Socio-spatial Inequalities Research Articles

Catalysts of connection. The role of digital information and communication technology in fostering neighbourhood social cohesion: A systematic review of empirical findings

Neighbourhood social cohesion is associated with a range of beneficial outcomes for residents. However, it is commonly hypothesised that neighbourhood relations face potential disruptions from digital information and communication technologies (DICT) as they are assumed to alter traditional community structures previously grounded in physical proximity. We systematically review 52 empirical studies on the relationship between DICT and neighbourhood social cohesion to determine in what ways DICT hinder or promote neighbourhood social cohesion. We found that DICT promote social cohesion by catalysing local social capital, but not for everyone and not in every neighbourhood. We propose the theoretical concept of ‘catalysts of connection’ to explain how technological affordances and online content interact with collective and individual social capital to develop various domains of social cohesion. Based on these results and our theoretical concept, we conclude that DICT exacerbate socio-spatial inequality in cities as neighbourhoods with low social capital are less likely to reap the benefits of the digital age. We provide paths for future investigations on the intersection of urban research and media and communication studies.

Socio-spatial inequalities in presence of primary care physicians and patients' ability to register: A simulated-patient survey in the Paris Region

ObjectivesWe studied the socio-spatial inequalities of three types of general practitioner (GP) density in the Paris metropolitan area: the density of GPs present (that is, practising) in the census block and of those registering new patients for office visits and, separately, for house calls. Study designAn exhaustive simulated patient survey enabled us to determine the number of GPs practising in the Paris metropolitan region accepting new patient registration for continuing care at their office and/or for house calls. MethodsWe measured at the level of a census block three types of GP densities: density of GPs present, density of GPs registering new patients at their office and density of GP registering new patients for house calls. We compared the association between the social deprivation level and each density measurement overall, then by stratifying for the population density of the census block. ResultsIn 2017–2018, we contacted 8171 physicians (87.6 % of the GPs in the region). Although more than 55 % of Ile-de-France census blocks had (at least) one practising GP, fewer than 40 % had one willing to register a new patient for ongoing office care, and fewer than 20 % for home care. Regardless of the GP density considered, it decreased as the census block's deprivation index rose. However, these inequalities were more marked for registration than for presence and in the most densely populated blocks. ConclusionsIn conclusion, the indicators of GPs' mere presence appear to minimise the socio-spatial disparities associated with access to registration.

Unveiling environmental inequalities in high-density Asian city: City-scaled comparative analysis of green space coverage within 10-minute walk from private, public, and rural housing

While increasing studies acknowledge the potential of green spaces to alleviate urban environmental problems in high-density cities, there is growing attention to the socio-spatial inequalities in green space allocation. Few studies have assessed these inequalities by considering the green space coverage along citizens’ walking trips from their homes within the context of pedestrian-centric and mixed-residential developments in high-density cities. Therefore, this study (1) evaluated green space coverage near home and within residents’ 10-minute walk from each residential building in Hong Kong, (2) estimated the population living in green space-deprived environments, and (3) explored their relationships with socioeconomic and built-environment characteristics. Results revealed that private housing residents living in lower-income and higher-density areas in the urban core were the most prone to low green space coverage. In contrast, public housing consistently offered medium levels of green space coverages regardless of community income and urban form. Additionally, high-density new town development demonstrated the potential for equitable green space allocation across different housing types. As cities increasingly embrace high-density development and promote active transportation, this study provides valuable insights for implementing housing and greening initiatives that foster healthy living environments in high-density cities.

