Urban Areas Of England Research Articles

Inequality in green space distribution and its association with preventable deaths across urban neighbourhoods in the UK, stratified by Index of Multiple Deprivation

BackgroundThis study investigated inequalities in the distribution of green space (GS) and the association between inequalities in amounts of GS and preventable deaths across urban neighbourhoods with different Index of...

An undue emphasis on rural older adults in the Chief Medical Officer's annual report 2023?

The Chief Medical Officer's annual report 2023 presents an incomplete and skewed picture of the geography of older people in England. We show that there are higher absolute numbers of older people in urban areas in England and Wales, in contrast to key messages from the CMO report which suggest greater need in rural areas based on relative metrics. The absolute size of the urban–rural difference in the population of older people is projected to grow by 2043. Older adults in urban areas are much more likely to live in deprived areas than older adults in rural areas. The absolute number and prevalence of older adults in poorer health is also higher in urban areas, leading to greater healthcare needs. Policy-makers need to consider both absolute and relative demographic trends as well as making use of direct measures of health when planning how healthcare services for older adults are distributed geographically in England.

Using social media to infer the diffusion of an urban contact dialect: A case study of Multicultural London English

AbstractSociolinguistic research has demonstrated that ‘urban contact dialects’ tend to diffuse beyond the speech communities in which they first emerge. However, no research has attempted to explore the distribution of these varieties across an entire nation nor isolate the social mechanisms that propel their spread. In this paper, we use a corpus of 1.8 billion geo‐tagged tweets to explore the spread of Multicultural London English (MLE) lexis across the United Kingdom. We find evidence for the diffusion of MLE lexis from East and North London into other ethnically and culturally diverse urban centres across England, particularly those in the South (e.g. Luton), but find lower frequencies of MLE lexis in the North of England (e.g. Manchester), and in Scotland and Wales. Concluding, we emphasise the role of demographic similarity in the diffusion of linguistic innovations by demonstrating that this variety originated in London and diffused into other urban areas in England through the social networks of Black and Asian users.

Small-area analysis of social inequalities in exposure to environmental noise across four urban areas in England

Noise from transport is a major environmental problem in urban areas. The distribution of noise in cities may be linked to socio-economic characteristics and evaluating the social distribution of noise is important for planning more equal, liveable and sustainable cities. However, to date, there is no strong base of evidence pointing towards a positive or a negative relationship between transport noise and socio-economic disadvantage. Results across studies are mixed and have mainly focused on road noise. Little information is available on other sources of noise or combined exposures. This paper examines associations between socio-economic factors and transportation noise at a small-area level in four different urban areas in England. To this end, the paper investigates associations across different city characteristics, individual and combined noise exposures (i.e. road, rail, air), different noise levels, as well as different socio-economic indicators. The results show non-homogeneous and complex patterns of socio-economic inequalities in exposure to transport-related noise across the urban areas studied. The relationships are influenced by the type of socio-economic indicator, the noise indicator, the noise source, the noise level as well as by the area's local characteristics. This highlights that inequalities in noise exposure should be considered along with other contextual factors.

Associations of greenspace, including private residential gardens, with COVID-19 laboratory-confirmed positive test, hospitalisation and mortality in UK Biobank

Background and aim: Inequities in access to urban greenspace, such as gardens and parks, were highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which underscored greenspace’s utility for exercising and socialising. Initially, ecological studies suggested a protective association of greenspace with COVID-19 outcomes. The evidence, however, remains limited and lacking adequate adjustment for COVID-19 risk factors. We aimed to investigate associations of greenspace with COVID-19 positive test, hospitalisation and mortality using the UK Biobank cohort study. Methods: COVID-19 positive laboratory-confirmed test results, hospitalisations, and deaths were ascertained via UK Biobank linkage to Public Health England and general practitioner records, Hospital Episode Statistics and Office for National Statistics death records, from March – December 2020. We used Ordnance Survey Greenspace, categorised by function (e.g., private garden, public park, etc.), to assess greenspace in a 100 m distance buffer around residential addresses of UK Biobank participants who resided in urban areas of England (n = 276,805). We used logistic regression models to assess associations of greenspace with COVID-19 outcomes with adjustment for relevant COVID-19 risk factors and confounders, ascertained from baseline UK Biobank questionnaire responses (2006-2010) and general practitioner record linkage, and conducted multiple sensitivity analyses. Results: In age and sex-adjusted models, we found negative associations with all COVID-19 outcomes, however, in fully-adjusted models, associations were not significant. Unexpectedly, in fully-adjusted models, we found that both total greenspace (all types) cover and private residential garden cover within 100 m of addresses were positively associated with positive COVID-19 test (odds ratio (OR) 1.04 (95% confidence intervals (CI) = 1.01, 1.07); OR 1.08 (95% CI = 1.04, 1.13), respectively). Conclusion: We found no evidence that greenspace was associated with COVID-19 hospitalisation or mortality in fully-adjusted models. Results suggest higher COVID-19 positive test result for those residing at addresses surrounded by higher total greenspace and private garden cover.

