Urban Neighborhoods Research Articles

Hypertension risk pathways in urban built environment: the case of Yuhui District, Bengbu City, China.

The rapid development of urbanization has brought about changes in residents' living environment and behavior, leading to health challenges such as hypertension. An improvement in the built-up environment in the community could contribute to the construction of a healthy city, promote the active life of the residents, and prevent and relieve hypertension. However, there is little research on the relationship between the built environment of the community and hypertension. This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the relationship between communities' built environment, health behavior, and hypertension grade of residents in Yuhui District of Bengbu City. This study is based on data from the 2022 Health Survey of Residents in 21 communities. To investigate the impact of the community's built environment on residents' hypertension and the underlying mechanisms, regression and structural equation modeling were employed. The results show that the built environment of urban communities has a significant impact on the residents' hypertension. The presence of high densities of supermarkets, convenience stores, parks and plazas, but low densities of clinics and hospitals, has been identified as a significant risk factor for the development of high blood pressure among the residents. Nevertheless, the adoption of healthy behaviors, including regular walking, physical activity, and a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, can play an important role in reducing the risk of hypertension. The findings of this study show that enhancements to the built environment in urban neighborhoods could contribute to a reduction in the prevalence of hypertension among residents. Furthermore, the implementation of efficacious health interventions in urban settings would facilitate the alteration of residents' health behaviors and enhance their overall health status.

Inplacement, not just displacement: Urban assemblages and neighborhood stability in the face of gentrification

ABSTRACT In recent decades, residents and community organizations in the ethnically diverse neighborhood of Albany Park, on Chicago’s northwest side, have been resisting gentrification, emerging as one of the city’s most active neighborhoods in anti-displacement organizing and policy setting. We seek to understand how a multiplicity of actors, human and non-human, have coalesced to achieve a modicum of success in stalling, subverting, and overcoming gentrification and its attendant displacement of low-income residents. We draw on the work of urban assemblage theorists to build a temporal and spatial analysis, showing the complex assemblage of resistance actors, their experiences, and their narratives over a 20-year time span. Despite the fear of many scholars and residents, Albany Park shows that once started, gentrification is not inevitable. We introduce the concept of “inplacement” to show resistance to displacement is possible through the work of civil society organizations and other neighborhood actors.

Technological innovations and sustainability: Shaping the future of smart cities in urban planning

Smart cities have surfaced as pioneers in new urban planning practices during this era of increased urbanization rates. These advanced technologies have been implemented to improve life and solve many problems we are facing nowadays. This study seeks to investigate smart cities that can be developed in their advantages and disadvantages, as well as opportunities and threats. The main goal is to make technology more evenly accessible and utilizable within different urban neighborhoods. Our approach to analysing smart cities is multidisciplinary, including several sectors like urban planning, green city programmes, innovative urban enterprises, and information and communication technology (ICT). The study introduces eight novel models and integrates them into a comprehensive framework to assess smart cities, offering several possible applications. Findings indicate that digital technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) can significantly transform urban dynamics, per the findings. Conversely, they emphasise significant security, privacy, and economic parity concerns. The success and widespread implementation of innovative city projects will depend on how these challenges are resolved. It is imperative to tackle these issues to ensure the ongoing feasibility of intelligent cities as a viable choice for urban development. This study emphasises the need for a well-rounded approach that maximises benefits and minimises risks to promote inclusive, safe, and equitable urban environments via smart city advancements.

The Public Open Space Quality in a Rural Village and an Urban Neighborhood: A Re-Examination after Decades

The Public Open Space Quality in a Rural Village and an Urban Neighborhood: A Re-Examination after Decades

Exploring variations in patient safety events across equity-deserving populations

The objective of this analysis was to examine variations in rates of hospital harm (HH), an important indicator of patient safety events, across population subgroups in Canada. We conducted a descriptive study of HH in provinces and territories using three years (2016 to 2018) of CIHI’s Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) linked to the 2016 Canadian Census, also known as Statistics Canada’s Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohorts (CanCHEC). We investigated the influence of sociodemographic variables not generally available in hospital administrative data. We calculated age-standardized rates (ASR) per 100 hospital discharges and 95% confidence intervals for HH, stratified by sex, income (area and individual), racialized group, education, immigration status, language, disability status, social and material deprivation, and geography (urban vs. rural/remote). Despite males experiencing higher rates of harm (ASR 4.36 vs. 4.23), overall females experienced 54% of all HH events, with an average age of 64 (vs age 49 for those discharged without a HH event). For neighbourhood income quintile, the highest rates of HH were observed in the lowest quintile (4.08, 4.04 – 4.11). The rate of HH decreased as neighbourhood income increased. Patients from rural/remote neighbourhoods had lower rates of HH (3.7, 3.66-3.73) than those living in urban neighbourhoods (4.47, 4.44-4.49). Additional equity-stratified results will be presented. Our analysis revealed that marginalized populations were more likely to experience a harmful event during their hospital stay. Measuring and monitoring inequalities in patient safety provides health systems with information to better understand, target, and evaluate healthcare quality improvement initiatives.