Socio-spatial dynamics of E-participation: A case study of the Mudamos app in João Pessoa (2017–2020)

Emerging civic technologies can support civil society and the state toward participatory democracy. They offer citizens alternative tools for online participation or e-participation. In this study, we explore the socio-spatial dynamics of an e-participation activity in a city's policy-making process through the artifice of the network analyses. We build upon the idea of a network conceived as an object of human action, considering its social, technical, and spatial elements. We propose a conceptual framework to translate the geographic network of an e-participation activity in the city's policy-making process constituted by six dimensions: vocation, technology, institutional design, spatiality, participation, and the deliberative system. The case study applies the framework to the Mudamos application in the city of João Pessoa, in the State of Paraíba, Brazil. This e-participation tool facilitates digital signatures for Citizen Initiative Draft Bills (CIDB). Despite initial technical, institutional, and financial support, the app did not deliver its potential value. The reasons for low adoption are the lack of economic resources, low levels of civic skills, discontinuation of citizen recruitment, and discontinuation of the partnership between the control agents. Furthermore, socio-spatial inequality was critical in users' access and participation. Our findings suggest that the development of state capacities and participatory literacy are crucial to the success of e-participation initiatives. Consequently, the proposed framework and its application serve as a valuable starting point for researchers and policymakers seeking to understand the socio-spatial relationships involved in this process, offering knowledge to address digital inequalities and increase the effectiveness of e-participation initiatives.

On mapping urban community resilience: Land use vulnerability, coping and adaptive strategies in Ghana

Cities across the globe are prioritizing resilience in the wake of increasing climate change-related disasters. About 44% of these disasters are floods and their manifestation in cities is more pronounced, threatening urban social, ecological, and economic systems. This study draws on community resilience and participatory GIS, to examine land use vulnerability to flooding and local coping and adaptive strategies to achieve resilience. Using Ghana as a case study, the results show that participatory mapping offers community resilience benefits by providing context to community resilience challenges and potentials, enabling a deeper understanding of socio-environmental coupling that contributes to flood vulnerability and builds on community adaptive strategies through harnessing local community knowledge. We identified that topography, poor drainage and road network, rainfall variability, residents’ land use practices, and land use planning conundrum drive disparities in land use vulnerability to flooding. Participants underscored the necessity of critical urban infrastructure in facilitating community adaptability to floods. The findings indicate that socio-spatial inequities threaten urban community resilience, especially in increasingly cosmopolitan urban contexts, by putting the marginalized urban population in a more vulnerable position. We recommend the prioritization of recognitional equity in community resilience planning efforts to allow for the targeting of resilient interventions that reflect and respect social differentiation in the urban environment so that outcomes will not exacerbate or generate new urban socio-spatial inequalities.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: a focus on the most vulnerable

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic permeate various spheres of society. In Brazil, marginalized populations who face chronic difficulties accessing minimum human and social rights have been most impacted. In Rio de Janeiro, socio-spatial inequality influenced the spread of infection in some areas to the detriment of others, laying bare social disparities. Descriptive analyses, calculations, and logistic regression were conducted to assess the tested variables associated with a higher likelihood of COVID-19 hospitalization from January 2020 to January 2021 in Rio de Janeiro. There was a profile of individuals more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and variables demonstrating associations with worse outcomes. A historical and social context is associated with COVID-19 cases and complications and repercussions.

Staging interactivity: platform logics at the participatory museum

ABSTRACT In an effort to remain relevant as meaningful civic institutions under the dynamic socio-technical conditions of contemporary capitalism, participatory museums have adopted commercial technologies, embraced novel organizational models, and deployed interactive pedagogical environments to encourage innovative habits of behavior and thought as governmental imperatives. The historical formation and transformation of the Exploratorium, widely considered to be the birthplace of participatory science and technology education, lends perspective on these institutional developments as well as the politics of interactivity more broadly. What had been conceived of and built as a pedagogical space to promote a scientifically literate and politically engaged citizenry in the aftermath of the Manhattan Project and McCarthyism – the interactive technological environment – has since been taken up as a means to forge self-investing subjects on behalf of political projects of market rule. In the context of austerity politics and the rise of the digital economy, the managerial logics that animated the museum as well as the pedagogical stage of interactivity that underwrote it provided amenable grounds for market rationalities to take root and disseminate. While profit-driven digital platforms are rightfully seen today as mechanisms for the remaking of relations, activities, and subjectivities, the pedagogical stage created at the museum – the embodiment of both historical continuities and innovations in the realm of interactive exhibition – itself became reconfigured along market lines. A focus on the processes by which this reconfiguration took hold highlights how the material conditions of socio-spatial inequality continue to constitute a domain of urgent contest in the digital age.

