Neighborhood Types Research Articles

Spatio-temporal patterns of domestic water distribution, consumption and sufficiency: Neighbourhood inequalities in Nairobi, Kenya

Whilst there are longstanding and well-established inequalities in safe-drinking water-access between urban and rural areas, there remain few studies of changing intra-urban inequalities over time. In this study, we determined the spatio-temporal patterns of domestic piped water distribution in Nairobi, Kenya between 1985 and 2018, and the implications of socio-economic and neighbourhood inequalities in water sufficiency. Using data from the Nairobi water and sewerage utility company for the period 2008–2018, we examined the sufficiency of monthly domestic water consumption per capita for 2380 itineraries (areas with an average population of 700) in relation to a residential neighbourhood classification, population and neighbourhood age and also examined water rationing patterns by neighbourhood type. Water sufficiency differed by residential areas, age of neighbourhood and population per itinerary. Compared to residents of low-income areas, those in high- and middle-income areas were six and four times more likely to receive the recommended 1500 L per capita per month respectively. Newer neighbourhoods and less densely populated areas were more likely to receive higher volumes of water. Non-revenue water loss accounted for 29% (average 3.5 billion litres per month) of water distributed across Nairobi, and was more than two times the amount of water needed for all residents to access the recommended monthly per capita water consumption. The observed spatial inequality in distribution, and access to piped water associated with socio-economic status and neighbourhood age highlights the need for deliberate planning and governance to improve water distribution to match the speed of growth of low/middle- and low-income residential areas and enhance equity.

The Neighborhood Effect on Keeping Non-Commuting Journeys within Compact and Sprawled Districts

The neighborhood effect on keeping non-commuting trips inside neighborhoods has not yet been investigated in developing countries. The modeling of non-commuting trips inside neighborhoods helps understand how to avoid unnecessary journeys by car into different parts of the city. This paper, therefore, attempts to clarify (1) the similarities and differences in the socioeconomic characteristics and the perceptions of people in sprawled and compact neighborhoods, (2) correlations between, on the one hand, the choice of destinations of non-commuting trips for shopping and entertainment activities and, on the other, the socioeconomic features, travel behavior, and perceptions of residents in the two large Pakistani cities of Lahore and Rawalpindi, (3) the similarities and differences in the determinants of non-commuting destinations inside neighborhoods in compact and sprawled districts. The paper develops four Binary Logistic (BL) regression models, with two models for each type of neighborhood. The findings show that trips to shopping areas inside compact districts are correlated with a sense of belonging to the neighborhood, frequency of public transport use, residential location, and mode choice of non-commuting trips to destinations both inside and outside the neighborhood. On the other hand, the number of non-commuting trips, mode choice for non-commuting trips outside the neighborhood, frequency of public transport use, the attractiveness of shops, and monthly income (please see the Note) are significant determinants for trips to the shopping area in sprawled districts. Age, gender, possession of a driver’s license, income, number of non-commuting trips, mode choice for non-commuting trips outside of the neighborhood, car ownership, and attractiveness of shops in a neighborhood are correlated with trips to entertainment locations inside the neighborhood in compact districts. Finally, the attractiveness of shops, quality of social and recreational facilities, a sense of belonging to a neighborhood, choice of residential location, gender, age, possession of a driver’s license, number of cars in the household, and income are determinants of trips to entertainment locations in sprawled districts. A chi-square test confirms the differences across gender, daily activity, monthly income, frequency of public transport use, residential location choice, and the quality of social and recreational facilities for sprawled and compact districts in Pakistan.

Not in my neighbour’s back yard? Laneway homes and neighbours’ property values

Single-family zoning is often defended as necessary to preserve neighbourhood amenities, but it is also blamed for making housing less affordable by constraining supply. In 2009, the City of Vancouver rezoned 95% of single-family areas to allow small accessory dwelling units (ADUs) or “laneway homes” behind residential structures. The goal was to increase rental housing supply with minimal disruption to rezoned neighbourhoods. We exploit this regulatory change to estimate the magnitude of externalities onto nearby units from increases in density. We find that even this “gentle” densification negatively affects neighbouring properties. This negative spillover is strongest for higher-valued properties and non-existent for median and lower-valued homes. Our findings illustrate that the costs and benefits of added density depend importantly on neighbourhood type.