Association between neighbourhood poverty and type 2 diabetes risk. Does moving from a high to lower poverty neighbourhood reduce diabetes risk?

ObjectivesDiabetes, a pressing global public health crisis, Diabetes, a global health crisis, is significantly impacted by social determinants, including neighborhood characteristics. This study aims to to assess whether relocation from a high poverty to lower poverty neighbourhood is associated with a reduction in T2D incidence. Methods and ResultsThis population-based, propensity-matched cohort study will use linked administrative health to examine the association between neighborhood relocation and T2D incidence. The study population will include adults (age ≥20 years) residing in high poverty urban neighborhoods between April 1st, 2002, to March 31st, 2021, as defined by an area Low-Income Measure - After Tax value of 38,730 dollars for a household size 4 based on the Canadian Census. Individuals will be followed for a new diagnosis of T2D using a validated algorithm based on hospitalization and physicians’ claims data. Propensity score matching will used to match individuals who moved from high-to-lower poverty neighbourhoods to one of two comparison groups: those moving from high-to-high poverty areas and those who remain in their original neighbourhood. Time-to-event analysis utilizing Cox proportional hazards regression with a robust variance estimator will be used to compare T2D incidence between matched groups. As a sensitivity analysis, non-propensity score modeling will be conducted using neighbourhood of residence as a time-varying covariate. The results of the aforementioned analyses will be presented during the conference. ImplicationsBy clarifying the link between neighborhood poverty and T2D incidence, the results will guide focused interventions to alleviate health inequalities in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.

Toward a “Freedom Life”: Notes on Transmasculine Placemaking in the “World-Class” City of New Delhi

The epistemological formations of area studies and critical regionality have been instrumental in situating the politics of gender-sexual variance in the Global South. Recent scholarship in India encourages further rescaling of queer and trans studies to account for the mutual entanglements of sexual and caste modernity, rights-based organizing, and metronormativity. Following this work, this article considers the possibilities offered by emphasizing the micro-locality of the urban neighborhood. A reading of two Delhi-based documentary films, Who Can Speak of Men? (2003) and Yeh Freedom Life (2019), the article troubles the idea of a unitary global and national trans subject. Conceptualizing the urban neighborhood as method and mode of reading transmasculinity compels a rethinking of the dichotomous framings of metropolitan queer as elite and transgender as abject. This article provides a trans microcartography wherein the world- and place-making work of transmasculine people enables a reimagining of masculinity in the neoliberalizing Indian “world-class city”.

Association between Built Environment and Bus Usage among Older Adults: Urban–Rural Differences in the Nonlinearities

Public transport improves mobility and well-being for the rapidly aging population. However, few planning interventions have addressed the urban–rural disparity in bus usage among older adults. Using data from Zhongshan, China, this study adopts the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model to examine urban–rural differences in the nonlinear relationship between built environment and daily bus usage among elderly adults. The results indicate nonlinearities across all built environment variables and stronger effects of the built environment in rural areas. Distance to transit contributes the most in urban neighborhoods but least in rural ones. Furthermore, dwelling unit density and green space accessibility play the biggest roles in the rural context. Additionally, the most effective ranges of intersection density, land use mixture, and CBD accessibility are greater in rural areas. The findings facilitate fine-grained and diversified planning interventions to facilitate bus usage among older adults in both urban and rural areas.

