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Leibe, Mary. "Creating Healthy Urban Environments: Commercial Landscaping, Preference and Public Health." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2016. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2262.
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Landscape development[1] can provide many benefits, including the reduction of stormwater runoff and the creation of habitats for wildlife. It can also provide health benefits. Researchers, such as Roger Ulrich and Rita Berto have demonstrated that views of trees and other vegetation are associated with lower blood pressure and reduced recovery times in hospitals and that environments with more natural elements may lessen mental fatigue (R. Ulrich 1984) and (Berto 2005).
As rebuilding in New Orleans continues 11 years after Hurricane Katrina, landscape development has been limited or lacking, especially in the redevelopment of commercial properties. Two prominent reasons for this deficiency are a lack of funding and, until August of 2015, the absence of a comprehensive landscape ordinance.
The purpose of the research presented here is to determine the degree to which community residents express a preference for healthier commercial environments. As part of my research, I measured community perceptions of four potential redevelopment concepts for a blighted strip shopping center utilizing attention restoration theory (ART), which postulates that certain environmental qualities contribute to reductions in mental fatigue. I found that commercial environments with the most quality landscaping[2] are those that neighborhood residents most prefer and are most conducive to better health.
Keywords: mental fatigue, attention restoration theory, perceived restoration scale, commercial landscape quantity, public health, healthy urban environment
[1] Refer to operational definitions (pages 4-6).
[2] Refer to operational definitions (pages 4-6).
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Zuniga-Teran, Adriana A., Barron J. Orr, Randy H. Gimblett, Nader V. Chalfoun, Scott B. Going, David P. Guertin, and Stuart E. Marsh. "Designing healthy communities: A walkability analysis of LEED-ND." ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/622730.
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Prevailing city design in many countries has created sedentary societies that depend on automobile use. Consequently, architects, urban designers, and land planners have developed new urban design theories, which have been incorporated into the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) certification system. The LEED-ND includes design elements that improve human well-being by facilitating walking and biking, a concept known as walkability. Despite these positive developments, relevant research findings from other fields of study have not been fully integrated into the LEED-ND. According to Zuniga-Teran (2015), relevant walkability research findings from multiple disciplines were organized into a walkability framework (WF) that organizes design elements related to physical activity into nine categories, namely, connectivity, land use, density, traffic safety, surveillance, parking, experience, greenspace, and community. In this study, we analyze walkability in the LEED-ND through the lens of the nine WF categories. Through quantitative and qualitative analyses, we identify gaps and strengths in the LEED-ND and propose potential enhancements to this certification system that reflects what is known about enhancing walkability more comprehensively through neighborhood design analysis. This work seeks to facilitate the translation of research into practice, which can ultimately lead to more active and healthier societies. (C) 2016 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
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Shah, Sagar M. "Physical Environment, Social Characteristics, and Health: Analyzing their Relationships in a Midwestern County." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1521192410862496.
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Meneghetti, Gabriela Ignarra Pedreira. "Estudo de dois métodos de amostragem para inventário da arborização de ruas dos bairros da orla marítima do município de Santos, SP." Universidade de São Paulo, 2003. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/11/11150/tde-27112003-100603/.
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Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar a eficiência de dois métodos de amostragem de árvores de rua para os bairros da orla marítima da cidade de Santos. Foram empregadas a amostragem sistemática simples e a amostragem estratificada por bairros. Cinco estratos corresponderam aos bairros Ponta da Praia, Aparecida, Embaré, Boqueirão, e, o último, denominado Composto, compreendeu três bairros vizinhos, o Gonzaga, o Pompéia e o José Menino. Dos 470 quarteirões não compostos integralmente por áreas verdes e localizados na área de estudo, foram selecionados 70 para compor a amostra (14,9%) tanto da amostragem sistemática simples quanto da amostragem estratificada. A fim de estimar o parâmetro populacional que representa a abundância de árvores, utilizou-se a variável número de árvores por quilômetro de calçada. Foi realizado um inventário qualitativo e quantitativo no qual foram anotados o perímetro dos quarteirões (incluindo as calçadas), o número de elementos existentes (árvores e arbustos vivos ou mortos) e suas características. Os dois métodos de amostragem foram eficientes para o levantamento de árvores de ruas nos bairros da orla marítima da cidade de Santos, mas deu-se preferência para a amostragem sistemática simples, uma vez que o ganho em precisão obtido através da estratificação por bairros foi muito pequeno. Para avaliar a riqueza e a abundância das espécies e as diferenças na composição de espécies dos estratos foram calculados os índices de diversidade de Shannon e de Jaccard. As sete espécies mais freqüentes foram Inga laurina (ingá), Sapindus saponaria (saboneteira), Terminalia catappa (chapéu-de-sol), Ficus benjamina (figueira-benjamin), Delonix regia (flamboyant), Lagerstroemia indica (resedá ou extremosa) e Callophyllum brasiliensis (guanandí). De cada um dos 1282 elementos vivos avaliados foram levantadas características relacionadas ao tamanho das árvores, ao tipo de condução ou poda, à qualidade da copa e do tronco, à fitossanidade, à compatibilidade com o local de plantio, à área livre de pavimentação, aos danos aos passeios e à presença de redes aéreas e de obstáculos ao desenvolvimento das plantas.The aim of the present study is to examine the efficiency of two sampling methods for street trees inventory in the coastal neighborhoods of the city of Santos. Two methods have been employed: the simple systematic sampling and the stratification according to neighborhood. The five strata which have been analyzed correspond to the following neighborhoods: Ponta da Praia, Aparecida, Embaré, Boqueirão and one strata hereby called Compound, which actually comprehends three adjacent neighborhoods, namely Gonzaga, Pompéia and José Menino. Of the 470 blocks not entirely made up of green areas witch still situated in the study area, 70 have been selected to be the sample (14.9%), in the simple systematic method as well as in the stratified type. In order to estimate the population parameter representing the abundance of trees, the variable number of trees per kilometer of sidewalk has been utilized. A qualitative as well as a quantitative inventory has been drawn up in which we have annotated the perimeter of the blocks (sidewalks included), the number of existing elements (trees, bushes and shrubs, either dead or living) and their characteristics. Although both methods of sampling have proven to be efficient for street trees inventories in the coastal neighborhoods of the city of Santos, we have given preference to the simple systematic sampling type, since very little gain in accuracy has been obtained from the sampling method of stratification by neighborhood. So as to estimate the wealth and abundance of the species and the differences in the species composition between the five strata, we have calculated both Shannon and Jaccard diversity indexes. The seven most frequent species are the following ones: Inga laurina (ingá), Sapindus saponaria (saboneteira), Terminalia catappa (chapéu-de-sol), Ficus benjamina (figueira-benjamin), Delonix regia (flamboyant), Lagerstroemia indica (resedá or extremosa) and Callophyllum brasiliensis (guanandí). Of each of the 1.282 evaluated living elements, we have registered characteristics related to the following aspects: tree size, type of conduction or pruning, quality of crown and trunk, insect or disease problems, degree of compatibility with the planted site, areas devoid of paving, damage caused to pavements and the presence of wiring and cables or any obstacles to plant development.
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Avila-Palencia, Ione 1985. "Urban environment, transport behaviours, and health." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/665298.
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Urban environments are very complex systems with a myriad of factors intricately related. Built environment, transport, physical activity and sedentary behaviours, air pollution, and social contacts and feelings of loneliness can have effects on urban population’s health and well-being. Also, some of these determinants can be associated and can interact between them modifying their effects on health. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Taking into account this comprehensive health definition, this thesis covered different layers of health: general, mental, and physical. With four different studies, the results of the present thesis suggest that it is possible to design urban environments that can increase physical activity levels, mainly through active transport, and that the crime-safety perceptions can have an important role in terms of reinforcing the effects of the built environment on physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Furthermore, active transport, mainly bicycle use, seems to be a source of good mental health and well-being, and a tool to boost social capital production. Increasing physical activity levels also seems to be a good way to improve cardiovascular health through blood pressure levels reduction.