Primary care performance measurement in Brazil (Previne Brasil Program), 2022–2023

BackgroundPrevine Brasil is a new way of financing Primary Health Care (PHC) in Brazil that places users of public health services at the center of the system’s analysis and attention through the use of seven performance indicators. This study aims to analyze the performance of Primary Health Care in Brazil under the new financing model (Previne Brasil) in the period from the first four months of 2022 to the first four months of 2023.MethodsThis is a territorial ecological study using secondary data from the Primary Care Health Information System (SISAB). Seven performance indicators were included and analyzed according to Brazil, its regions, states and capitals. A comparative descriptive analysis was carried out between the spatial units.ResultsOf the seven indicators analyzed, only one (Proportion of pregnant women tested for syphilis and HIV) reached the proposed target considering the average of the four-month periods evaluated (target: 60%; Observed: 62.5%). The Northeast was the region with the best performance, surpassing the target in three of the seven indicators (prenatal consultations, tests for syphilis and HIV in pregnant women and dental care for pregnant women). The states and capitals showed progressive improvement in the performance indicators over the four quarters analyzed, although unevenly between the indicators. The indicators related to hypertension and diabetes were the worst. The Final Synthetic Indicator (FSI) showed an increase in the median over the four quarters (4.78; 5.65; 6.02 6.29), which represents an increase of 1.51 in the indicator between the first four months of 2022 and the first four months of 2023.ConclusionAlthough there have been improvements in the performance of Primary Health Care in Brazil, the achievement of the agreed targets for the indicators seems a long way off. The socio-spatial inequalities in the indicators reflect the country’s health complexity and reinforce the need for policies that take into account the local-regional context.

Municipal housing queues as a generator of housing inequalities between natives and immigrants in Sweden

The ongoing debate on Swedish municipal housing’s universalist characteristics has focused on declining supply, stricter access criteria, and changing tenant demographics. This study addresses a research gap by examining how Swedish municipal housing queues, prioritizing apartment allocation by registration duration, influence tenant selection. Using a unique dataset from Bostaden, Umeå’s municipal housing company, linked to register data, the study investigates factors influencing housing queue accumulation and usage, with a focus on immigrant background. It further analyses how immigrant background affects the timing of exiting the housing queue to secure apartments. Furthermore, the study explores how the immigrant background of individuals obtaining queue-assigned apartments influences neighbourhood demographics. The findings highlight the substantial challenges faced by immigrants, particularly those from the Global South, in terms of housing queue accumulation, utilization, and neighbourhood attainment. These insights reveal how housing queues, as seniority-based rationing mechanisms, contribute to the perpetuation of housing and socio-spatial inequalities in Swedish cities.

Real Estate Production in Patos and Campina Grande-PB (2009-2020): Urban Expansion, Performance of Urban Agents and Socio-Spatial Inequalities

Real Estate Production in Patos and Campina Grande-PB (2009-2020): Urban Expansion, Performance of Urban Agents and Socio-Spatial Inequalities

The fluctuating mosaic of socio-spatial inequalities in central Pyongyang under the pressures of marketization

