 individuals participating in the Pittsburgh, PA Hill/Homewood Research on Neighborhoods and Health (PHRESH) study. Mean participant age was 60.7 (SD=13.9); 81.7% were female. We used logistic regression to examine associations between three factors (perceived fruit and vegetable availability, quality, and price; primary food shopping store characteristics; and frequency of shopping at stores with low or high access to healthy foods) and cardiometabolic and self-rated health. Adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, participants with higher perceived fruit and vegetable accessibility (AOR:.47, 95%CI: .28-.79, P=.004) and affordability (AOR:.59, 95%CI: .36-.96, P=.034) had lower odds of high blood pressure. Shopping often (vs rarely) at stores with low access to healthy foods was associated with higher odds of high total cholesterol (AOR:3.52, 95%CI: 1.09-11.40, P=.035). Finally, primary food shopping at a discount grocery (vs full-service supermarket) was associated with lower odds of overweight/obesity (AOR:.51, 95%CI: .26-.99, P=.049). These results suggest that both perceived accessibility and affordability of healthy foods are associated with reduced cardiometabolic risk factors in this urban, low-income predominantly Black population. Additionally, discount grocery stores may be particularly valuable by providing access and affordability of healthy foods in this population.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH (DEPRESSION SCALE): EVIDENCE FROM IRAN

According to the recent studies, there are wide range of psychological disorders in developed and developing countries with different levels of economic conditions. One of the most important psychological disorders and pressures is depression. An issue that has been neglected so far is impact of urban environmental quality on psychological health. Housing in this physical environment plays a very important role in psychological health indexes such as depression. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between qualitative indexes of housing and depression with a case study of at MoftAbad and Mardavij neighborhoods in Isfahan. Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression have been used for data analysis. Independent variables of study include qualitative variables of housing that have been studied in accordance with literature in both internal and external dimensions. Dependent variable of study is depression. Depression Inventory Questionnaire of Beck et al. (1996) with 21 questions, used to measure depression. Results showed that variables such as interior design, indoor greenbelt, natural received light, natural ventilation, and plant diversity, walking possibility, quality of public spaces, and environmental cleanliness and security have most impact on level of depression of residents in urban neighborhoods.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH (DEPRESSION SCALE): EVIDENCE FROM IRAN

According to the recent studies, there are wide range of psychological disorders in developed and developing countries with different levels of economic conditions. One of the most important psychological disorders and pressures is depression. An issue that has been neglected so far is impact of urban environmental quality on psychological health. Housing in this physical environment plays a very important role in psychological health indexes such as depression. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between qualitative indexes of housing and depression with a case study of at MoftAbad and Mardavij neighborhoods in Isfahan. Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression have been used for data analysis. Independent variables of study include qualitative variables of housing that have been studied in accordance with literature in both internal and external dimensions. Dependent variable of study is depression. Depression Inventory Questionnaire of Beck et al. (1996) with 21 questions, used to measure depression. Results showed that variables such as interior design, indoor greenbelt, natural received light, natural ventilation, and plant diversity, walking possibility, quality of public spaces, and environmental cleanliness and security have most impact on level of depression of residents in urban neighborhoods.

Assessing urban connectivity using volunteered mobile phone GPS locations

The mode, timing and frequency of travel by residents of urban neighbourhoods is affected by sociodemographic and environmental factors. Among these, the layout and connectivity of the street network is amenable to design by urban planners and developers. Here we focus on street connectivity as a variable influencing mobility in cities by examining GPS-enabled mobile phone location data volunteered by a group of 127 university students (234,709 h of behavioural observation over a six-year period). We used a Bayesian beta regression framework to model the proportion of time spent inactive, walking and travelling at vehicle speeds, relative to street connectivity and other environmental attributes measured within a radius of home. Results indicated that lower street connectivity, measured using a simple measure we call network warp, is associated with more time spent inactive and more time travelling at vehicle speeds by students. The proportion of time spent walking was higher in areas with more street connectivity, and for student homes that were closer to campus. Our study confirms the importance of street connectivity as a factor influencing the walkability of neighborhoods and the selection of passive forms of transport, and builds on earlier studies of this relationship by incorporating longitudinal data with high spatial and temporal resolution. We conclude that crowdsourcing data that is recorded automatically by GPS-enabled mobile phones can provide an accessible and flexible evidence base to support the design of urban areas.