The present thesis suggests that urban and transport planning have a great potential to promote healthy behaviours and ensure mental and physical health of city dwellers, mainly through active transport promotion. In order to improve the health promotion through urban environment, more research about aesthetics urban attributes, urban social capital production, effects on mental health and well-being, and effectiveness of urban interventions is needed.Los entornos urbanos son sistemas muy complejos con una miríada de factores intrincadamente relacionados. El entorno construido, el transporte, la actividad física y los comportamientos sedentarios, la contaminación del aire y los contactos sociales y los sentimientos de soledad pueden tener efectos en la salud y el bienestar de la población urbana. Además, algunos de estos determinantes se pueden asociar y pueden interactuar entre ellos modificando sus efectos sobre la salud. Según la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), la salud es "un estado de completo bienestar físico, mental y social y no simplemente la ausencia de enfermedades o dolencias". Teniendo en cuenta esta definición integral de salud, esta tesis cubre diferentes niveles de salud: general, mental y física. Con cuatro estudios diferentes, los resultados de la presente tesis sugieren que es posible diseñar entornos urbanos que puedan aumentar los niveles de actividad física, principalmente a través del transporte activo, y que las percepciones de seguridad con respecto al crimen pueden tener un papel importante en términos de reforzar los efectos del entorno construido sobre la actividad física y los comportamientos sedentarios. Además, el transporte activo, principalmente el uso de bicicletas, parece ser una fuente de buena salud mental y bienestar, y una herramienta para impulsar la producción de capital social. El aumento de los niveles de actividad física también parece ser una buena forma de mejorar la salud cardiovascular a través de la reducción de los niveles de presión arterial. La presente tesis sugiere que la planificación urbana y de transporte tienen un gran potencial para promover comportamientos saludables y garantizar la salud mental y física de los habitantes de las ciudades, principalmente a través de la promoción del transporte activo. Para ir mejorando la promoción de la salud a través del entorno urbano, se necesita más investigación sobre los atributos urbanos estéticos, la producción de capital social urbano, los efectos sobre la salud mental y el bienestar, y la efectividad de las intervenciones urbanas
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Vaidian, Iulia, Muhammad Azmat, and Sebastian Kummer. "Impact of Internet of Things on Urban Mobility." HBMSU, 2019. http://epub.wu.ac.at/7101/1/IA%2D12%2DProceedings%2DHealth%2Dand%2DEnvironment%2Dpages%2D1%2C4%2D17.pdf.
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The urban population is predicted to increase to 66% by 2050. The rapid growth of urbanization and increasing congestion are significant challenges faced by the world today. Innovative solutions in urban mobility are key for a successful development and a sustainable future. The new paradigm, Internet of Things (IoT), facilitates the need for new approaches in urban transportation, leading to a modern concept: Smart Mobility. The boom of technology and innovation from recent years allowed a great expansion of IoT. Furthermore, the number of smart devices that communicate, cooperate and complement each other, grows rapidly in every domain broadening the scope of IoT applications. This paper sets to discuss the impact that IoT might have on urban mobility, mentioning its implications, challenges and technical solutions. It further reviews the advancements made in the transport infrastructure along the years that support the emergence of Smart Mobility. Three main research questions stay at the forefront of this paper which are drafted in pursuit of the solutions for the problems and challenges currently faced by urban transportation. Which leads to a sustainable future with efficient and effective urban transportation system. The paper uses a mix-method approach, using on one hand qualitative research for literature review (State of the field) and on the other hand quantitative research to assess public opinion on the research topic, through an online questionnaire. To answer the research questions with proper arguments, both research methods were necessary, which lead to optimal results. The results of the questionnaire were interpreted based on Spearman's correlation and descriptive statistical analysis. They brought an in-depth view on the public opinion regarding IoT and the developments enabled by this paradigm within the urban mobility sphere. The output of the questionnaire highlights the eagerness of participants usually stuck in traffic to see innovation within urban mobility. Over all the results based on the opinions suggest that the public strongly believes in the Internet of Thing's applications and its adaptation will benefit the urban transportation system. Furthermore, new developments in the urban mobility sphere will be largely embraced.
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Kenyon, Anna. "The built environment, walking and health inequalities in urban Scotland." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/29551.
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Background: Many adults do not take recommended amounts of physical activity (PA). This is associated with adverse health outcomes such as obesity, overweight, diabetes and heart disease. Moreover, physical inactivity is socially patterned. People with lower socioeconomic status or who live in more deprived areas do less PA which may in turn contribute to inequalities in health outcomes. Identifying the causes and possible pathways for increasing PA and addressing health inequalities is a pressing national and international priority. There is increasing evidence that features of the built environment (BE) can support physical activities such as walking. The built environment may also ameliorate health inequalities by providing a supportive context for walking across diverse sections of the population. However, there is little evidence relating to the UK and Scottish context or about inequalities in these associations for different groups such as people with different demographic characteristics or people living in areas with different levels of deprivation. This study aimed to fill this knowledge gap, examining associations between built environments and walking in urban Scotland. It considered individual and spatial inequalities in these relationships. Methods: This study had a quantitative cross-sectional design. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) was used to create neighbourhood level BE measures of Area Walking Potential (AWP) across urban Scotland. These were destination accessibility, street connectivity, residential density and walkability (a composite measure of the former three measures). An examination of the distribution of AWP across Scotland and in relation to area deprivation was made. The measures were then appended to individual level walking data for adults aged 19+ years from the 2010 Scottish Health Survey. Regression analysis tested for associations between the AWP measures with four different walking outcomes: any walking, frequency of walking, achieving 30 minutes of walking per day and total minutes walked in the previous week. Individual and area level confounders were controlled for. Associations were examined using two sizes of neighbourhood area: 500m and 1000m zones around residential centres. Interactions with individual demographic, socioeconomic, household characteristics and area deprivation were evaluated. Results: There was modest evidence of positive associations between AWP and walking. After controlling for covariates, destination accessibility showed the strongest associations with frequency of walking. There were limited associations for street connectivity and walkability and no associations between residential density and walking. Positive associations remained for some groups less likely to walk, such as older adults. However, there were also interaction effects showing inequalities in associations between AWP and walking. In particular, people with lower educational attainment were less influenced by AWP. The spatial analysis showed areas with lowest deprivation had lowest AWP although people in more deprived areas walked less overall. Conclusions: There is some evidence that the BE supports some types of walking in Scotland. The BE may also enhance walking opportunities for certain groups who generally walk less, and therefore could potentially reduce inequalities in health outcomes. However, the socioeconomic inequalities in outcomes suggest multifaceted approaches to increasing walking are more likely to reach all sections of the population. The evidence that there are geographic inequalities in levels of AWP can be used to inform geographically targeted interventions aimed at improving walking environments. This research has generated original evidence in the Scottish context, highlighting the importance of context specific research.
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Condon, Katherine Marie. "Health care utilization behavior of elders in a multicultural urban environment." FIU Digital Commons, 2000. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2420.
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The objective of this research is to determine the influences of social, environmental, behavioral, and economic forces on the health care service utilization of four racial/ethnic groups of non-institutionalized elders in a multicultural urban environment. To address these issues this dissertation examines three intertwined themes of culture, aging, and health, using a sample of elders residing in Miami-Dade County, FL in four racial/ethnic groups: white non-Hispanic; black non-Hispanic English speakers; Cuban; and non-Cuban Hispanic.
The research questions were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative data. Data for the quantitative component uses telephone survey data from the Dade County Needs Assessment. The purpose of this component is to develop a more comprehensive model of elder health care utilization behavior. The qualitative component uses data from focus groups from Dade County Needs Assessment, archival data and a literature review of previous ethnographic research. The purpose of this component is to gain a better understanding of the social construction of the terms "age" and "aging," as well as to place issues of health and health care in the lives of elders.
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Sweet, Laura Louise. "The Impact of an Urban Intervention to Mediate Indoor Environmental Hazards on Asthma Outcomes in Children." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1343509149.
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Petroski, Megan. "Perceived Health Effects of Constructed Green Spaces on Populations in the Urban Environment." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1352865951.
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Arredondo, Juan C. (Juan Carlos Arredondo Brun) 1974. "Environmental and health management in small and medium size enterprises." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17718.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-100).
Workers and employees are increasingly exposed in the workplace to chemical compounds and substances that are potentially toxic; for most of these compounds, no information exist regarding effects on human health. As one of the main employment generation sources, Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) host a significant proportion of the environmental hazards currently present in the workplace. However, only a negligible amount of research or information has been completed and collected concerning SMEs environmental and health performance. SMEs possess environmental perceptions and an environmental and health behavior conditioned by the same qualitative attributes inherent to the small firm, from the kin relationships among the business members to the social role of the small company in a given community. With a prominent economic and social role in the society, SMEs are an important and still underestimated link in the environment-to-health chain. This thesis proposes an Environmental and Health Management model for SMEs. The model considers the convergence of medical, environmental, labor, and safety approaches and explores their interrelationship in three main components: the environmental conditions in the workplace, the (individuals) health conditions in the workplace, and the work-related conditions in the workplace. Nine fields of knowledge (Industrial Safety, Occupational Health, Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology, Industrial Hygiene, Toxicology, Environmental Health, Environmental Management, and Risk assessment) are considered as useful tools and approaches whose interaction may help SMEs to shape or modify their environmental perceptions and behavior, as well as may provide a general framework for the regulations applicable to SMEs.
by Juan C. Arredondo.
S.M.
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Gonzalez, Yolanda. "Advancing public health through Gardens for Healthy Communities (GHC) in New York City| The role of anti-obesity objectives in urban agriculture policy." Thesis, State University of New York Col. of Environmental Science & Forestry, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1602723.
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This research study explores the effectiveness of the urban gardening program Gardens for Healthy Communities (GHC) as a public health strategy intended to reverse obesity trends in New York City. The GHC program originated from the Obesity Task Force, a multi-agency work group commissioned by Mayor Bloomberg in 2013 charged identifying innovative policies to prevent as well as reduce obesity. 18 in-depth interviews with garden advocates and GHC garden members reveal that the driving motivation for participating in the selected GHC gardens was less about obesity, specifically, and more about the public health and community development benefits including: a meeting place for civic engagement and environmental awareness, a space for community and health-oriented partnership, and a social bridge to build community cohesion. Through the community right to public space and gardens, the GHC gardens reveal the power of engaging anti-obesity objectives in driving community development and urban agriculture forward.