Evaluation of an immersed boundary numerical framework to address the wind field in complex urban topographies

Estimating the wind velocity field in an urban area is important for pedestrian comfort and safety, as the local wind velocities dictate the transport of heat and air pollution in urban environments. Therefore, it is an essential requirement to assess wind patterns when designing urban areas. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical solvers are usually employed to estimate the wind comfort in an urban area under different wind intensities and directions. However, CFD simulations are expensive in terms of time, especially when many scenarios are addressed to ensure safety and comfort for multiple conditions. Here, a CFD framework based on an immersed boundary approach to discretize the urban topography is developed and validated against experimental data in a wind tunnel and two different standard body-fitted mesh codes. The new solver employs a structured cartesian octree grid automatically generated from Lidar data of urban topographies. The advantages are eliminating the complex and time-consuming pre-processing of urban topographies and making the framework accessible to urban planners without CFD expertise. Furthermore, the code is equipped with GPU parallelization that further reduces the computational time. Provided that the best practice guidelines for urban simulations are satisfied, in particular at least 10 cells between two buildings, the code shows very good agreement in all the tests comprising of a simplified and real urban neighborhood highlighting the importance of accurately solving the complex terrain topography of an urban region when non-negligible elevation changes of the order of 20/40 meters are present.

Examining the importance of neighborhood natural, and built environment factors in predicting older adults' mental well-being: An XGBoost-SHAP approach

BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that urban neighborhood environmental factors significantly influence the health outcomes of urban older adults. However, most cross-sectional studies exploring the health effects of these factors have failed to quantify the relative importance of each factor. MethodsWe use XGBoost machine learning techniques and SHAPley Additive Interpretation (SHAP) to rank the importance of urban neighborhood environmental factors in shaping the mental health of urban older adults. To address self-selection bias in housing choice, we distinguish older adults living in private housing from those living in public as residents in private housing have more freedom to choose where to live. ResultsThe results show that both natural and built environmental factors in urban neighborhoods are important predictors of mental well-being scores. Five natural environmental factors (blue space, perceived greenery quantity, NDVI, street view greenness, aesthetic quality) and three built environmental factors (physical activity facilities quality, physical activity facilities quantity, neighborhood disorder) had considerable predictive power for mental well-being scores in two groups. Among them, blue space, perceived greenery quantity and street view greenness quantity became less important after controlling for self-selection bias, possibly because of the unequal distribution of quantity and quality, and the performance of neighborhood disorder, aesthetic quality and physical activity facilities quality was more sensitive in public housing. ConclusionsThese results highlight the nuanced and differential effects of neighborhood environmental exposures on mental well-being outcomes, depending on housing preferences. The results of this study can provide support for decision makers in urban planning, landscape design and environmental management in order to improve the mental well-being status of urban older adults.

Prioritizing social vulnerability in urban heat mitigation.

We utilized city-scale simulations to quantitatively compare the diverse urban overheating mitigation strategies, specifically tied to social vulnerability and their cooling efficacies during heatwaves. We enhanced the Weather Research and Forecasting model to encompass the urban tree effect and calculate the Universal Thermal Climate Index for assessing thermal comfort. Taking Houston, Texas, and United States as an example, the study reveals that equitably mitigating urban overheat is achievable by considering the city's demographic composition and physical structure. The study results show that while urban trees may yield less cooling impact (0.27 K of Universal Thermal Climate Index in daytime) relative to cool roofs (0.30 K), the urban trees strategy can emerge as an effective approach for enhancing community resilience in heat stress-related outcomes. Social vulnerability-based heat mitigation was reviewed as vulnerability-weighted daily cumulative heat stress change. The results underscore: (i) importance of considering the community resilience when evaluating heat mitigation impact and (ii) the need to assess planting spaces for urban trees, rooftop areas, and neighborhood vulnerability when designing community-oriented urban overheating mitigation strategies.

Exploration of auditory statistical learning, socioeconomic status, and language outcomes in Bangladeshi children: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Auditory statistical learning, or the ability to detect statistical regularities in continuously presented stimuli, is thought to be one element that underlies language acquisition. Prior studies have uncovered behavioral and neural correlates of statistical learning, yet additional work is needed from low- and middle-income countries to explore whether statistical learning varies across cultures or underlies associations often found between socioeconomic status (SES) and language outcomes. In the present study, we explored the feasibility of using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to explore auditory statistical learning in Bangladesh, a lower-middle-income country. Participants were 102 2-year-old (M = 25.72 months, SD = 2.07 months) and 125 5-year-old children (M = 62.35 months, SD = 2.46 months) living in a low-income urban neighborhood of Dhaka (average family income of 28,145.13 Bangladeshi Takas or 260.06 U.S. dollars per month). We also collected measures of SES and language outcomes. Brain responses during the statistical learning paradigm could be detected with fNIRS in both two- and 5-year-olds, with 2-year-olds exhibiting a higher response to predictable sequences and 5-year-olds exhibiting higher responses to unpredictable sequences. fNIRS correlates of statistical learning were not related to language outcomes but were associated with SES in the 5-year-old cohort. This study demonstrates the utility of employing fNIRS to study the neural correlates of statistical learning in low- and middle-income countries and the feasibility of expanding the representativeness of the existing literature. These findings also highlight potential areas for inquiry into how SES may relate to individual differences in statistical learning responses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