Worldviews and Perceptions of Environmental Problems

The paper reports findings related to perceived worldviews and risk associated with environmental problems by the residents of urban neighborhoods. Unhygienic environmental conditions are common in residential areas of medium-size cities like Allahabad, India. The respondents were 102 men and 102 women of four residential neighborhoods which varied in population, layout planning (congested vs. wide-streets) and pollutions (noise, garbage, drainage). In addition to background information, they completed the worldviews scale, rated perceived seriousness of local environmental problems and risk impact on self, family, rich, poor, plants and animals. They also rated attribution of responsibility for environmental problems and pro-environmental behavior. Probably, due to cultural homogeneity no significant differences were found for worldviews across four neighborhoods. Men and women did not differ in their worldviews except for the fatalistic worldviews with men perceiving themselves less fatalistic than women. With a few exceptions, the residents of four localities did not differ significantly on perception of environmental problems and attribution of responsibility. Correlations of worldviews with perception of environmental problems, risk impact, attribution of responsibility and inactions are discussed. Nature of correlations of environmental conditions with physical and psychological health is also discussed.

Perception, experience and the use of public urban spaces by residents of urban neighbourhoods

Perception, experience and the use of public urban spaces by residents of urban neighbourhoods

The contribution of local parks to neighbourhood social ties

The social ties between the residents of urban neighbourhoods are in decline due to changing work patterns, increased mobility and developments in communications. Neighbourhood open spaces, and green spaces in particular, provide opportunities for social interactions that may help the residents to establish recognition and develop relationships. This paper investigates the contribution of local parks to the development of social ties in inner-city neighbourhoods. Combining quantitative methods (questionnaire survey) with a qualitative approach (focus group discussions), the research was carried out in three inner-city neighbourhoods in Greater Manchester, UK, characterised by different levels of material deprivation and ethnic diversity. The social survey explored the associations between the respondents’ visits to local parks and the number of friends and acquaintances they had. The findings suggest that local parks may support the development of social ties in inner-city areas. Associations were found between the quality of the parks, the character of visits, and the extent of social ties in the neighbourhood. The study concludes that for inner-city parks to realise their full potential in supporting social interactions and developing social ties, they need to be well-maintained and provide good recreational facilities. The development of social ties was also found to be considerably affected by the characteristics of the individuals and the neighbourhood.

Electing Displacement: Political Cleansing in Apartadó, Colombia

This article highlights a nefarious effect of elections during civil wars by demonstrating that they can facilitate the displacement of civilians. This occurs through two main mechanisms: they reveal information about civilians' loyalties directly to armed groups; and they threaten the status quo of local elites' power, motivating them to ally with outside armed groups in order to regain it. Armed groups strategically displace civilians identified as disloyal in order to gain control over a territory. I test implications of the argument with original, micro-level quantitative and qualitative data from northwest Colombia. Using voter censuses and disaggregated electoral returns from 1991-1998, I show that residents in urban neighborhoods that supported the insurgent-backed political party, the Patriotic Union (UP), were more likely to leave the city of Apartado than neighbors in other districts. However, residents of the nearby rural communities that supported the UP were the least likely to leave. I trace the patterns of violence across the communities using local archival materials and interviews to assess how well the argument accounts for the variation observed, and to explore the unexpected outcome in the rural area. While I find that counterinsurgents attempted strategic displacement in both the city and the mountains, they only succeeded in the urban areas because residents of the rural hamlets were uniquely able to overcome the collective action problem that strategic displacement generates. The findings demonstrate that that political identities are relevant for patterns of violence, and that political cleansing resembles ethnic cleansing.