Effects of Adjacent Land Use Types on the Composition of Vascular Flora in Urban Forest Ecotones in the Southern Poland

The purpose of the research was the recognition of edge effects regarding similarities and differences of vascular flora in undergrowth layers in the urban forest ecotones. Four types of urban forest neighborhoods were analyzed: ecotones adjacent to the manor park, the agriculture field, housing estates and the road. The plant compositions in the forest ecotones were compared with the plant compositions in the urban forest interior and the forest nature reserve. The phytosociological type of studied forests was a subcontinental oak-hornbeam one (Tilio-Carpinetum). Diagnostic plant species (e.g., characteristic) for forests from the non-diagnostic ones were identified. Forest consistent plant species dominated in the ecotone adjacent to the manor park and in the interior of urban forests too, but the best conditions for these plants were inside the forest nature reserve, where native consistent forest plants showed the highest dominance when comparing all studied areas. A higher anthropogenic pressure from the adjacent areas results in supporting the growth of inconsistent plant species in the forests, and these plants are mostly represented by plants belonging to grass and synanthropic communities. Another conclusion drawn from our research is that the protected forest, represented by a nature reserve in the city, provides better “shelter” for native forest plants than the urban forest without any protection. Ultimately, a permanent challenge is to achieve and maintain the balance between nature and the impact of anthropogenic activities on urban forests in the city. The high quality of green areas, biodiversity, including forests, implicates possibilities of sustainable development in cities. The research results will be useful for local urban planners and ecologists during their work on strategies of city development, including shaping of green infrastructure.

Systemic Racism in Police Killings: New Evidence from the Mapping Police Violence Database, 2013-2021.

This research note provides new evidence consistent with systemic anti-Black racism in police killings across the United States. Data come from the Mapping Police Violence Database (2013-2021). I calculate race-specific odds and probabilities that victims of police killings exhibited mental illness, were armed with a weapon, or attempted to flee the scene at the time of their killing. Multilevel, multivariable logistic regression techniques are applied to further account for the victim's age, gender, year of killing, and geographical clustering. I find that White victims are underrepresented, and Black victims overrepresented in the database. Relative to White victims, Black victims also have 60% lower odds of exhibiting signs of mental illness, 23% lower odds of being armed, and 28% higher odds of fleeing. Hispanic victims exhibit 45% lower odds of being armed relative to their White peers but are otherwise comparable. These patterns persist regardless of the victim's age, gender, year of killing, or geographical location (zip code, state, and neighborhood type). Thus, the threshold for being perceived as dangerous, and thereby falling victim to lethal police force, appears to be higher for White civilians relative to their Black or Hispanic peers. Current findings provide empirical support for political initiatives to curb lethal police force, as such efforts could help to reduce racial disparities in deaths by police nationwide.

Variations in direct greenhouse gas emissions across neighbourhoods: A case of Edmonton in Canada

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions vary among cities mainly because of variations in primary energy source, climate, and population densities. Neighbourhood characteristics such as area, configuration, land use, and road network could have further impact on these emissions variations. This study explores whether the neighbourhood types and their elements such as building typology, location, population density and travel behavior have any impact on direct GHG emissions, using the City of Edmonton in Canada as a case. A bottom-up approach considering scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions helped us to calculate emissions from twelve selected neighbourhoods in the city. Our results indicate significant differences in total and per capita GHG emissions across the neighbourhoods primarily based on the floor area per person, building types, and the use of personal transportation. We notice a strong positive relationship between per capita GHG emissions from residential buildings and floor area per person, and the proportion of single-detached dwellings in a neighbourhood. Furthermore, per capita GHG emissions from personal transportation show a strong positive relationship with distance to downtown and nearest transit stations, and the percentage use of personal vehicles to commute. The highest impacts of building typology and transportation on GHG emissions are exhibited in neighbourhoods that are either close to the city core or at the fringe. These results identify aspects of neighbourhood configuration, including building types, dwelling size, use of green energy sources such as rooftop solar panels, and accessibility of a public transit station, which urban planners should consider in their plans for developing new neighbourhoods or retrofitting existing ones with low carbon intensity.