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Christian, Thomas James. "Essays in Health Economics: A Focus on the Built Environment." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2010. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/econ_diss/61.
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The dissertation investigates how individual behaviors and health outcomes interplay with surrounding built environments, in three essays. We conceptually focus on travel behaviors and accessibility.
In the first essay, we hypothesize that urban sprawl increases requisite travel time which limits leisure time available as inputs to health production. We utilize the American Time Use Survey to quantify decreases in health-related activity participation due to commuting time. We identify significant evidence of trade-offs between commuting time and exercise, food preparation, and sleep behaviors, which exceed labor time trade-offs on a per-minute basis. Longer commutes are additionally associated with an increased likelihood of non-grocery food purchases and substitution into less strenuous exercise activities. We also utilize daily metropolitan traffic accidents as instruments which exogenously lengthen a particular day’s commute.
The second essay tests whether the likelihood of food insecurity and “paradoxical” joint insecurity-obesity occurrences vary over the degree of urban sprawl. We utilize data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System’s Social Context Module merged with urban sprawl measures developed by Smart Growth America. We find significantly negative associations between urban sprawl and the likelihood of food insecurity, and that insecurity is more likely in areas of less developed street connectivity. We find that joint outcomes are more likely in less sprawled areas and that likelihood is greater in areas of greater street connectivity, which fails to support theories proposing that healthy food inaccessibility is a determinant of joint outcomes.
The third essay evaluates research claims that walking and cycling to school increases students’ physical activity levels in a predominantly urban sample. We utilize the third wave of the Survey of Adults and Youth–a geocoded dataset–to identify determinants of walking or cycling to school, and in turn to explore to what extent active travel impacts adolescents' weekly exercise levels. Consistent with the literature, we find that the distance between home and school is the largest influence on the travel mode decision. We also find no evidence that active travel increases the number of students’ weekly exercise sessions. These results suggest that previous findings may not extend to all environments or populations.
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Valentim, Luis Sergio Ozorio. "Sobre a produção de bens e males nas cidades : estrutura urbana e cenários de risco à saúde em áreas contaminadas da região metropolitana de São Paulo." Universidade de São Paulo, 2010. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/16/16139/tde-18062010-092455/.
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Nos primeiros anos de 2000, as áreas contaminadas emergiram como motivo de preocupação para a sociedade paulista, configurando-se como problema de ordem ambiental, sanitária e urbanística. Para além do factual, as áreas contaminadas se mostram fenômenos representativos e simbólicos de um modo histórico de produção e reprodução do capital de bases urbanas e fabris. Elas são expressão tardia de um modelo de desenvolvimento extremamente agressivo, cujas manifestações mais agudas se dão nas cidades. Nas tensões e contradições que marcam as paisagens urbanas contemporâneas, apresentam-se perturbadas as condições de se promover saúde. Uma das razões do negar saúde nas cidades é o modo como nelas se fez uso da química para produzir mercadorias de toda ordem, entendendo-se que, por muito tempo, a confiança na química foi extensão direta da confiança no progresso. A Região Metropolitana de São Paulo (RMSP), onde historicamente ocorreram processos acelerados de urbanização e concentração de população, é emblemática da distribuição desigual dos proveitos e dos rejeitos da grande maquinaria de produção que caracteriza a sociedade racional moderna. Nela se fomentam riscos e angústias derivadas da espoliação social e da exposição humana a toda sorte de rejeitos da civilização moderna. Na RMSP estão atualmente cadastradas 1254 áreas contaminadas, cuja distribuição obedece à lógica do modo como seu território foi estruturado. Os cenários de risco à saúde que se configuram pela contaminação do solo metropolitano podem ser analisados a partir da localização e das interações que se estabelecem entre as fontes potenciais de contaminação do solo e as populações que as acercam. O objetivo da pesquisa é interpretar as relações entre a produção de cenários de risco à saúde e a estrutura metropolitana, tendo por referência a contaminação do solo e das águas subterrâneas por substâncias químicas tóxicas. A hipótese central é que os cenários de risco à saúde se conformam e se distinguem na lógica da estruturação urbana, sendo elementos importantes para interpretar a qualidade de vida nas grandes cidades contemporâneas. A pesquisa se detem na abordagem histórica e conceitual do assunto para, em seguida, analisar espacialmente as relações entre os elementos estruturantes do espaço urbano e as áreas contaminadas. Para tal, faz uso de dados gerais de natureza demográfica, sócio-econômica e ambiental, bem como de dados espaciais das fontes potenciais de poluição e das áreas contaminadas. Com isto, observam-se na RMSP cenários distintos de riscos à saúde devido à contaminação do solo, seguindo a lógica da estrutura metropolitana. O enfrentamento do problema demanda visão ampliada e políticas públicas integradas de saúde, de meio ambiente e de desenvolvimento urbano.On the first years of 2000, contaminated areas arose as a motive of concern for São Paulo society, coming to configure as a problem of environmental, sanitary and urban order. Much beyond the factual, contaminated areas appear as representative and symbolic phenomena of an historical mode of capital production and reproduction in manufacturing urban bases. They are a late expression of an extremely aggressive development model, which most acute manifestations occur in the cities. On the tensions and contradictions that mark the contemporary urban landscape, the health promotion conditions present disturbed. One of the reasons for denying health in the cities is the manner in which, on them, it was made use of chemistry for producing all sorts of goods, taking into account that, for a long time, trusting on chemistry was a direct extension of trusting on progress. The Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (RMSP), where historically there were accelerated urbanization and concentration of population processes, it is emblematic the disproportionate distribution of benefits and wastes of the large production machinery that characterizes the rational modern society. On it are fomented risks and anguishes originated from social plundering and the human exposition to all kinds of the modern civilization rejects. Presently, at the RMSP cadastre, are registered 1254 contaminated areas, which distribution obeys the logic of the manner its territory was structured. The health risk scenarios that configure through the metropolitan soil contamination may be analyzed from the location and the interactions that are established among the potential sources of soil contamination and the populations who approach to them. The purpose of the research is interpreting the relations between the production of health risk scenarios and the metropolitan structure, having as reference the soil and water-bearing strata contamination through chemical toxic substances. A central hypothesis is that the health risk scenarios comply with and distinguish from the urban structuration logic, consisting of important elements for interpreting the life quality in great contemporary cities. The survey dwells on the historical and conceptual approach of the subject in order that, as it follows, analyzing spatially the relations among the structuring elements of urban space and the contaminated areas. For so, it makes use of general data from demographic, social-economical and environmental nature, as well as of spatial data from potential pollution sources and contaminated areas. With this, at the RMSP are observed distinct health risk scenarios due to the soil contamination that follows the metropolitan structure logic. Facing the problem demands both an amplified vision and integrated public policies of health, environment and urban development.
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Stubberfield, Jonathan. "The health benefits and risks of growing-your-own produce in an urban environment." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2018. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49345/.
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The practice of gardening and growing-your-own (GYO) produce in urban areas, has been associated with many potential benefits to health from increased fruit and vegetable consumption and exercise, but also health risks arising from exposure to potentially toxic elements (such as cadmium: Cd, and lead: Pb) in urban soils. However, the potential health benefits of gardening are currently overlooked by authorities during assessments of contaminated land, which may result in access to urban gardens and allotments being incorrectly restricted or removed because of concerns over the impact to human health. The trade-off between health benefits and risks is investigated in this thesis through: the sampling and analysis of the properties of allotment soils (chapter 2); a comparison of plant uptake models (chapter 3) verified using a pot experiment (chapter 4), and a questionnaire survey investigating the effect of gardeners’ routines on benefits and risks (chapter 5). The different areas of study are combined in the creation of a model framework developed to estimate health benefits and risks attributable to urban gardening (chapter 6). A total of 149 allotment plots were sampled across the city of Nottingham and analysed in the laboratory for trace element concentrations by ICP MS. Concentrations of lead (Pb) in top-soils exceeded the category 4 screening level of 84 mg Pb kg-1 dw in most plots (n=129), with a median concentration across all plots of 214 mg Pb kg-1 dw. However, other elemental concentrations (As, Cd, Cr) were below the respective C4SLs for an allotment land-use and unlikely to pose health risks. In comparison, analysis of the results of a questionnaire survey of 120 gardeners’ routines, suggested that gardening more regularly in autumn and winter was positively correlated with categories of increased fruit and vegetable consumption and exercise (one-way ANOVA; p < 0.05). Furthermore, gardeners over the age of 45 scored significantly better in the physical health (but not the mental health) categories of the SF 36 v 2 questionnaire compared to standardised scores when results were adjusted for age and gender (Table 5.9). Health benefits and risks were combined using a prototype Bayesian Network (BN) model developed according to the principles of CLEA (Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment model). Health outcomes from benefits (e.g. fruit and vegetable consumption) and risks (e.g. lead toxicity) were derived using a sub-model; requiring odds and hazard ratio’s for the outcomes of disease. The model predictions suggested that for the study population, whilst there were some benefits attributable to urban gardening, these appeared to be outweighed by health risks from potential exposure to Pb. Further work is required to confirm or refute this finding and to validate and improve the BN model. The study also highlights the importance of considering health benefits of gardening in risk assessment in future for urban gardeners. Future work should also consider weaknesses highlighted in the use of the CLEA model to predict health risks for gardeners, especially in the prediction of plant uptake of toxic elements, and the limited data availability describing the toxic effects of chemicals exceeding a threshold value which may or may not result in SPOSH.