North Korea is one of the world's remaining totalitarian states. Nevertheless, marketization, despite officially being banned, rapidly developed and metamorphosed local society following the severe economic crisis of the mid-1990s. This article examines the transformation of central Pyongyang after 2000 through the lens of socio-spatial inequalities using residential housing as a key criterion. Utilizing historical satellite images, we accurately mapped and traced the evolution of housing stock in central Pyongyang over the past two decades. The coexistence of the market and the legacy of the state's welfare system was found to have kept the slums, quasi-slums and a nomenklatura gated community geographically distinct and socially homogeneous. In contrast, in other parts of central Pyongyang, the active pursuit of middle-size and high-rise residential development, taking forms of housing renovations, redevelopments of industrial sites, and infill development, have rapidly expanded and verticalized the residential urban fabric while intensifying a spatial intermixture of different socio-economic groups. In short, marketization was powerful enough to transform the urban landscape and the patterns of socio-spatial inequality in Pyongyang despite the numerous institutional and administrative barriers that have maintained socio-spatial distance between those at the very top and the very bottom.

Putting the exposome into practice: An analysis of the promises, methods and outcomes of the European human exposome network

ObjectivesContemporary research on the exposome, i.e. the sum of all the exposures an individual encounters throughout life and that may influence human health, bears the promise of an integrative and policy-relevant research on the effect of environment on health. Critical analyses of the first generation of exposome projects have voiced concerns over their actual breadth of inclusion of environmental factors and a related risk of molecularization of public health issues. The emergence of the European Human Exposome Network (EHEN) provides an opportunity to better situate the ambitions and priorities of the exposome approach on the basis of new and ongoing research. MethodsWe assess the promises, methods, and limitations of the EHEN, as a case study of the second generation of exposome research. A critical textual analysis of profile articles from each of the projects involved in EHEN, published in Environmental Epidemiology, was carried out to derive common priorities, innovations, methodological and conceptual choices across EHEN and to discuss it. ResultsEHEN consolidates its integrative outlook by reinforcing the volume and variety of data, its data analysis infrastructure and by diversifying its strategies to deliver actionable knowledge. Yet data-driven limitations severely restrict the geographical and political scope of this knowledge to health issues primarily related to urban setups, which may aggravate some socio-spatial inequalities in health in Europe. ConclusionsThe second generation of exposome research doubles down on the initial ambition of an integrative study of the environmental effects of health to fuel better public health interventions. This intensification is, however, accompanied by significant epistemological challenges and doesn't help to overcome severe restrictions in the geographical and political scope of this knowledge. We thus advocate for increased reflexivity over the limitations of this conceptually and methodologically integrative approach to public and environmental health.

Rethinking planning and nature conservation through degrowth/ post-growth debates

Based on the critical debates in urban theory, political ecology and urban political ecology literature, this article interrogates the potentialities and limitations of degrowth/post-growth planning, regarding relational, non-dualistic and multi-scalar spatialization of nature conservation. It firstly reveals that pragmatic, technoscientific and “sustainable/ecological urbanism” and market-based nature conservation it incorporates exacerbate socio-ecological crises and socio-spatial inequalities in and beyond cities under the conditions of planetary urbanisation. Second, it interrogates how new market-based nature conservation turned into 'green-grabbing' and primitive accumulation. Having explored the degrowth or post-growth approach in relation to other radical nature conservation approaches (e.g., convivial conservation and global safety network), it interrogates the ways in which post-growth planning deals with socio-spatial aspects of nature conservation. It takes the “degrowth/ post-growth planning” both as an instrument to spatialize radical nature conservation and as an approach addressing socio-ecological injustices and inequalities intersecting at multiple scales. It concludes that the degrowth/ post-growth planning can overcome its limitations and advance its potentialities, drawing from already existing radical conservation and critical approaches in neighbouring disciplines as well as the discipline itself.