Noise and Spatial Configuration in Biskra, Algeria—A Space Syntax Approach to Understand the Built Environment for Visually Impaired People

This contribution investigates the correlation between street noise levels and the spatial configuration of the street network in four different types of neighbourhoods in the Algerian city of Biskra. Space syntax methods are used to analyse spatial relationships, where accessibility, intelligibility, and legibility of urban spaces can be evaluated. The degree of spatial integration is used as an accessibility indicator and is correlated with recorded noise level data at 154 points from the selected neighbourhoods. As the results show, there are strong correlations between spatial integration and recorded sound pressures on streets and roads in colonial and unplanned neighbourhoods. The reason is that these types of neighbourhoods have a street network with high correlations between street connectivity and global spatial integration. There are weak correlations between connectivity and global spatial integration throughout the modern planned neighbourhood, which again affects the correlation between noise and space. The experiment shows that space syntax methods have the potential to predict degrees of accessibility and orientability for people with visual impairments in urban planning.

Performance enhancement of numerical approaches for scheduling problem on machine single

In this paper, we consider a single-machine scheduling problem, with the aim of minimizing the weighted sum of the completion time. This problem is NP-hard, making the search for an optimal solution very difficult. In this frame, two heuristics (H1), (H2) and metaheuristic tabu search are suggested.To improve the performance of this techniques, we used, on one hand, different diversification strategies (TES1 and TES2) with the aim of exploring unvisited regions of the solution space. On the other hand, we suggested three types of neighborhoods (neighborhood by swapping, neighborhood by insertion and neighborhood by blocks).It must be noted that tasks movement can be within one period or between different periods.

Are Neighbors and Neighborhoods Still Important? Examining the Impact of Neighbors and Neighborhood Environments on Mothers’ Parenting Stress

The contemporary neighborhood literature discusses the complex relationships among neighborhood environments, social support, and parenting. Grounded in the Person-Process-Context-Time (PPCT) model, we examined how different sources of social support interact with Korean mothers’ perception of disorder in their neighborhoods, and if social support increases or decreases their parenting stress in rural and metropolitan areas. Using STATA 14.0, we conducted multiple regression modeling including tests for interaction effects. Our sample (from the 8th Wave PSKC) included 1,300 mothers of seven-year-old children who were transitioning to first grade. The results showed that for metropolitan mothers, support from neighbors was important. Interestingly, receiving social support from friends/colleagues could increase or reduce their parenting stress depending on the type of residential neighborhood. Both rural and metropolitan mothers who reported negative impressions of their neighborhood environment experienced more parenting stress. However, these relationships disappeared when controlling for the interactions between mothers’ perception of disorder in their neighborhood and social support. These findings suggest that the social support that mothers receive from neighbors, and friends/colleagues, in general, play an important role in relieving parenting stress when raising first graders. However, living in disorganized, unsafe, or stressful neighborhood environments may restrict mothers’ parenting choices due to anxiety and limited outdoor space, resulting in increased parenting stress. Therefore, careful consideration of neighborhood characteristics is required to develop community-based parenting support services as part of family-friendly policies to effectively reduce the burden of parenting school-aged children in Korea.