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Harrison, Daniel Sam. "Exploring the Relationship of Urban Form and Mental Health in the 500 Largest Cities of the United States." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2017. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1767.
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Sustainable development efforts frequently focus on understanding and promoting the factors that influence health and wellbeing. Urban environments have received attention in recent years as spaces which can increase psychological distress. Despite hypothesized reports of urban environments being less conducive to good mental health then natural environments, few studies have investigated the effects of urban form characteristics (size, density, nuisances, transportation, and housing characteristics) and mental health measures at the city level. Using 2014 data from the 500 largest cities in the United States, this thesis evaluates the relationship between urban form and aggregate self-report scores of poor mental health. Results suggest that elements of the built environment have a direct influence on mental health status. The aim of this study is to test the association of urban form characteristics and psychological distress using a cross-sectional analysis of individual health survey responses. Mental health data were collected for a study of Center for Disease Control health characteristics in the 500 largest cities in the United States. Urban form data was collected from both United States Census and GIS datasets such as the Center for Neighborhood Technology’s Housing and Transportation Affordability Index (H+T Index). Linear regression analysis and factor analyses were used to estimate the relationship between psychological distress and urban form characteristics. Results suggest that urban density is negatively associated with mental health status at city level. This finding is logical and confirms earlier research. While measures of housing cost and diversity were slightly negatively associated with mental health, measures of transportation cost and employment access were slightly positively associated.
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Couch, Robert Alexander. "Environmental health regulation in urban South Africa : a case study of the Environmental Health Practitioners of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality." Thesis, London South Bank University, 2016. http://researchopen.lsbu.ac.uk/1797/.
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Environmental health is concerned with relations between the environment and human health and their management and remains a considerable public health challenge into the 21st century, particularly for cities where more than half the world’s population now lives. In South Africa local government Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) have been regulating local environmental health since Victorian times and are well placed to bring protective and developmental laws to life but are confronted by challenges not dissimilar to their Victorian forebears. The main research question is therefore: how do the EHPs of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (CoJ) regulate environmental health? A literature review developed an interdisciplinary model of governance to describe and explore how EHPs regulate environmental health (EH) and the factors that could influence this process. This model utilised a socio-legal framework grounded in theoretical perspectives from criminology, history, the law, organisational studies, political science and sociology. A multiple case study strategy was developed to test this model. Qualitative methods were conducted on 10 street-level case EHPs from four CoJ regional offices through observation, interviews, questionnaires and the analysis of regulatory documents. These were supplemented by observations and interviews with other street-level EHPs and their managers and the analysis of other relevant documents, including quantitative data on the activities of CoJ EHPs. A new model of governance was developed by this thesis to describe, analyse and explain how CoJ EHPs regulate and found most of their work focused on a traditional regulatory ‘law enforcement’ pathway alongside other activities, notably an EH monitoring role for other CoJ departments and provincial government. But contrary to their Victorian inspector stereotype, EHPs behaved as responsive regulators and used mainly persuasive approaches (e.g. education, advice, negotiation), with more punitive approaches generally used for serious cases or when persuasion fails. This responsiveness was limited by factors including resources and weaknesses in more punitive approaches. A second regulatory pathway involving EH project and promotion activities was documented but remained secondary to traditional regulatory work. In conclusion, the model of governance conceptualised urban EH regulation as the continuous circulation of power within and between EHPs and local government itself, other spheres of government and civil society. Power was unequally distributed between these actors, but there were many opportunities for challenging power that were rarely captured or closed. Local government EHPs are therefore contributing towards making cities more productive, inclusive, sustainable and better governed and the model of governance created by this thesis was a useful tool for exploring their work.
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Jahn, Heiko J. [Verfasser]. "Social and environmental dimensions of urban health in Chinese megacities / Heiko J. Jahn." Bielefeld : Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld, 2014. http://d-nb.info/1053467516/34.
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Woo, Chunho Anthony, and 鄔俊豪. "Molecular ecology and public health risks of urban bio-aerosols." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2012. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B49617680.
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The Earth’s atmosphere supports microorganisms and they include potential pathogens and microbial allergens. Whilst indoor environments have been well studied, relatively little is known of bio-aerosols in outdoor locations and their potential influence on human health, particularly with regard to urban development. Hong Kong provides an ideal model system for testing hypotheses related to the impact of urbanization on bio-aerosols, with a well-defined gradient of urbanization and large population. This thesis describes work to establish the biodiversity and spatio-temporal dynamics of outdoor bio-aerosols in Hong Kong. A comprehensive study of multi-domain microbial diversity and allergen levels in urban aerosols over a contiguous annual timescale and along a gradient of urbanization was carried out. A comprehensive suite of climatic and pollutant variables were also recorded during the sampling interval. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) was employed to investigate variations in bacterial and eukaryal assemblages, followed by phylogenetic assessment using high-throughput sequencing. The results revealed a strong seasonality in both bacterial and eukaryal assemblages, with Archaea forming a negligible part of the urban bio-aerosols. The most abundant bacteria were proteobacteria but community shifts were seen due to increases in algae in summer, and betaproteobacteria and cyanobacteria in winter. This was most parsimoniously explained by considering the backward trajectory analysis of air mass. A greater abundance of marine-associated phylotypes such as Bacillariophyta and Chlorophyta were identified when the dominant air mass arriving in Hong Kong in the summer originated from oceanic sources. In contrast, betaproteobacteria, which indicated soil sources were prevalent when the origin of air mass was from terrestrial sources. A trend in fungal phylotypes was also apparent, with summer samples dominated by basidiomycetous Agaricales, and winter samples by the ascomycete genus Cladosporium. This was likely due to favourable climatic conditions during wetter summer months enhancing release of fungal basidiospores. A range of airborne human pathogens was also detectable at low levels including pathogenic bacteria such as Acinetobacter baumannii, Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Ricinus communis, and the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus terreus. Microbial allergens including bacterial endotoxins and fungal glucans were also quantified with immunological assays. These generally followed variations in biomass, and during some months were recorded at levels that may impact human health upon chronic exposure. Carbon dioxide levels were the only climatic or pollutant variable that correlated with allergen levels. Conversely changes in microbial assemblages were strongly correlated to several climatic variables including temperature, rainfall, air pressure and relative humidity, but not with the degree of urbanization or airborne pollutants. This study highlights the importance of including microbial assessments in future bio-surveillance of urban aerosols.published_or_final_version
Biological Sciences
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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Stensland, Alexsis. "Healthy food access and policy: a study of rural and urban food environments in Riley County, Kansas." Kansas State University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/19124.
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Master of Regional and Community PlanningDepartment of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning
Hyung Jin Kim
Accessing healthy food can be a challenge for people living in both rural and urban environments. A broad range of factors influences one’s food security, including the accessibility and affordability of food retailers, travel time to shopping, availability of healthy foods, and food prices. The connections between planning and food systems have begun to emerge and be examined but planners face many barriers when tackling food system issues that range from turf problems, a lack of knowledge that any problem exists, to a lack of funds. The study purposes were to 1) identify areas with low access to healthy food sources; 2) discover barriers and perceptions of healthy food accessibility among community members; and 3) explore current planning policies and practices for increasing healthy food accessibility. The study area of this case is Riley County, Kansas, which has lower food accessibility especially to health foods in low income areas located in urban neighborhoods, even though rural areas are further away from a healthy food store. The research has the potential to inform the local food system framework and provide guidance for local policy makers and stakeholder groups. Surveys were collected from 150 households in order to identify challenges and barriers respondents face when obtaining healthy food. Food prices and low income were the largest barriers survey respondents faced when obtaining healthy food. Interviews conducted among 6 individuals from planning offices, market, and community stakeholder groups and both urban and rural issues were discussed. Currently, there is understanding of the importance of healthy food but little action that follows. There are opportunities for planners and policy makers to get involved with planning for the local food system. Partnerships must be established to share resources and technical skills among stakeholders in order to plan for healthy community food systems.
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Trapani, Isabella. "Putting Food onto the Urban Agenda: How the City of Cape Town can increase access to sustainable and healthy diets through urban food governance." Master's thesis, Faculty of Science, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33655.