Electing Displacement: Political Cleansing in Apartadó, Colombia

This article highlights a nefarious effect of elections during civil wars by demonstrating that they can facilitate the displacement of civilians. In contrast to the perception of displacement as haphazard, the author argues that armed groups displace strategically when they attempt to gain control over a territory, and where they have information about civilians’ loyalties. Although inferring preferences is difficult in the context of civil wars, elections conducted before or during a violent conflict are one way that armed groups can identify local cleavages and ‘‘disloyal’’ residents. The author tests implications of the argument with original, microlevel quantitative and qualitative data from northwest Colombia. Using voter files and disaggregated electoral returns, the author shows that residents in urban neighborhoods that supported the insurgent-backed political party, the Patriotic Union (UP), were more likely to leave the city of Apartadó than were neighbors in other districts. However, residents of the nearby rural communities that supported the UP were the least likely to leave. The author traces the patterns of violence across the communities using local archival materials and interviews to assess how well the argument accounts for the variation observed, and to explore the unexpected outcome in the rural area. While the author finds that counterinsurgents attempted strategic displacement in both the city and the mountains, they only succeeded in the urban areas because residents of the rural hamlets were uniquely able to overcome the collective action problem that strategic displacement generates. The findings demonstrate that political identities are relevant for patterns of violence, and that cleansing occurs even in nonethnic civil wars.

Neighborhood social capital and individual health

Neighborhood social capital is increasingly considered to be an important determinant of an individual's health. Using data from the Netherlands we investigate the influence of neighborhood social capital on an individual's self-reported health, while accounting for other conditions of health on both the level of the neighborhood and the individual. We use national representative data ('The Housing and Living Survey', 2006) on the Netherlands with 61,235 respondents in 3273 neighborhoods. The cross-sectional data were combined with information provided by Statistics Netherlands on neighborhoods, i.e., the percentage of residents in the highest income quintile per neighborhood and the municipality's degree of urbanity. The association of neighborhood social capital with individual health was assessed by multilevel logistic regression analysis. Our results show that neighborhood social capital is positively associated with health. Interestingly, residents in urban neighborhoods benefit particularly from their neighborhood social capital.

The Neighborhood Food Environment and Adult Weight Status: Estimates From Longitudinal Data

I used longitudinal data to consider the relationship between the neighborhood food environment and adult weight status. I combined individual-level data on adults from the 1998 through 2004 survey years of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 with zip code-level data on the neighborhood food environment. I estimated ordinary least squares models of obesity, body mass index (BMI), and change in BMI. For residents of urban areas, the neighborhood density of small grocery stores was positively and significantly related to obesity and BMI. For individuals who moved from a rural area to an urban area over a 2-year period, changes in neighborhood supermarket density, small grocery store density, and full-service restaurant density were significantly related to the change in BMI over that period. Residents of urban neighborhoods with a higher concentration of small grocery stores may be more likely to patronize these stores and consume more calories because small grocery stores tend to offer more unhealthy food options than healthy food options. Moving to an urban area may expose movers to a wider variety of food options that may influence calorie consumption.

Type and Quality of Physical Activity Resources Available to Residents of Urban Neighborhoods

Type and Quality of Physical Activity Resources Available to Residents of Urban Neighborhoods

Effect of Urban Poverty on Parents’ Expectation of their Children’s Achievement

In this study we examine if parents’ expectation of their children’s success in life varies by type of urban neighborhood. Do parents’ expectations of their children’s educational achievement and age at which their offspring may start their first job, marry and have children vary by type of urban neighborhood in which they reside? Analysis of data taken from inner city Chicago indicates that residents in urban neighborhoods varied in their demography, ethnic status, marital status, labor force participation, earnings ability, welfare dependency and asset holdings. Parental expectation of their offspring’s educational achievement and age at which offspring may begin working or marry, however, did not vary by type of neighborhood. Expected age at which their children may have kids, however, did vary by type of neighborhood. Actual first child’s success indicators were also similar across types of neighborhood. This study shows that parents’ expectations for their children’s achievement are largely independent of the poverty level of the urban neighborhood in which they reside. The findings also challenge the validity of the culture of poverty theory.

Perception of Social Diversity and Fear of Crime

This article examines the influence of perceived social diversity on fear of crime among residents of urban neighborhoods. Perception of social diversity may lead to feelings of uncertainty in the environment, which in turn leads to increased levels of fear. Urban planning issues raised by perceived heterogeneity are addressed as are issues raised in the fear of crime literature. For purposes of analysis age is treated as a covariate and fear levels are related to both age groupings and to demographic and perception of diversity variables. Analysis reveals that levels of fear vary by age grouping and that the perceived social diversity variables affect the age groupings differentially.