Latent vehicle type propensity segments: Considering the influence of household vehicle fleet structure

This study applies latent class cluster analysis to a sample of 1,111 survey respondents in Georgia, identifying naturally occurring vehicle type segments based on the influence of both individual vehicle type choices and household vehicle fleet structures. The developed model identifies seven latent vehicle type propensity segments, six of which include individuals who reported being the main driver for (respectively) car, SUV/van, and truck. In three of those segments this was generally their only available vehicle, while in the other three the “main driver” vehicle accompanied other available household vehicles. The seventh segment captures individuals who are main drivers of multiple vehicle types, and who also have other household vehicles available for use. We generate user profiles and discuss differences across segments regarding individual-level characteristics (e.g., gender), household-level characteristics (e.g., household income), land-use and travel-related preferences (e.g., neighborhood type, share of household-serving trips), attitudes (e.g., materialistic), and targeted marketing data variables (e.g., support for charitable causes). Selected results suggest that women choose SUVs/vans due to both personal preferences (e.g., feeling safer while driving a large vehicle) and household responsibilities; show that vehicle-owning behaviors and attitudes are generally consistent, except that strong pro-vehicle-owning attitudes exist within vehicle-deficit households; and suggest that vehicle-deficit households may be less open to alternative fuel vehicles, possibly due to reliability concerns. Overall, this study provides a new perspective on vehicle type propensity segments, and examines the association of a novel range of general and travel-related attributes with these segments, yielding nuanced insights with potential policy implications.

TAGAT: Type-Aware Graph Attention neTworks for reasoning over knowledge graphs

With the rapid development of knowledge graphs (KGs), various AI-related applications have been affected positively. However, even though some KGs are relatively large, they still suffer from incompleteness. This has mighty promoted the development of reasoning over KGs to complement them. However, most existing reasoning methods only focus on semantics in the KG, ignoring potential or valuable information hidden in it, the most typical ones are neighborhood information and type information. This limits not only the reasoning performance but also the interpretability of the embedding space. To this end, we propose a Type-Aware Graph Attention neTworks (TAGAT) for the reasoning task over KGs. Except for combining type-related information during the embedding process, TAGAT further adopts a hierarchical attention mechanism to realize the perception of type and neighborhood information meticulously. For each entity, different attention levels respectively focus on considering the contribution of different relations, different types under each relation and different entity of each type under each relation. Moreover, the embedding space of TAGAT is constrained by the type information and naturally has better type-related interpretability, which greatly complements the defects of existing KGC models. Extensive experiments validate the high reasoning performance and the relatively ideal interpretability of our model.

FEMALE BODY IN MEDIA AND MARKETING

This research aims to examine the attitude towards the ways in which the female body is represented, i.e. to determine the extent to which the respondents (women) agree with the statements based on critical observations of feminist and researchers on gender issues on unethical (unacceptable) representation and treatment of woman and the female body in media and marketing. The study involved 509 women, aged between 18 and 55 years. The attitude towards the representation of the female body is operationalized by a scale (RFB scale) of 21 statements, grouped into three dimensions- sexual objectification, promotion of the “ideal” female body and instrumentalization of the female body. The results show that the respondents, although to varying degrees, agree with all the statements that describe the ways in which the female body is presented in the media and in marketing. Although all three dimensions are quite common in the media and in marketing, the respondents see the instrumentalization (abuse) of the female body for commercial purposes as the most pronounced phenomenon. Both on an overall scale and in dimensions, women from urban areas show a higher score than women living in rural areas. There are no statistically significant differences between groups defined by other sociodemographic characteristics (age, marital status, region, type of neighborhood, education). The conclusion is that the respondents support the attitude of feminists and researchers of gender issues that in the media and in marketing there is sexual objectification and promotion of the “ideal” female body, and especially pronounced instrumentalization (abuse) of women and the female body for commercial purposes.