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Rapid population growth, rising urbanisation, globalisation and technological progress have fundamentally changed how we produce and consume food. The majority of urban diets are now dominated by low intakes of fruit and vegetables and high intakes of highly processed, energy-dense and nutritionally poor foods. In Cape Town, South Africa, the impacts of this nutritional transition manifest themselves not only with hunger and undernutrition but also with overnutrition. Due to structural barriers in cities limiting access to healthy food, the urban poor are disproportionally affected by nutrition-related diseases. In addition to the impacts on human health, modern dietary patterns and food production significantly contribute to climate change, land-use change, deforestation and biodiversity loss, all of which threaten food and nutrition security. Considering these severe impacts on planetary health, urgent action enabling access to sustainable and healthy diets becomes imperative on both global and local scales. Local governments are at the forefront of the urban food challenge and can intervene through urban food governance; however, in South Africa, the food mandate is held by the national and provincial governments. This study reveals the strategic role the City of Cape Town can play when leveraging its constitutional powers, especially through mainstreaming food considerations into all municipal policies and processes, sustainable and healthy public procurement, regulating the private sector and supporting informal trade, encouraging sustainable local small-scale production of healthy food and the establishment of food gardens, expanding the local market structure, as well as through providing nutrition education. This research finds that despite the absence of an urban food mandate, there is great momentum for food to become a priority in the City of Cape Town. Remaining institutional challenges such as the lack of understanding of food security and the food system, political will, funding, capacity, and policy coherence must be overcome to tackle the urban food challenge. Multi-stakeholder collaboration was identified as a key element of effective urban food governance and should therefore be strengthened.
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Nienaber, Sara. "Invisible Scourge: What Bed Bugs and Propoxur Can Teach Us About Health and the Urban Environment." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/17896.
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Bed bugs were once considered eliminated from the United States, so recent resurgence of this pest has been cause for concern. Presence of these troublesome insects has resulted in the proposal of controversial policies. For example, the state of Ohio petitioned the EPA for a FIFRA Section 18 emergency exemption to use the insecticide propoxur, a neurotoxin, to treat bed bug infestations in the state. In this thesis, I analyzed public comments for the exemption, task force reports, and media to examine how health and the urban indoor environment are framed in this decision-making process. Though bed bugs carry stigma, those who have them are not overtly blamed for the pest. However, an inability to eliminate them effectively is situated as a lack of personal responsibility. A political ecology of health analysis and healthism are used to understand how narratives of health and personal responsibility justify use of this pesticide.
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Adhikari, Bijaya. "Onsite treatment of urban organic waste using home composting systems." Thesis, McGill University, 2012. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=106314.
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On-site treatment (home and community composting) of organic waste (OW) reduces cost and environmental issues as opposed to centralized facilities and landfilling. By 2025, such on-site practices could reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) by 50 and 40 %, respectively, and save land as compared to maintaining landfilling practices. However, the shift of municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems from landfill disposal to resource recovery requires technological input, population participation and compost quality assurance. The composting process and quality of composted product depends on the initial compost mixture formulation, design type and management practices of home composting systems (HC). A project was therefore conducted both in the laboratory and in the field, to establish a home composter design and compost formula, which favours the best organic waste decomposition. The results indicated that home composter design is important: perforations must be concentrated at the top and bottom to provide an aeration level equivalent to that of a ground pile. Such home composters can reach thermophilic temperatures when fed at least 10 kg (week)-1 of organic waste with a dry matter content over 15 % (half yard trimmings and half food waste). The compost produced generally offers acceptable levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals, but residents must be careful in applying the right amount of garden herbicides. The total GGE from home composters were found to be equivalent to that of centralized composting facilities but eliminate the need to spend energy equivalent to 50 kg CO2-eq (tonne wet waste)-1 for handling and processing.Le traitement des matières résiduelles organiques (MRO) sur place (centres communautaires de compostage et composteurs maison) est une approche qui réduit les coûts de manipulation et de procédé associés aux centres régionaux de compostage et à l'enfouissement. D'ici 2025 et comparativement à l'enfouissement, cette approche pourrait diminuer les coûts de traitement et les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) de 50 et 40 %, respectivement. D'autre part, la diversion et le recyclage des MRO exigent des connaissances techniques et la participation des gens pour assurer la qualité sanitaire du produit, qui dépend du mélange initial, et de la conception du composteur maison ainsi que de sa gestion. Un projet fut donc réalisé en laboratoire et sur le terrain, dans le but de déterminer les critères de conception des composteurs maison et la formulation du mélange initial qui favorisent la décomposition et la stabilisation des MRO traitées. Les résultats ont démontré que la conception du composteur maison est importante, surtout en ce qui concerne l'emplacement des ouvertures qui, quand concentrées dans le haut et le bas, favorisent l'aération par convection. Cette configuration d'ouvertures fait en sorte que le composteur peut atteindre des température thermophiles, semblables aux amas au sol, s'il est chargé de plus de 10 kg (semaine)-1 de MRO possédant une matière sèche de plus de 15 % (moitié résidus de jardin et résidus de table). Le compost produit par résident est généralement propre, avec de faibles teneurs en hydrocarbures aromatique polycyclique (HAP) et en métaux lourds, à la condition d'appliquer des herbicides jardins en quantités raisonnables. Comparativement aux centres régionaux de compostage, les composteurs maison générent la même quantité de gaz à effet de serre (GES) mais font économiser 50 kg de CO2-équ. (tonne de matières résiduelles humides compostées)-1 en tant qu'énergie de manipulation et de procédé.
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Tomlinson, Charlie John. "Incorporation of urban heat in risk assessment : a health perspective." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2013. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3856/.
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This thesis analyses heat health risk spatially in Birmingham (UK) via a combination of remote sensing and GIS techniques, including urban influences which are not generally considered in heat risk assessments or climate change projections. The world’s urban population is growing rapidly, and the risk of extreme heat to human health has been highlighted by recent events such as the 2003 heatwave in Europe, where mortality rates significantly increased. This thesis presents a methodology using satellite data to quantify the surface urban heat island of Birmingham at 1 km resolution, with results showing extreme events are much warmer (\(\sim\)5°C) than average conditions (\(\sim\)2°C). This urban heat island data is combined with social data in a spatial risk assessment, illustrating that many vulnerable people live in areas of increased heat risk. A custom collection of ground based sensors is utilised to investigate the relationship between surface and air temperatures, finding air temperatures are warmer than LST measurements at night. Then UK Climate Projections 2009 are used to explore the influence of the urban heat island on climate projections in Birmingham, showing that changes could be large (90% increase in minimum temperature under 2080s extreme scenarios).
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Cochran, Abigail Lynn. "The Urban Ecology of Gila Topminnow: A Case Study of Population Health in Built Environments." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319988.
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Fecht, Daniela. "Development and application of a simulated urban system for geographical studies of environmental health." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/7034.
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Urban areas are highly dynamic and diverse systems and the interactions and networks within an urban area are, at present, only partly understood, although some of the most important impacts on human health occur in these areas. It is essential, therefore, to develop a deeper understanding of these urban dynamics and processes especially with regard to exposure and health risk assessment. This thesis describes the development and application of an urban SImulation for ENvironmental health Analysis (SIENA). SIENA provides a controlled, simplified urban environment to develop and test spatial epidemiological concepts and models, to simulate processes and interactions relating to environmental exposure and to explore theoretical and methodological problems in the spatial analysis of environmental health. The development of the simulated urban system focuses on identifying and quantifying fundamental processes and inter-dependencies in the structure of urban areas in Great Britain. Twelve cities are chosen as sample cities and their spatial data structure (topography, transport network, land cover) and relationships between these structures and the urban population are statistically analysed. Based on the results of the statistical analysis SIENA is developed within a Geographic Information System (GIS) using probabilistic models and spatial analysis tools. Beside the identified core structure, topography, transport network, land cover and population, additional data such as traffic flow, air pollution monitoring networks or emissions from industrial sources amongst others are modelled and incorporated into SIENA. To demonstrate the potential of the simulation, SIENA is applied in two case studies both focusing on the misclassification of human exposure to urban air pollution. The first case study explores the representativeness of various air pollution monitoring networks and the resulting implications for exposure assessments. For the second case study, personal exposure is simulated within SIENA and then compared to the use of a location-based exposure proxy and the potential exposure misclassification spatially analysed.
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Kumar, Anjeela Marie. "The Effect of the Neighbourhood Built Environment on Obesity in Christchurch." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Geography, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/3196.
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Obesity is becoming a worldwide concern, with more than 300 million individuals who are obese and a further 750 million who are overweight. This increase is important as obesity has been linked to an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes mellitus, stroke and some cancers. One factor receiving increasing attention to explain variation in obesity prevalence is the role of the built environment. This involves examining how features of the built environment such as green space or food premises vary by neighbourhood area. The presence of such resources within a neighbourhood can influence obesity through encouraging a healthy or unhealthy environment. It is important to understand how neighbourhoods influence obesity. This will allow the creation of effective public policy and urban design initiatives to reduce the obesity prevalence. Little research has examined how the quality of these resources varies between neighbourhoods and their effect on the prevalence of obesity. This thesis addresses this using a systematic site survey tool to investigate how the quality of built environment resources varies by neighbourhood deprivation. It also employs a questionnaire to examine residents’ perception of their neighbourhood as these can influence obesity through the utilisation of healthy resources. Three key findings were identified: there is a significant relationship between deprivation and the number of neighbourhood resources; the quality of these resources increases as deprivation increases; and residents in a high deprivation neighbourhood had a more positive perception of the neighbourhood. As a result, high deprivation neighbourhoods may be less likely to promote obesity as they have higher quality resources and residents have a more positive perception of the environment. These findings suggest that the influence of the built environment is context specific and that it may not be as influential on obesity in Christchurch. It highlights the need to consider both individual and environmental factors in explaining the geographic variation of obesity.