Articulating Urban Culture with Coach Horns in the Long Nineteenth Century

Postal horns have been associated traditionally with bucolic topics in music. From Mozart to Mahler, the instrument appears in orchestral textures and songs to signify nostalgia for preindustrial rural life. The history of the coach horn, originally the standard postal instrument used on the British Royal Mail fleets, branched unexpectedly away from this paradigm when it was adopted for recreational use by socialites in urban areas in England, France, and other metropolitan hubs during the second half of the nineteenth century. In addition to performing the traditional road signals, driving enthusiasts expanded the musical vocabulary of the coach horn to include elaborate fanfares and stylized ensemble music. Tracing the undocumented recreational history of the coach horn, this article interrogates coach horn manuals, compositions, and essays on coaching that overturn traditional assumptions about the instrument. These sources illustrate how coach horn signals helped reframe driving from a service activity to a healthful sport. Examining the rhetoric surrounding the coach horn during the period of its revival, this study shows how the new signals reflected promenade and salon culture by mimicking polite dialogue. The ensemble repertory written for coach horns also catered to urban popular taste and was cultivated to enhance metropolitan social events. Analysis further illustrates how revivalist fanfares aurally articulated social status in the outdoor urban arena. This case study ultimately traces the cultural evolution of an instrument, a complex process through which old and new musical expectations were negotiated through composition and practice.

Variation in appropriate diabetes care and treatment targets in urban and rural areas in England: an observational study of the ‘rule of halves’

ObjectivesTo estimate the ‘rule of halves’ for diabetes care for urban and rural areas in England using several data sources covering the period 2015–2017; and to examine the extent to...

Evaluating the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the \u2018strengthening families, strengthening communities\u2019 group-based parenting programme: study protocol and initial insights

BackgroundUp to 20% of UK children experience socio-emotional difficulties which can have serious implications for themselves, their families and society. Stark socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in children’s well-being exist. Supporting parents to develop effective parenting skills is an important preventive strategy in reducing inequalities. Parenting interventions have been developed, which aim to reduce the severity and impact of these difficulties. However, most parenting interventions in the UK focus on early childhood (0–10 years) and often fail to engage families from ethnic minority groups and those living in poverty. Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC) is a parenting programme designed by the Race Equality Foundation, which aims to address this gap. Evidence from preliminary studies is encouraging, but no randomised controlled trials have been undertaken so far.Methods/designThe TOGETHER study is a multi-centre, waiting list controlled, randomised trial, which aims to test the effectiveness of SFSC in families with children aged 3–18 across seven urban areas in England with ethnically and socially diverse populations. The primary outcome is parental mental well-being (assessed by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale). Secondary outcomes include child socio-emotional well-being, parenting practices, family relationships, self-efficacy, quality of life, and community engagement. Outcomes are assessed at baseline, post intervention, three- and six-months post intervention. Cost effectiveness will be estimated using a cost-utility analysis and cost-consequences analysis. The study is conducted in two stages. Stage 1 comprised a 6-month internal pilot to determine the feasibility of the trial. A set of progression criteria were developed to determine whether the stage 2 main trial should proceed. An embedded process evaluation will assess the fidelity and acceptability of the intervention.DiscussionIn this paper we provide details of the study protocol for this trial. We also describe challenges to implementing the protocol and how these were addressed. Once completed, if beneficial effects on both parental and child outcomes are found, the impact, both immediate and longer term, are potentially significant. As the intervention focuses on supporting families living in poverty and those from minority ethnic communities, the intervention should also ultimately have a beneficial impact on reducing health inequalities.Trial registrationProspectively registered Randomised Controlled Trial ISRCTN15194500.