What type of mixed-use and open? A critical environmental analysis of three neighborhood types in China and insights for sustainable urban planning

In the context of today’s global climate change and dramatic urban transformation, urban researchers, planners, architects, and policy-makers have recognized the value of following a mixed-use and open-oriented mode of urban development. In China, the prevailing option for urban renewal is the Urban Complex pattern, which features a mixed functional composition. However, due to its attributes of overall low urban walkability and high energy consumption, such super urban massing may not inspire an environmentally-friendly consequence or a healthy urban lifestyle among residents. This study adds an environmental dimension to the current debates on “sustainable urban form” and “inclusive and resilient neighborhood typology.” Based on an in-depth survey of the social and morphological characteristics of three representative mixed-use open urban neighborhoods (MOUN) in Shenzhen, this paper examines local-scale urban climate and canyon ventilation capacity performances of the following via on-site measurement: typical urban village (MOUN-Type I), mature open urban neighborhood (MOUN-Type II), and newly-built urban complex (MOUN-Type III). The results reveal that each MOUN type presents its merits and specific environmental problems, and their co-existence within cities can balance deficiencies in an inter-supplementary manner. The paper argues that urban (re)development should follow a multi-path and multi-consequence orientation, in which cities require the co-existence and collaboration of diverse neighborhood types to ensure a more efficient urban operation that strengthens urban adaptability. Even just from an environmental perspective, planners and policy-makers should carefully consider the specificity, continuity, and identity of each urban area situated within cities. Findings of this research provide insights into attaining “human-environment balance” in the process of establishing various planning models for urban sustainability.

Heterogeneity of Modern Contraceptive Use among Urban Slum and Nonslum Women in Kinshasa, DR Congo: Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Urban populations have been increasing at an alarming rate, with faster growth in urban slums than that in nonslums over the past few decades. We examine the association between slum residence and the prevalence of contraceptive use among women of reproductive age, and assess if the effect was modified by household wealth. We conducted cross-sectional analysis comprising 1932 women in slums and 632 women in nonslums. We analyzed the moderating effect through an interaction between household wealth and neighborhood type, and then conducted stratified multivariable logistic-regression analysis by the type of neighborhood. Fewer women living in nonslum neighborhoods used modern methods compared to those living in slum neighborhoods. Within slum neighborhoods, the odds of using modern contraceptive methods were higher among women visited by community health workers than among those who had not been visited. Parity was one of the strong predictors of modern contraceptive use. Within nonslum neighborhoods, women from the wealthiest households were more likely to use modern contraceptives than those from the poorest households. Household wealth moderated the association between the type of neighborhood and modern contraceptive use. The study findings suggested heterogeneity in modern contraceptive use in Kinshasa, with a surprisingly higher contraceptive prevalence in slums.

Internal migration industries: Shaping the housing options for refugees at the local level

In this article, we focus on ways in which ‘internal migration industries’ shape the housing location of refugees in cities. Based on empirical studies in Halle, Schwerin, Berlin, Stuttgart and Dresden, we bring two issues together. First, we show how a specific financialised accumulation model of renting out privatised public housing stock to disadvantaged parts of the population has emerged that increasingly targets migrant tenants. With the growing immigration of refugees to Germany since 2015, this model has intensified. Second, we discuss how access to housing is formed by informal agents. While housing is almost inaccessible for households on social welfare, the situation is even worse for refugees. This situation has given rise to a new ‘shadow economy’ for housing that offers services with dubious quality for excessive fees. Bringing these two issues together, we argue that housing provision to refugees has become a new business opportunity. This has given rise to a broad variety of ‘internal migration industries’ that provide the housing infrastructure, but also control access to housing. This not only results in new opportunities for profit extraction, but actively shapes new patterns of segregation and the concentration of refugees in particular types of disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Measuring socio-economic disparities in green space availability in post-socialist cities

Since the collapse of communism, countries in Central and Eastern Europe have experienced significant socio-economic changes that have affected the urban landscape and the spatial organization of cities. These processes have also generated significant changes in the availability of urban green spaces for local residents, resulting in new forms of inequalities. In the light of recent debate on socio-spatial segregation, the concept of environmental justice has gained increasing attention. Using three Hungarian post-socialist cities as case studies, this paper explores the relationship between different types of residential areas in terms of the age, education, and income level of people, and the availability of urban green spaces. To do this, we introduce a demand-supply composite index that contains featured indicators of urban green space availability. The results show that in terms of UGS availability, major disparities exist both among different socio-economic groups and different types of neighbourhoods in the investigated cities. Although legacies of the past are still important, the emerging disparities of green space availability can be linked to new forms of segregation including highly segregated neighbourhoods of urban poor and the new upmarket housing developments of the affluent. Our results also suggest that regardless of local governments’ recebt efforts to provide residents with equal access to urban green spaces, environmental justice remains a concern for urban planning in post-socialist cities.