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Evans, Peter J. "Community knowledge, attitudes and practices - urban mosquitoes and sustainable mosquito control." Thesis, University of Exeter, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.241460.
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Gunawan, O. T. "Using the urban landscape mosaic to develop and validate methods for assessing the spatial distribution of urban ecosystem service potential." Thesis, University of Salford, 2015. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/35968/.
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The benefits that humans receive from nature are not fully understood. The ecosystem service framework has been developed to improve understanding of the benefits, or ecosystem services, that humans receive from the natural environment. Although the ecosystem service framework is designed to provide insights into the state of ecosystem services, it has been criticised for its neglect of spatial analysis. This thesis contains a critical discussion on the spatial relationships between ecosystem services and the urban landscape in Salford, Greater Manchester. An innovative approach has been devised for creating a landscape mosaic, which uses remotely-sensed spectral indices and land cover measurements. Five ecosystem services are considered: carbon storage, water flow mitigation, climate stress mitigation, aesthetics, and recreation. Analysis of ecosystem service generation uses the landscape mosaic, hotspot identification and measurements of spatial association. Ecosystem service consumption is evaluated via original perspectives of physical accessibility through a transport network, and greenspace visibility over a 3D surface. Results suggest that the landscape mosaic accuracy compares favourably to a map created using traditional classification methods. Ecosystem service patterns are unevenly distributed across Salford. The regulating services draw from similar natural resource locations, while cultural services have more diverse sources. The accessibility and visibility analysis provides evidence for the importance of urban trees as mitigators of ‘grey’ views, and urban parks as accessible producers of multiple services. Comprehensive ecosystem service analysis requires integration of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Evaluation of spatial relationships between ecosystem services and the physical landscapes in this thesis provides a practical method for improved measurement and management of the natural environment in urban areas. These findings can be used by urban planners and decision makers to integrate ecological considerations into proposed development schemes.
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Mueller-Anneling, Linda J. "Endotoxin in the urban and rural environment ambient concentration and biomarkers of pulmonary exposure /." Diss., University of Iowa, 2004. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/110.
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Howard, Guy. "Effective approaches to water supply surveillance in urban areas of developing countries." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2002. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/1032/.
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Reeves, Jennifer E. "An Assessment of Soil Health and Productivity in Urban Gardens." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1354207218.
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Li, Ying, Wei Zhang, Ting Ren, and Andrew Joyner. "Climate Change Impacts on Heat-Related Mortality in Large Urban Areas in China." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/17.
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Global climate change is anticipated to raise the overall temperatures and is likely to increase future mortality attributable to heat. China, a rapid developing nation with the world’s largest population, has experienced noticeable changes in climate over the past century, with an annual increase in air temperature by 0.5–0.8°C. While increasing evidence is suggesting that climate change has posed significant health risks to Chinese population, including heat-related mortality, the extent to which climate change will affect future mortality and the sources of uncertainty in projecting prospective changes in mortality remain unexplored. This working-in-progress study aims at estimating excess future premature deaths in large urban areas in China resulting from potential increases in temperature under climate change and investigating sources of uncertainty. We include 51 large Chinese cities in this study, which approximately one third of the total population in China. We use an integrated approach, which combines temperature predictions from climate models, local temperature-mortality relationship and population forecasting, to project the future excess mortality attributed to higher temperature during warm season. The poster presents the results of predicting temperature change during 2040-2050 relative to the baseline period 1950-2000 in the 51 cities selected. We ensemble outputs from 19 climate models used in the IPCC 5th Report, including outputs related to all four AR5 emission scenarios (RCPs 2.6, 4.5, 6.0 and 8.5).
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Kurmi, Om Prakash. "Health effects of indoor air pollution in both rural and urban Nepal." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2010. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=103117.
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The research reported in this thesis describes: the prevalence of respiratory symptoms, COPD and cardiovascular problems in rural and urban adults taking account of all major confounding factors; and estimates of exposures, both indoor and outdoor, and assessment of the relationships between measured exposure and health outcomes. A cross-sectional study was conducted in an adult population (16+ years) in Nepal to compare the respiratory and cardiovascular risk of indoor air pollution in a rural population exposed to biomass smoke compared to an urban population using liquefied petroleum gas using an investigator-delivered questionnaire, lung function and blood pressure measurements. Direct measures of indoor particular exposure (PM2.5 and CO) and outdoor PM2.5 were made with other relevant factors obtained by questionnaire. Direct measures of 24-hour indoor PM2.5 were carried out in 245 rural and equal numbers of urban homes. Health outcomes were assessed in 846 rural and 802 urban dwellers. The main risk factors studied were socio-economic status, smoking, fuel types, stove types, ventilation, BMI, income, ETS and cooking. The result suggests that cooking with biomass is associated with reduced lung function and thus a higher prevalence of COPD in the rural dwellers compared to the non-exposed urban dwellers. No clear relationship between biomass smoke exposure and cardiovascular endpoints was found although reported cooking with biomass fuel was associated with higher blood pressure and chest pain. Methodological issues including more invasive assessment of cardiovascular disease will in future studies be important in interpretation of this relationship.
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Nutsford, Daniel. "An exploration of the associations between urban natural environments and indicators of mental and physical health." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Geography, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/9279.
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Natural environments, namely green and blue spaces, have been found to have positive influences on mental health outcomes globally. As the contribution of poor mental health to the disease burden increases, the mechanisms through which natural environments may improve health are of growing importance. This study creates a novel visibility index methodology and investigates whether i) views of natural environments and ii) access to natural environments, are associated with psychological stress and physical activity in Wellington, New Zealand. It also builds upon the work conducted in New Zealand as the first study to investigate links between blue space and mental health and provides an insight into the mechanisms through which increased natural environments may improve health.
Individual level data for 442 individuals from the New Zealand Health Survey was obtained and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) were used to investigate whether area-level exposure to natural environments influenced their psychological stress and levels of physical activity. Results from regression analysis indicate that increased distant visible green space (beyond 3km), visible blue space, and a combination of green and blue spaces from neighbourhood centroids reduce psychological stress. Some access measures to natural environments were found to have positive associations with psychological stress, however increased proximal access to green space was associated with decreased physical activity.
The findings conclude that the visibility of natural environments appears to have stronger associations with stress reduction than access to them. The findings of this paper should influence urban development and inform decision and policy making, particularly the development and/or relocation of health related facilities.
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Lee, Elizabeth H. "Perceptions and Evaluation of an Urban Environment for Pedestrian Friendliness: A Case Study." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2010. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/391.
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Public health is an increasingly important issue addressed from both environmental and public health sectors for the future development of urban environments. From a planning perspective, one possible solution is to increase walkability throughout the cities. Many assessment methods are being developed and administered to evaluate the quality of existing urban environments to promote walkable cities/communities. The results from using these methods provide policymakers and stakeholders with valuable information regarding the existing physical conditions of the environment. Although several US cities started to develop and refocus plans toward pedestrian-oriented policies approaches, results from this particular study determined that the quality of pedestrian environments cannot solely be determined by using available assessment tools and recommend additional analytical methods used in conjunction with source data to provide a complete perspective to successfully increase the quality of life. The condition of the physical environment – high, average, and low quality – was important contributing factors to increase walkability, yet, it is equally important to understand and consider the needs, preferences and perceptions of end users when public officials are charged with the task of developing plan proposals for pedestrian neighborhoods. This study addresses these issues through a case study examining the quality of pedestrian environment and how people perceive those surroundings of downtown San Luis Obispo.
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Tshikuka, Mulumba Jose-Gaby. "Relationships between environmental risk factors, parasitic infections and health outcomes in an urban African setting." Thesis, McGill University, 1995. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=40014.
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The relationships between parasitic infections, environmental and living conditions, and health outcomes were studied in subdivisions of lower (LSES) and higher (HSES) socio-economic status Lubumbashi, Zaire. The two LSES subdivisions had higher prevalences of Plasmodium infection and higher rates of stunting, abdominal pain and low packed cell volume (PCV) than the HSES subdivision. The prevalence and intensity of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura was not associated with socio-economic status. Maternal education was a significant predictor of A. lumbricoides intensity in both LSES and HSES subdivisions. Factors related to poor sanitation were risk factors for A. lumbricoides in LSES subdivisions, whereas a high ratio of relatives to immediate family members per household predicted high intensity infection in the HSES subdivision. The risk of stunting was higher in children with A. lumbricoides, that of wasting was higher in children with A. lumbricoides or T. trichiura whereas the risk of kwashiorkor was high with T. trichiura but very reduced in those with A. lumbricoides. The four most common clinical conditions were diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever and low PCV. Hookworm infection, T. trichiura infection, young age and residence in LSES subdivisions were determinants of diarrhea. T. trichiura infection, young age and living in a LSES subdivision were risk factors for abdominal pain. Plasmodium infection and young age were associated with fever. LSES was predictive of low PCV. No combination of parasites had antagonistic or synergistic effects on clinical indicators examined. Based on this study, it is suggested that one parasite will increase the risk of infection with another. Although maternal education should be improved in all subdivisions, attention to sanitation, crowding and diet in the LSES subdivisions, and to the role of relatives and visitors in parasite transmission in the HSES subdivision should be priorities.