Sexualized drug use and specialist service experience among MSM attending urban and rural sexual health clinics in England and Scotland.

Background: To date, evidence on whether sexualized drug use (SDU) and chemsex occur less frequently in rural compared to urban areas in Britain has been conflicting. This study aimed to better measure and understand whether attending urban versus rural sexual health clinics in the United Kingdom was associated with a difference in men who have sex with men’s (MSM) experience of SDU or their access to SDU support. Methods: Men from 29 sexual health services across England and Scotland were recruited by self-completing a waiting room survey. Results: A total of 2655 men (864 MSM) took part. There was no statistically significant difference in recent SDU or chemsex identified in MSM attending rural compared to urban clinics. Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate/Gamma-Butyrolactone (GHB/GBL) was the most commonly reported chemsex drug used in a sexual setting, with equal prevalence of use in urban and rural MSM attendees. Distance travelled for SDU was not significantly different for rural compared to urban MSM. Rural MSM reported a higher rate of unmet need for SDU specific services, although this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Within this sample of MSM, there were no significant differences in sexualized drug use behaviours between those attending rural compared to urban sexual health settings.

'It felt like there was always someone there for us': Supporting children affected by domestic violence and abuse who are identified by general practice.

One in five children in the UK are affected by domestic violence and abuse. However, primary care clinicians (GPs and nurses) struggle to effectively identify and support children and young people living in homes where it is present. The IRIS+ (Enhanced Identification and Referral to Improve Safety) training and advocacy support intervention aimed to improve how clinicians respond to children and young people affected by domestic violence and abuse. IRIS+ training was delivered as part of a feasibility study to four general practices in an urban area in England (UK). Our mixed method design included interviews and questionnaires about the IRIS+ intervention with general practice patients, including children and young people as well as with clinicians and advocacy service providers. We collected the number of identifications and referrals by clinicians of children experiencing domestic violence and abuse through a retrospective search of medical and agency records 10months after the intervention. Forty-nine children exposed to domestic violence and abuse were recorded in medical records. Thirty-five children were referred to a specialist domestic violence and abuse support service over a period of 10months. Of these, 22 received direct or indirect support. The qualitative findings indicated that children benefitted from being referred by clinicians to the service. However, several barriers at the patient and professional level prevented children and young people from being identified and supported. Some of these barriers can be addressed through modifications to professional training and guidance, but others require systematic and structural changes to the way health and social care services work with children affected by domestic violence and abuse.

Energy use intensities in London houses

This research compares domestic metered energy data, for both gas and electricity consumption, against characteristics drawn from a building stock model of Greater London, UK. The energy analyses are limited to houses (single-building, single household) with one standard electricity meter and one mains gas meter as the principal subset. This provides a sample of almost 1.2 million, or 75%, of London’s stock of houses. Energy use was normalised by calculated floor area, providing an energy use intensity (EUI; kWh/m2/yr), which allows properties of all sizes to be compared. Examination of EUIs of each built form versus Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) current energy efficiency (Asset Rating value) indicates weak, or very weak, correlation between the two, particularly for electricity. Practice relevance The study demonstrates how a detailed building stock model may be used for the analysis of metered energy use in the buildings of urban areas: in this case houses. The analyses examine some aspects of the data that constitute the stock model, such as built form and age, which are held at the scale of what can be considered to be individual buildings. The model currently covers Greater London, but is being built for other urban areas of England and Wales, thus giving it the potential to aid different layers of government or other actors in their efforts to reduce energy use in the building stock—both domestic and non-domestic. Some aspects of the model, such as the calculation of floor areas, should be replicable, where these data are accessible.

Accessibility and allocation of public parks and gardens in England and Wales: A COVID-19 social distancing perspective.

Visiting parks and gardens supports physical and mental health. We quantified access to public parks and gardens in urban areas of England and Wales, and the potential for park crowdedness during periods of high use. We combined data from the Office for National Statistics and Ordnance Survey to quantify (i) the number of parks within 500 and 1,000 metres of urban postcodes (i.e., availability), (ii) the distance of postcodes to the nearest park (i.e., accessibility), and (iii) per-capita space in each park for people living within 1,000m. We examined variability by city and share of flats. Around 25.4 million people (~87%) can access public parks or gardens within a ten-minute walk, while 3.8 million residents (~13%) live farther away; of these 21% are children and 13% are elderly. Areas with a higher share of flats on average are closer to a park but people living in these areas visit parks that are potentially overcrowded during periods of high use. Such disparity in urban areas of England and Wales becomes particularly evident during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown when local parks, the only available out-of-home space option, hinder social distancing requirements. Cities aiming to facilitate social distancing while keeping public green spaces safe might require implementing measures such as dedicated park times for different age groups or entry allocation systems that, combined with smartphone apps or drones, can monitor and manage the total number of people using the park.