Residential mobility and new forms of spatial inequality in the settlement system: A comparative study of Estonia and Lithuania

This study examines how socio-spatial inequalities are associated with population concentration and de-concentration processes shaped by residential mobility. The study explores whether the patterns of residential mobility vary in different settlement system contexts. It reviews the cyclical urbanization models and the inequality of opportunities they provide in urban, suburban, and counter-urban contexts for individuals in various life stages. The theoretical models are tested by analysing individual-level data covering the entire populations of Estonia and Lithuania – two countries with similar social but different settlement system contexts. The study utilizes linked individual-level data from the 2011 and 2021 censuses, and harmonized variables in the two countries. The results show that individuals engaging in concentration, suburbanization, or de-concentration have distinct characteristics, with little differences between countries characterized with different settlement systems. While the life-course approach assumes that young people are most likely to urbanize (concentrate), those in family ages shift towards suburbanization, and older individuals tend to counter-urbanize (de-concentrate), our findings challenge these assumptions, demonstrating that young adults have a high likelihood of migration in all three directions. These findings call for more in-depth studies on the interplay between age and migration patterns that would go beyond the life-course approach and delve deeper into the residential decision-making of young people.

Urban structure to determine equitable city growth for spatial justice: A case study of Chía-Bogotá, Colombia

The evolution of land use occupancy in various cities worldwide is swift. Land-use planning processes are still recent in most Latin American countries with significant socio-spatial inequalities. Due to rapid urban growth and real estate pressure, peri-urban areas of metropolises become susceptible to economic interests that can disrupt land use and municipal planning. Therefore, considering spatial justice, it is crucial to analyse possible future urban scenarios regarding socio-economic activities and their spatial distributions. This research seeks to define optimal locations and suitable urban growth areas, ensuring socio-spatial equity and justice. The study area is the municipality of Chia, on the outskirts of the metropolis of Bogota, Colombia, where the research proposes an analysis of urban morphology and the (social) intensity of activities and infrastructure. As a methodology, space syntax and the distribution of residential and non-residential activity data are applied through a predictive model. The study concludes that future mitigation of urban inequalities based on land use will be difficult to achieve owing to the location of urban sprawl areas.

Re-Think Migration in Africa: The Current Geopolitical Challenges of Migration

This study is part of the field of political and social geography and African studies. Its aim is to address the current geopolitical issues (migration policies, migration systems and dynamics, forms of otherness, clandestine migration and different routes, the role of borders in migration as a geostrategic tool) of migration in Africa. To bring scientific rigor and clarity to our study, we draw on both methodical approaches from social and political geography, life stories, ethnographic observation and various documentary sources. Reflection on the current migratory situation in Africa leads us to discuss the impact of the colonial era on the continent through colonial economies centered essentially on the exploitation of African natural resources such as minerals, rubber and cotton. This reality has engendered, on the one hand, an African migratory system represented by the migration of labor from rural regions to economic centers, creating demographic and economic imbalances within African countries; and on the other hand, a migratory system between colonizing countries and colonized countries. It's true that Africa is a continent of glaring disparities. It's a multi-ethnic, plural space that conceals flagrant socio-spatial inequalities, which are becoming increasingly acute. This area of the world becomes a space of paradoxes par excellence, insofar as wealth and poverty are intertwined. As a result, the spatial injustice between North and South generates a great deal of frustration among Africans, and has an impact on the construction of a hopeful migration project. Moving elsewhere offers would-be migrants the right to dream, rebuild their lives and shape their values. This ultimate goal is made possible by cosmopolitanism and the desire to discover a different culture. In the current context, Morocco is becoming a new frontier for Europe. Its geographical and geostrategic position makes it both a place of transit and residence. Indeed, moving there or leaving generates new urban dynamics in Moroccan cities, creating new forms of otherness between migrants and locals. Such mobility generates ephemeral, relocated territorialities that shape the urban landscape of African cities, in this case Moroccan cities. Migration is a highly complex phenomenon, involving individuals and their societal lives on the one hand, and states and their integration policies on the other. Indeed, dealing with the issue of migration in its political, economic, social, cultural and diplomatic dimensions is a necessity, and raises a legitimate question: how can we think about the geopolitical stakes of migration in Africa? To answer this major question, we propose a two-point plan. The first section will address current migration dynamics in Africa. The second deals with migration policies in Africa and future challenges in Africa and in third section, we will look at the future challenges of migration in Africa.