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Li, Ying. "Climate Change Impacts on Heat-Related Mortality in Large Urban Areas in China." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2017. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/2627.
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Global climate change is anticipated to raise overall temperatures and is likely to increase future mortality attributable to heat. Urban areas are particularly vulnerable to heat because of high concentrations of susceptible people. As the world’s largest developing country and the largest carbon emitter, China has experienced noticeable changes in climate, partially evidenced by frequent occurrence of extreme heat in urban areas, which could expose millions of residents to summer heat stress that may result in increased health risk, including mortality. While there is a growing literature on future impacts of extreme temperatures on public health, projecting changes in future health outcomes associated with climate warming remains challenging, with the related health impacts in developing countries largely unexplored. This is an exploratory study aimed at projecting future heat-related mortality risk in major metropolitan areas in China. We focus on 50 large Chinese cities that cover about 1/3 of the total population in China, and propose to assess the potential changes in heat-related mortality under 19 different global-scale climate models and three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) used in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC AR5). We project future changes in heat-related mortality in the 2050s and 2070s relative to the base period of 1950-2000. The projections are based on an integrated assessment framework that combines high-resolution climate model outputs, city-specific temperature-mortality relationships, population projections and baseline mortality rates. Future temperature changes in the study areas are estimated based on downscaled climate model outputs at a spatial resolution of about 1 square kilometer. City-specific historical temperature-mortality associations are obtained from the epidemiological literature. Population projections are based on the China census 2010 survey and projected population growth rates from the 2015 Revision of World Population Prospects by the United Nations. Baseline mortality rates are obtained from China’s national and local health statistics publications. Our findings suggest that future heat mortality risk attributable to elevated warm season temperature is likely to be significant in China’s urban areas, with substantial geographic variations, highlighting the significance of climate mitigation and local-level heat risk management.
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Sperling, Josh B. "Exploring the nexus of infrastructures, environment, and health in Indian cities| Integrating multiple infrastructures and social factors with health risks." Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3621855.
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The overarching goal of this thesis is to explore and assess infrastructure-environment-health interactions in Indian cities, addressing social factors such as wealth and literacy, as well as the provision of multiple infrastructures.
Five main studies are conducted. First, exploration of Delhi all-cause mortality data and survey of local experts on associations between infrastructures, environment, and health outcomes. Key findings include: a) that 50% of deaths in Delhi are reported with cause not classified (demonstrating the need for bottom-up study to supplement hospital data) and b) that ~19% of classified deaths by cause in Delhi, India could be related to infrastructure or infrastructure-related environmental factors.
Second, review of epidemiology studies relating health outcomes to infrastructure and pollution exposure in Indian and Asian cities is conducted to help identify initial evidence and gaps for infrastructure-related health effects and quantification of differential risk based on social factors (e.g. low socio-economic status (SES)).
Third, top-down analyses using national survey of under age-five mortality rates (U5MR) by multiple infrastructure conditions are studied while addressing confounding social factors. A key finding is that the relative risk for under-five mortality rates are 860% higher in Urban India for those lacking multiple basic infrastructure provisions relative to improved conditions for low SES condition and limited literacy households. These analyses demonstrates limited literacy household sensitivity and importance of considering multiple infrastructures together over single infrastructure improvements.
Fourth, bottom-up comparative community study helps characterize infrastructure, environment, extreme weather conditions and local sustainability priorities. A key finding was that households deprived of infrastructure provisions would prioritize that first over pollution or extreme weather conditions. In addition, both low SES communities studied were different in their coverage of all infrastructures except cooking fuels. In the high SES area, infrastructure conditions were ranked as a highest priority (e.g. drainage) with pollution and climate-related extreme weather events still higher priorities than low SES areas, which selected water supply, parks and open space, and drainage as highest priorities. Multiple dimensions of access to healthcare conditions in the same neighborhoods were explored next with findings indicating the two low SES areas to have similar travel costs to reach care and different abilities to pay for care. The high SES area also had higher accessibility to care yet with quality of care less acceptable relative to low SES areas that had issues with wait times, affordability, and access- suggesting future study should address such factors and effects on health outcomes.
Finally, data availability, needs, and challenges are explored for computing health benefits of multiple infrastructure interventions, while also identifying preliminary intervention scenarios and who may benefit more or less by age, gender, and SES.
These efforts offer a preliminary approach to helping prioritize future decision-making in Asian cities by demonstrating initial methods that can be useful for modeling risks and interactions between infrastructure provisions, environment, and health.
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McCormack, Gavin Robert. "Modelling the relationship between the built environment and psychosocial correlates of physical activity behaviour." University of Western Australia. School of Population Health, 2007. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2007.0183.
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[Truncated abstract] The main purpose of this research was to conduct a series of studies with the aim of contributing information about methods for measuring and analyzing physical environmental attributes of neighbourhoods and the influence of these attributes on specific types of physical activity behaviour. Furthermore, this research examined the moderating affect of the objective physical environment on the relationship between cognitions and physical activity behaviours and the mediating role of the cognitions on the associations between the objective physical environment and physical activity. The research included secondary analyses of data collected as part of the Studies of Environmental and Individual Determinants of Physical Activity (SEID1 and SEID2: Corti 1998; Pikora 2003) and the Physical Activity in Localities and Community Environments study (PLACE: Leslie et al. 2005a; Leslie et al. 2005b). Demographic, cognitive, social and behavioural data from the baseline and follow-up surveys from SEID1 (Corti 1998), and objectively measured built environmental data from SEID2 (Pikora 2003) were analyzed. ... A stronger association between frequency of past trying and recreational walking was also found for respondents residing in neighbourhoods with more recreational destinations (β = 0.11), compared with fewer destinations (β = 0.00). These findings show some evidence that the built environment can affect exercise-related cognitions, which in turn influence physical activity. Findings of this and other research (Owen et al. 2000; Humpel et al. 2002; Saelens et al. 2003b; Foster & Hillsdon 2004; McCormack et al. 2004; Owen et al. 2004; Badland & Schofield 2005; Duncan et al. 2005; Heath et al. 2006) support the need to create supportive environments that encourage both recreational and transport-related physical activity. Providing more opportunities and a greater variety of destinations close to home could encourage physical activity participation, and may even assist some individuals to achieve sufficient levels to accrue health benefits. However, additional research is necessary to understand how both the perceived and objectively measured built environment influences physical activity and to provide evidence of temporal causality between environments, cognitions, and physical activity behaviour.
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Mohamed, Guma E. T. "Physical and chemical composition of particulate pollutants in an urban area of Cardiff, Wales." Thesis, Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10369/4738.
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The issue of particulate matter (PM) and associated health and environmental problems has been subjected to extensive research in a number of countries. However, there are no recent studies concerning the physical and chemical properties of PM from urban Cardiff. Measurements were made to study particulate matter, their sources, chemical compositions, gaseous precursors and their seasonal variations in urban Cardiff (latitude: 51° 28´ 59.47¨N and longitude: 03° 09´ 58.08¨W) from December 2009 to November 2010. A low volume air sampler for PM10 and PM2.5 particles, and real-time air samplers for TSP, PM10, PM2.5, PM1, NO, NO2, NOx, SO2 and VOCs were used during sampling. The collected ambient air suspended particles were analysed for seven major ions (Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺ and Na⁺) and 12 elements (Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) by using an ion chromatography and atomic absorption spectrometer respectively. Cl⁻, SO42− and NO3− were generally the major ions in fractions of PM10 and PM2.5, while the elements Na, Mg, Ca, Al, K, and Fe were the most abundant elements. A good correlation was observed between PM10 and PM2.5 indicating that PM10 and PM2.5 contribute significantly to PM levels in urban Cardiff. Most of the ions and elements in both PM fractions were abundant in the winter season. Natural sources were the highest contributors followed by anthropogenic sources for the analysed elements in PM10 and PM2.5. Enrichment factor (EF) analysis showed the enrichment factor was higher in PM10 and PM2.5 elements such as Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr and Cd. The high enrichment factor of these elements in urban Cardiff suggested that the dominant sources for these elements were non-crustal. Real-time measurements of PM precursor gases did not exceed the standard concentrations given by the Air Quality Strategy (AQS) for these pollutants.
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Langlois, Elizabeth. "Factors that Shape Environmental Perceptions: the Role of Health and Place." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2012. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1595.
