Logo image
Disparities in Urban Neighborhood Conditions: Evidence from GIS Measures and Field Observation in New York City
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Disparities in Urban Neighborhood Conditions: Evidence from GIS Measures and Field Observation in New York City

Kathryn M. Neckerman, Gina S. Lovasi, Stephen Davies, Marnie Purciel, James Quinn, Eric Feder, Nakita Raghunath, Benjamin Wasserman and Andrew Rundle
Journal of public health policy, v 30(S1), pp S264-S285
01 Jan 2009
PMID: 19190579
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Health Care Sciences & Services Health Policy & Services Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Science & Technology
Although many low-income urban areas are highly walkable by conventional measures such as population density or land use mix, chronic diseases related to lack of physical activity are more common among residents of these areas. Disparities in neighborhood conditions may make poor areas less attractive environments for walking, offsetting the advantages of density and land use mix. This study compared poor and nonpoor neighborhoods in New York City, using geographic information systems measures constructed from public data for US census tracts within New York City (N = 2,172) as well as field observation of a matched-pair sample of 76 block faces on commercial streets in poor and nonpoor neighborhoods. Poor census tracts had significantly fewer street trees, landmarked buildings, clean streets, and sidewalk cafes, and higher rates of felony complaints, narcotics arrests, and vehicular crashes. The field observation showed similar results. Improving aesthetic and safety conditions in poor neighborhoods may help reduce disparities in physical activity among urban residents.

Metrics

13 Record Views
203 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Health Care Sciences & Services
Health Policy & Services
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Logo image