Changing Lives, Saving Lives: Women Centred Working – An Evidence-Based Model from the UK

Relative disadvantage and deprivation are significant problems for vulnerable women in urban areas in England. Despite experiencing a range of complex health needs such women do not always meet the required thresholds for statutory help or if they do, they are often unable to engage with the requirements of these service providers. Third sector (or non-governmental) organisations have often supported women in need but operate time-limited programmes due to funding restrictions. In a climate where statutory support systems are being systematically weakened, third sector organisations are playing a more significant role in supporting vulnerable women. This paper will present key findings from several evaluations of projects delivered by non-governmental organisations which are designed to make a difference to women’s lives. The findings cohere around what works providing evidence of effective approaches to supporting vulnerable women with complex needs. A transferable model of women-centred working is presented.

Black girls navigate the physical and emotional landscape of the neighbourhood: Normalized violence and strategic agency

This article considers how young Black women living in gang-affected neighbourhoods in an urban area in England, UK navigate their safety in public and private spaces, and how these spaces overlap and intersect. Drawing on a project with 18 participants aged 14–19, the research seeks to understand how the participants inhabit, navigate and strategize for their safety through their narratives of life and survival in an unsafe neighbourhood. Findings indicate that they experience sexual harassment in public spaces and gang-associated sexual and physical violence as common, accepted aspects of their everyday realities, from as young as 12. The narratives suggest that participants navigate complex friendship groups to protect each other and their families through tight codes of trust, secrecy, privacy and conflict-management strategies. This article seeks to bring attention to how young women utilize their agency to illuminate the coping strategies they draw on to navigate their physical environments. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for interventions.

Accessibility and Allocation of Public Parks and Gardens During COVID-19 Social Distancing in England and Wales

Background: Visiting parks and gardens may attenuate the adverse physical and mental health impacts of social distancing implemented to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We quantified access to public parks and gardens in urban areas of England and Wales, and the potential for park crowdedness during periods of high use. Methods: We combined data from the Office for National Statistics and Ordnance Survey to quantified (i) the number of parks within 500 and 1,000 metres of urban postcodes (i.e., availability), (ii) the distance of postcodes to the nearest park (i.e., accessibility), and (iii) per-capita space in each park for people living within 1,000m. We examined variability by city and share of flats. Findings: Around 25·4 million people can access public parks or gardens within a ten-minute walk, while 3·8 million residents live farther away; of these 21% are children and 13% are elderly. Areas with a higher share of flats on average are closer to a park but people living in these areas are potentially less able to meet social distancing requirements while in parks during periods of high use. Interpretation: Cities in England and Wales can provide residents with access to green space that enables outdoor exercise and play during social distancing. Keeping public parks and gardens open, might require measures such as dedicated park times for different age groups or entry allocation systems that, combined with smartphone apps or drones, can monitor and manage the total number of people using the park. Funding: This work is supported by the Pathways to Equitable Healthy Cities grant from the Wellcome Trust [209376/Z/17/Z]. Declaration of Interest: All authors have no conflicts of interests to declare.

The composition of British bird communities is associated with long-term garden bird feeding

There is a multi-billion dollar global industry dedicated to feeding wild birds in residential gardens. This extraordinary boost to food resources is almost certainly reshaping entire bird communities, yet the large-scale, long-term impacts on community ecology remain unknown. Here we reveal a 40-year transformation of the bird communities using garden bird feeders in Britain, and provide evidence to suggest how this may have contributed to national-scale population changes. We find that increases in bird diversity at feeders are associated with increasing community evenness, as species previously rarely observed in gardens have increasingly exploited the growing variety of foods on offer over time. Urban areas of Britain are consequently nurturing growing populations of feeder-using bird species, while the populations of species that do not use feeders remain unchanged. Our findings illustrate the on-going, gross impact people can have on bird community structure across large spatial scales.