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Risk perception is the judgment people make about the characteristics and severity of a risk. Numerous theories and models exist which have identified the factors that influence risk perception. Among these factors, location, health status, and demographic characteristics are known to shape risk perception. To measure the influence of these factors on environmental perception, a series of surveys conducted in four Louisiana communities between 2004 and 2005 describe community perceptions about environmental issues and health status. The objective of the study was to characterize and compare environmental concerns relative to location, health status, and demographic characteristics. Results indicate that location has a strong influence in framing an individual’s concerns about environmental issues, particularly those living close to industry. Concern for general environmental and natural preservation issues were comparable among the communities indicating that concern for these issues is independent of residential location.
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Mckeever, Samia. "Differentiating Geo-Spatiotemporal Aquatic Larval Habitats of Anopheles gambiae complex in Urban Agriculture and Urban Non-Agriculture Environments in Accra, Ghana." Scholar Commons, 2014. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5423.
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To meet the rising food demands of communities in Accra,Ghana, urban agriculture has been popularized as a way to increase food security and improve nutrition (Donovan et al., 2012). Urban agriculture is defined as "the cultivation of crops at both the subsistence and commercial levels including the keeping of livestock in open spaces in urban areas (Adjaye, n.d.). In Accra, urban agriculture covers 1,091 hectares, employs over one thousand people, and supplies residents with 90% of its vegetables ("Accra Metropolitan", n.d.). Further, 60% of households in Accra participate in backyard farming ("Accra Metropolitan", n.d.). Although urban agriculture provides many benefits for communities in Accra, it has been linked to the creation of suitable habitats for Anopheles gambiae complex larvae.
In Accra, a spatio-temporal distribution of An. gambiae complex larvae and larvae habitats has not been established. A larval study in two urban agriculture and two non-urban agriculture sites was conducted in the months of May, July, August, and September 2014. When combined together, 3,807 An. gambiae complex larvae were collected from the urban agriculture sites of Korle Bu and Opeibea over the period of the study. When combining the urban non-agriculture sites of Madina and Ashaiman, 2,484 An. gambiae complex larvae were collected over the same period. The results of this study in Accra show that Korle Bu, an urban agriculture site, was the most productive site, with 2,604 An. gambiae complex larvae collected for the months of May, July, August, and September. July was the most productive month for Korle Bu, with 1,653 An. gambiae complex larvae collected. Further investigations of An. gambiae complex larval habitats are necessary to better understand malaria transmission attributes unique to Accra, Ghana.
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Li, Ying, Ting Ren, Patrick L. Kinney, Andrew Joyner, and Wei Zhang. "Projecting Future Climate Change Impacts on Heat-Related Mortality in Large Urban Areas in China." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2018. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/2623.
Full textAbstract:
Global climate change is anticipated to raise overall temperatures and has the potential to increase future mortality attributable to heat. Urban areas are particularly vulnerable to heat because of high concentrations of susceptible people. As the world's largest developing country, China has experienced noticeable changes in climate, partially evidenced by frequent occurrence of extreme heat in urban areas, which could expose millions of residents to summer heat stress that may result in increased health risk, including mortality. While there is a growing literature on future impacts of extreme temperatures on public health, projecting changes in future health outcomes associated with climate warming remains challenging and underexplored, particularly in developing countries. This is an exploratory study aimed at projecting future heat-related mortality risk in major urban areas in China. We focus on the 51 largest Chinese cities that include about one third of the total population in China, and project the potential changes in heat-related mortality based on 19 different global-scale climate models and three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). City-specific risk estimates for high temperature and all-cause mortality were used to estimate annual heat-related mortality over two future twenty-year time periods. We estimated that for the 20-year period in Mid-21st century (2041-2060) relative to 1970-2000, incidence of excess heat-related mortality in the 51 cities to be approximately 37,800 (95% CI: 31,300-43,500), 31,700 (95% CI: 26,200-36,600) and 25,800 (95% CI: 21,300-29,800) deaths per year under RCP8.5, RCP4.5 and RCP2.6, respectively. Slowing climate change through the most stringent emission control scenario RCP2.6, relative to RCP8.5, was estimated to avoid 12,900 (95% CI: 10,800-14,800) deaths per year in the 51 cities in the 2050s, and 35,100 (95% CI: 29,200-40,100) deaths per year in the 2070s. The highest mortality risk is primarily in cities located in the North, East and Central regions of China. Population adaptation to heat is likely to reduce excess heat mortality, but the extent of adaptation is still unclear. Future heat mortality risk attributable to exposure to elevated warm season temperature is likely to be considerable in China's urban centers, with substantial geographic variations. Climate mitigation and heat risk management are needed to reduce such risk and produce substantial public health benefits.
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Li, Ying, Ren Ting, and Wei Zhang. "Projecting Future Climate Change Impacts on Heat-Related Mortality in Large Urban Areas in China." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2017. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/2632.
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Woodhead, Loo Wing-ping Marina, and 盧永平. "Environmental health policy implementation in Hong Kong: a study of cleansing services in the Urban ServicesDepartment." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1986. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3197496X.
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Pryer, Jane Allison. "Socio-economic and environmental aspects of undernutrition and ill-health in an urban slum in Bangladesh." Thesis, University of London, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.296768.
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Arnold, Emily G. "Evaluation of Urban Riparian Buffers on Stream Health in the Tookany Watershed, PA." Master's thesis, Temple University Libraries, 2016. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/405730.
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GeologyM.S.
Stream channels and their corresponding riparian zones are composed of complex spatially and temporally dynamic systems. Changing land-use associated with urbanization has resulted in large shifts in riparian assemblages, stream hydraulics, and sediment dynamics leading to the degradation of the world’s waterways. To combat degradation, restoration and management of riparian zones is becoming increasingly common. However, the relationship between flora, especially the influence of invasive species, on sediment dynamics is poorly understood. This relationship must be studied further to ensure the success of management practices. Three methods were used to monitor erosion and turbidity within the Tookany Creek and its tributary Mill Run in the greater Philadelphia, PA region. To evaluate the influence of the invasive species Reynoutria japonica (Japanese knotweed) on erosion, reaches were chosen based on their riparian vegetation and degree of incision. Methods used to estimate sediment erosion included measuring changes in bank pins, repeated total station transects, and monitoring turbidity responses to storm events. While each method has been used in previous studies to monitor sediment flux, the combination of methods in this study allowed their applicability to be compared. Measurements taken with YSI turbidity loggers showed large fluctuations in turbidity based both on riparian conditions and geomorphic positioning, suggesting that future studies need to be careful with logger placement when using sediment calibration curves to estimate sediment yield within streams. There were pros and cons of using both total station and bank pins to estimate bank erosion. Total station has the potential to produce highly accurate measurements but a greater risk of loss of data if the control points used to establish the grid cannot be re-established from one measurement to the next. Bank pins are more likely to influence bank erosion and be affected by freeze-thaw conditions but provide a simple method of monitoring erosion at frequent intervals. Volume calculations based on total station transects along the main stem of the Tookany did not show a consistent relationship between riparian type and erosion rates. However, erosion calculations based on bank pins suggest greater erosion in reaches dominated by knotweed with 4.7x10-1 m3/m and 8.3x10-2 m3/m more erosion than those dominated by trees at Chelten Hills and Mill Run respectively. Turbidity responses to storm events were also higher (76.7 v 54.2 NTU) in reaches with knotweed, although this increase was found when the reach dominated by knotweed was also incised. Thus, this study linked knotweed to increased erosion using multiple methods.
Temple University--Theses
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Ford, Paula Brigid. "The local food environment and its association with obesity among low-income women across the urban-rural continuum." Diss., Manhattan, Kan. : Kansas State University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/1334.
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Li, Ying, Emmanuel A. Odamne, Ken Silver, and Shimin Zheng. "Comparing Urban and Rural Vulnerability to Heat-Related Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2017. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/2625.
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Studies of the adverse impacts of high temperature on human health have primarily focused on urban areas, due in part to urban centers generally having higher population density and often being warmer than surrounding rural areas (the “urban heat island” effect). As a result, urban areas are often considered to be more vulnerable to summer heat. However, heat vulnerability may not only be determined by heat exposure, but also by other population characteristics such as age, education, income, baseline health status, and social isolation. These factors are likely to increase vulnerability among rural populations compared to urban populations. In this exploratory study, we compare the vulnerability to heat-related mortality between rural and urban communities through a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing epidemiological studies, based on the idea that urbanicity can be considered as a “combined” indicator of climate variables and socioeconomic variables. We searched studies that examined the association between high ambient temperature and mortality in both rural and urban settings published between 2000 and 2017. A random-effects meta-analysis of Ratios of Relative Risks (RRR) of heat-related mortality in rural compared to urban areas (RRrural/RRurban) was performed. The pooled RRR was 1.033 (95% CI = 0.969, 1.103), which indicates that the rural relative risk is about 3.3% larger than the urban relative risk. Heterogeneity measures show considerable heterogeneity across studies. Our findings suggest that vulnerability to heat-related mortality in rural areas is likely to be similar to or even greater than urban areas. More studies, particularly studies in developing nations, are needed to understand rural vulnerability to heat hazards as a basis for providing better guidance for heat action plans.