Living Environment Considerations on Obesity Prevention Behaviors and Self-Efficacy among Chinese Americans.

The aim of this study is to ascertain if the living environment (type of residential neighborhood and number of household members) will elucidate differences in obesity risk reduction behaviors and self-efficacy in Chinese Americans. A cross-sectional survey design was used to recruit participants from Los Angeles County and New York City metropolitan areas. A total of 650 adults were recruited from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Descriptive statistics were measured for 19 behaviors reflecting food intake and portion size control and items measuring self-efficacy and attitudes. T-tests were applied for the two categories of living environment. The mean age of the sample was 36.3 years. The ‘high income’ neighborhood group indicated a greater frequency of behaviors, including choosing steamed over fried foods (p < 0.01) and using small amounts of oil (p < 0.05). In general, this group exhibited more favorable attitudes and stronger self-efficacy to perform health behaviors. Multiple regression analyses point to the impact of self-efficacy in predicting behaviors. Nutrition professionals must assess client’s living environments in the adoption of obesity prevention behaviors and the fostering of behavioral confidence.

(Re)conceptualizing Neighborhood Ecology in Social Disorganization Theory: From a Variable-Centered Approach to a Neighborhood-Centered Approach

Shaw and McKay advanced social disorganization theory in the 1930s, kick-starting a large body of research on communities and crime. Studies emphasize individual impacts of poverty, residential instability, and racial/ethnic heterogeneity by examining their independent effects on crime, adopting a variable-centered approach. We use a “neighborhood-centered” approach that considers how structural forces combine into unique constellations that vary across communities, with consequences for crime. Examining neighborhoods in Southern California we: (1) identify neighborhood typologies based on levels of poverty, instability, and heterogeneity; (2) explore how these typologies fit within a disorganization framework and are spatially distributed across the region; and (3) examine how these typologies are differentially associated with crime. Results reveal nine neighborhood types with varying relationships to crime.

The Unequal Availability of Rental Housing Information Across Neighborhoods.

As more urban residents find their housing through online search tools, recent research has theorized the potential for online information to transform and equalize the housing search process. Yet, very little is known about what rental housing information is available online. Using a corpus of millions of geocoded Craigslist advertisements for rental housing across the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the United States merged with census tract-level data from the American Community Survey, we identify and describe the types of information commonly included in listings across different types of neighborhoods. We find that in the online housing market, renters are exposed to fundamentally different types of information depending on the ethnoracial and socioeconomic makeup of the neighborhoods where they are searching.

Shifted varieties and discrete neighborhoods around varieties

In the area of symbolic-numerical computation within computer algebra, an interesting question is how “close” a random input is to the “critical” ones. Examples are the singular matrices in linear algebra or the polynomials with multiple roots for Newton's root-finding method. Bounds, sometimes very precise, are known for the volumes over R or C of such neighborhoods of the varieties of “critical” inputs; see the references below.This paper deals with the discrete version of this question: over a finite field, how many points lie in a certain type of neighborhood around a given variety? A trivial upper bound on this number is given by the product (size of the variety) ⋅ (size of a neighborhood of a point). It turns out that this bound is usually asymptotically tight, in particular for the singular matrices, polynomials with multiple roots, and pairs of non-coprime polynomials.The interesting question then is: for which varieties is this bound not asymptotically tight? We show that these are precisely those that admit a shift, that is, where one absolutely irreducible component of maximal dimension is a shift (translation by a fixed nonzero point) of another such component. Furthermore, the shift-invariant absolutely irreducible varieties are characterized as being cylinders over some base variety.Computationally, determining whether a given variety is shift-invariant turns out to be intractable, namely NP-hard even in simple cases.