“The unwavering bond”: examining the sense of place in Harare’s informal urban neighbourhoods

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the sense of place in Hopley and Hatcliffe Extension, the largest informal neighbourhoods in Harare, Zimbabwe. The study draws from insights gained through focus group discussions with selected participants from these two communities. Contrary to conventional beliefs, we contend that residents of these neighbourhoods, despite enduring significant deprivation, exhibit a profound emotional connection to their neighbourhoods. These emotional ties stem from a collective sense of solidarity forged through shared experiences of socio-spatial exclusion. Our empirical findings challenge the prevailing assumptions about the sense of place in marginalised neighbourhoods, where such areas are typically perceived as having a diminished sense of place. This study contributes to the scholarly discourse on sense of place in disadvantaged neighbourhoods – a relatively understudied subject, particularly in Global South cities. These findings hold significant implications for urban planning policies on a global scale, especially those directed at informal settlements.

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF INEQUALITIES ON RESIDENTS' PERCEPTION AND CRIME INCIDENTS IN URBAN AND PERI-URBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the issue of inequality to the forefront, exacerbating economic uncertainty and social injustice, which has led to widespread social disorder. This study examines the relationship between inequality and crime in urban and peri-urban neighborhoods in Penang; Moreover, an association between inequality and the incidence of crime will be investigated in two neighborhoods. Having considered the intricate relationship between social inequality and crime in previous studies, a quantitative approach was conducted to investigate how neighborhood locations impact the crime and inequality relationship. A face-to-face survey using a closed-ended questionnaire was conducted with 761 respondents, comprising 329 from Balik Pulau and 432 from Bayan Baru. The findings reveal that economic inequality significantly impacts crime rates in both Bayan Lepas and Balik Pulau, whereas social inequality only shows a negative significant effect in Bayan Lepas. Subsequently, results indicate income does not influence the fear of crime among respondents in Balik Pulau, but residents with higher income levels in Bayan Lepas exhibit a greater fear of crime. However, neighborhood locations do not distinctly affect criminal activity. These insights can help enhance crime prevention strategies, improve security, and foster balanced development in Penang.

Innovation, informality and community: between involution and evolution in kampung-based industries in Indonesia

ABSTRACT Business and urban informality coincide in global south cities. However, different things have been claimed for the inventiveness of each. In this paper, we examine the extent and nature of innovation by predominantly informal businesses and the connections of such innovation with the embeddedness of businesses in informal urban neighbourhoods or kampungs. Our findings indicate the widespread but modest innovatory aspirations and actions of informal businesses but also lead us to urge caution regarding urban informality as a context nurturing of business innovation. We thus paint a picture of the coming together of business and urban informality that lies somewhere between Schumpeterian invention, on the one hand, and Geertz’s involution, on the other hand. The ‘betweenity’ of business and urban informality as they intersect in processes of innovation raises a series of theoretical and empirical questions that we outline in our conclusion.

Assessing Urban Neighbourhood Resilience to Covid 19 Pandemic in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