‘That is because we are alone’: A relational qualitative study of socio-spatial inequities in maternal and newborn health programme coverage in rural Uttar Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT This qualitative study was conducted in Uttar Pradesh state, India to explore how interrelated socio-economic position and spatial characteristics of four diverse villages may have influenced equity in coverage of community-based maternal and newborn health (MNH) services. We conducted social mapping and three focus group discussions in each village, among women of lower and higher socio-economic position who recently gave birth, and with community health workers (n = 134). Data were analysed in NVivo 11.0 using thematic framework analysis. The extent of socio-economic hierarchies and spatial disparateness within the village, combined with distance to larger centers, together shaped villages’ level of socio-spatial remoteness. Disadvantaged socio-economic groups expressed being more often spatially isolated, with less access to infrastructure, resources or services, which was heightened if the village was physically distant from larger centers. In more socio-spatially remote villages, inequities in coverage of MNH services that disadvantaged lower socio-economic position groups were compounded as these groups more often experienced ASHA vacancies, as well as greater distance to and poorer perceived quality of health services nearest the village. The results inform a conceptual framework of ‘socio-spatial remoteness’ that can guide public health research and programmes to more comprehensively address health inequities within India and beyond.

The equity implications of TOD in Curitiba

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) projects are being increasingly adopted worldwide as a way to promote the coordination between transport and land-use planning. However, little attention has been given to how TOD projects are associated with socioeconomic and spatial inequalities and its effects on people’s access to economic activities and public services, particularly in the Global South. In this paper we analyze how socio-spatial inequalities have been shaped by transport and land-use planning in Curitiba (Brazil), a city internationally recognized for its TOD planning based on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). We examine how the spatial organization of the BRT system is associated with the distribution of population densities, socioeconomic groups, and real-estate values and its implications in terms of inequalities of access to employment opportunities and health services. The results show that Curitiba's TOD has had limited influence on population densities, but contributed for the unequal distribution of its benefits, privileging high-income classes and premium real-estate along its main BRT corridors. These effects contribute to push low-income communities to peripheral urban areas with limited accessibility benefits from the transit system. Our findings suggest that Curitiba’s success story should be seen as a cautionary tale about the consequences of TOD planning, which perpetuate the spatial concentration of resources and reinforce inequalities of access to opportunities. The broader lesson of this study is that TOD planning must be constantly evaluated by its socials and environmental impacts, and be guided by mixed housing, and social inclusion to avoid potential consequences in terms of segregation and peripheralization of poorer communities.

Segregação espaço-temporal: tempo de deslocamento que une e separa classes e raças

Abstract The intense growth of Brazilian cities is remarkable, characterized by peripheralization and socio-spatial inequalities. However, studies that focus on the temporal dimension to understand spatial segregation are still scarce. This paper aims to understand the role played by commuting time in explaining the process of spatial segregation in the São Paulo metropolis. Its methodology is based on statistical data obtained from the weighting areas of the Demographic Census sample, by means of the variable usual commuting time, combined with other socioeconomic variables of income and race. This research contributes to the understanding of spatio-temporal segregation and shows that commuting time unites the poorest and black individuals, separating them from the richest and white individuals in the São Paulo metropolis.

Desigualdades sociais, territórios da vulnerabilidade e mobilidade urbana

Abstract Contemporary transformations linked to technology, the world of work, unemployment, and the effects of the pandemic in Brazil have been altering territorial dynamics. However, such factors only added to the perverse stability of socio-spatial inequalities in Brazilian cities, particularly in São Paulo. By revealing the current social segregation in a city linked to the flows of global capitalism, the difficulties faced by many in the job and housing market bring scenarios of congestion and difficulties in accessing workplaces and the built environment. In addition to revealing the daily struggle of the majority due to inequality in opportunity and commuting, they indicate the important role of urban mobility, which may come to have a leading role as a public policy.