Experiencing nature with sight impairment: Seeking freedom from ableism

The idea of nature as freedom has long captured the human imagination, particularly since the Romantic era when notions of escapism were underpinned by the idealisation and externalisation of nature. The drive for freedom persists in the findings of much contemporary research examining the contribution of nature to human health and wellbeing. Yet, this work tells us little about how cultural narratives of freedom play out in the lives of people living with impairment and disability, or the constraining ableist assumptions that often underpin popular discourses of nature. This paper aims to address this, drawing on the findings of an in-depth qualitative study exploring how 31 people with varying forms and severities of sight impairment, living in rural and urban areas of England, describe their experiences with(in) diverse types of nature through the life course. Moving beyond the ‘wilderness ideal’ and sensationalised ‘supercrip’ stories that reproduce ableist ideas of bodies without limitation, this paper foregrounds the richly textured ways in which participants experienced feelings of freedom with nonhuman nature. These freedoms are characterised as social, mobile and exploratory. In doing so, it seeks to make room for a range of nature experiences, folding social justice into the growing momentum to connect people with nature in the name of health and wellbeing.

Ecological network analysis on intra-city metabolism of functional urban areas in England and Wales

The UK has one of the world’s most urbanised societies where nearly 83% of the total population lives in cities. The continuing population growth could lead to increases in environmental pollutions and congestion within cities. The framework of urban metabolism uses an analogy between cities and ecosystems to study the metabolic processes within complex urban systems akin to natural biological systems. It remains as a challenge to fully understand the complicated distribution of resource flows within an urban network. In this paper, Ecological Network Analysis was applied to study the intra-city flows between economic sectors in 35 functional urban areas in order to investigate their respective metabolic relationships. The intra-city flows network of each area was also supplemented with the geographical distance between the workplace zones to study the impacts of spatial distribution on the density of resource flows. The metabolic systems were dominated by 64% of exploitative relationships with an average mutualism index of 0.93 and synergism index of 3.56 across all 35 areas. The consumption-control and production-dependency relationships revealed the hierarchical orders among the sectors resembling the pyramidal structure of an urban ecosystem. Network community classification emphasized the importance of inter-relationship within the organisation of each community class. The producer-type and consumer-type communities showed the tendencies of those sectors to cluster based on their respective hierarchical roles in the ecosystem. This work provides an insight into the wide range of intra-city ecological metabolic characteristics which can potentially expand to a multi-scale assessment of urban metabolism across the country.

Choosing a faith school in Leicester: admissions criteria, diversity and choice

ABSTRACTReligion in Britain is in overall decline and ‘no religion’ is growing, but one-third of schools in the State sector in England and Wales are ‘schools with a religious designation’ (‘faith schools’). Historically, these were Protestant and Catholic Church schools, but new faith schools have been established by Churches and other faiths. Governments of all parties have encouraged this development, chiefly on the grounds of increased parental choice and improved quality.The research presented here provides evidence about the operation of faith schools in the English city of Leicester in 2016, particularly from the perspective of those choosing a school. The main objectives are (1) to indicate the diversity of faith schools, (2) to show how they present themselves to those looking for a school: their admission requirements and level of educational attainment and (3) to reflect on the claim that faith schooling offers more and better choice and quality. Leicester is selected for its size and diversity; it is small enough to study with the resources available to us and is one of the most multi-ethnic and multifaith urban areas in England. Research was carried out between February and July 2016 and offers a snapshot from that year.

A stated preference model to value reductions in community severance caused by roads

This paper uses a stated preference survey to estimate the value of reductions in community severance (the “barrier effect” of transport infrastructure on pedestrians). The survey was conducted in four urban areas in England. Participants were asked whether they would cross a road without designated crossing facilities in order to access a cheaper shop or a bus stop on the other side of the road, instead of a more expensive one on their side of the road. This method provides information for the inclusion of severance effects in the appraisal of interventions to change road design and to control motorised traffic. The estimated value per walking trip of reducing the number of vehicle lanes from 3 to 2 and from 2 to 1 is £1.28 and £1.00 respectively. The value of adding a central reservation (median strip) is £1.08. The value of reducing traffic levels from medium to low and from high to medium is £0.76 and £1.08 respectively The value of reducing speed limits below 30mph is £0.45. These values depend on age, gender, disability, health condition, mobility restrictions, qualifications, location, and walking behaviour.