The sudden incidence of COVID-19 at Wuhan in China in December 2019 with its significant death globally and other negative socio-economic impacts has awakened the need to make human settlements resilient to unforeseen tragedy. Nigeria and Jos the capital of Plateau State have had negative experiences with the incidence of covid 19. Considering this, the study aims at assessing the resilience of urban neighbourhoods in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State to COVID-19 pandemic. The study objective is to examine the pattern and characteristics of some selected neighborhoods within Jos the study area. In addition to examining the characterisation of infrastructural facilities and to evaluate the environmental challenges that impede adherence to non-pharmaceutical protocols to COVID-19. Two neighbourhoods, Angwan Rukuba and Fudawa were selected to represent the entire Jos North Local Government Area. Relevant literature related to the study was reviewed. The study adopted a direct observation method of the physical characteristics of the neighborhoods and a simple sampling technique of survey where a structured questionnaire was administered to 138 respondents in the two neighborhoods. Descriptive analysis using percentages and tables in relation to the data obtained was used to draw inferences and conclusions. The results obtained shows that the sampled neighborhoods are densely congested informal settlements with unorganized settlement pattern, lacking in basic neighbourhoods’ infrastructure, and poor circulation, among others. These findings imply that the environmental setting of the study area makes compliance with non-pharmaceutical protocols during COVID-19. pandemic difficult. By implication, the neighborhoods lack the resilience capability to cope with the COVID-19. pandemic. The study recommends the need for planning and upgrading of the neighbourhoods’ facilities along with stakeholder public enlightenment on the need to comply to COVID-19. non-pharmaceutical protocols as a step toward building resilient neighbourhoods in Jos North Local Government Area and the metropolis at large.

Effects of urban regeneration projects on store survival rate in neighborhood commercial areas: the case of South Korea

ABSTRACT Neighborhood commercial areas in cities densely populated with small stores serve as crucial social, economic, and cultural hubs. However, the emergence of large discount stores and online shopping and urban decline have challenged these commercial areas. In response, South Korea introduced urban regeneration policies in 2014, known as urban regeneration leading areas (URLAs), with related projects carried out between 2017 and 2019. This study explored how urban regeneration projects impacted neighborhood commercial areas. It specifically examined the relationship between store survival rates – a key indicator of revitalization – and influencing factors (e.g. characteristics of urban regeneration projects, store characteristics, and regional features). The results, derived from a survival analysis model, indicated that revitalized areas, such as artificially specialized streets, negatively impacted store survival rates. Moreover, stores established at the commencement or midpoint of regeneration projects demonstrated lower survival rates, indicating temporary gentrification. Contrarily, stores linked to convenience facilities integral to residents’ lives and those existing before regeneration projects exhibited higher survival rates. These results suggest the need for a shift in urban regeneration projects and policies, such as increasing support for established local stores rather than creating new commercial zones and setting reasonable rents to sustain newly established stores.

Direct and indirect pathways linking gentrification to adolescent reading and math achievement via educational aspirations and psychological distress.

This study examined how living in a gentrifying neighborhood may impact adolescents' reading and math achievement via educational aspirations and psychological distress and asked whether these pathways differ according to socioeconomic status and race. A framework combining theories of adolescent development and neighborhood effects was empirically tested using a racially diverse sample of adolescents living in urban neighborhoods in North Carolina matched to administrative school records and census data (N = 1,045, Mage = 12, 8% American Indian, 4% Asian, 32% Black, 62% White, 15% multiracial, 16% Latinx, categories not mutually exclusive). At the population level, structural equation models found no relation between the extent of gentrification occurring in youths' neighborhood of residence and reading and math achievement, educational aspirations, or psychological distress. However, moderated mediation models revealed a positive association between gentrification and psychological distress among youth with low (but not high) subjective family economic status, leading to a small negative indirect effect of gentrification on math achievement. The link between gentrification and increased psychological distress was largest among Black youth with low subjective family economic status, who may face both heightened racism and classism-related social stressors as their neighborhood gentrifies. Findings have theoretical and policy implications, as they challenge the assumption that living in proximity to higher income, higher educated peers will benefit youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Modeling the Optimal Transition of an Urban Neighborhood towards an Energy Community and a Positive Energy District

Modeling the Optimal Transition of an Urban Neighborhood towards an Energy Community and a Positive Energy District

Low-Income Homeownership and Safety Nets: The Role of Radical Community Practices

ABSTRACT Nonprofit networks that oversee housing accessibility within urban neighbourhoods emerge as crucial arenas for inducing transformative shifts in policy and practice in the United States. However, civil society actors are subject to considerable critique in the discourse on radical planning theory. They are often alleged to be hand in glove with state and market actors in enabling displacement and dispossession of marginalised groups. This study challenges some of these entrenched positions and provides important counter-narratives on the transformative roles of civil society. Delving into the roles of various institutions that facilitate low-income homeownership, community building, and neighbourhood stabilisation, the study reveals that civil society actors present opportunities for subaltern expression, disruptive activism, and structural transformation in power relationalities. Their strategies respond to wealth-building pathways through housing and address intersectional challenges related to identity, citizenship, and access, thus reaffirming their transformative potential in the urban planning discourse.