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Healthy Neighborhoods: Walkability and Air Pollution
BACKGROUND: The built environment may influence health in part through the promotion of physical activity and exposure to pollution. To date, no studies have explored interactions between neighborhood walkability and air pollution exposure. METHODS: We estimated concentrations of nitric oxide (NO),...
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
2009
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801167/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20049128 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0900595 |
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author | Marshall, Julian D. Brauer, Michael Frank, Lawrence D. |
author_facet | Marshall, Julian D. Brauer, Michael Frank, Lawrence D. |
author_sort | Marshall, Julian D. |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: The built environment may influence health in part through the promotion of physical activity and exposure to pollution. To date, no studies have explored interactions between neighborhood walkability and air pollution exposure. METHODS: We estimated concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), a marker for direct vehicle emissions), and ozone (O(3)) and a neighborhood walkability score, for 49,702 (89% of total) postal codes in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. NO concentrations were estimated from a land-use regression model, O(3) was estimated from ambient monitoring data; walkability was calculated based on geographic attributes such as land-use mix, street connectivity, and residential density. RESULTS: All three attributes exhibit an urban–rural gradient, with high walkability and NO concentrations, and low O(3) concentrations, near the city center. Lower-income areas tend to have higher NO concentrations and walkability and lower O(3) concentrations. Higher-income areas tend to have lower pollution (NO and O(3)). “Sweet-spot” neighborhoods (low pollution, high walkability) are generally located near but not at the city center and are almost exclusively higher income. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: Increased concentration of activities in urban settings yields both health costs and benefits. Our research identifies neighborhoods that do especially well (and especially poorly) for walkability and air pollution exposure. Work is needed to ensure that the poor do not bear an undue burden of urban air pollution and that neighborhoods designed for walking, bicycling, or mass transit do not adversely affect resident’s exposure to air pollution. Analyses presented here could be replicated in other cities and tracked over time to better understand interactions among neighborhood walkability, air pollution exposure, and income level. |
format | Text |
id | pubmed-2801167 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2009 |
publisher | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-28011672010-01-04 Healthy Neighborhoods: Walkability and Air Pollution Marshall, Julian D. Brauer, Michael Frank, Lawrence D. Environ Health Perspect Research BACKGROUND: The built environment may influence health in part through the promotion of physical activity and exposure to pollution. To date, no studies have explored interactions between neighborhood walkability and air pollution exposure. METHODS: We estimated concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), a marker for direct vehicle emissions), and ozone (O(3)) and a neighborhood walkability score, for 49,702 (89% of total) postal codes in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. NO concentrations were estimated from a land-use regression model, O(3) was estimated from ambient monitoring data; walkability was calculated based on geographic attributes such as land-use mix, street connectivity, and residential density. RESULTS: All three attributes exhibit an urban–rural gradient, with high walkability and NO concentrations, and low O(3) concentrations, near the city center. Lower-income areas tend to have higher NO concentrations and walkability and lower O(3) concentrations. Higher-income areas tend to have lower pollution (NO and O(3)). “Sweet-spot” neighborhoods (low pollution, high walkability) are generally located near but not at the city center and are almost exclusively higher income. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: Increased concentration of activities in urban settings yields both health costs and benefits. Our research identifies neighborhoods that do especially well (and especially poorly) for walkability and air pollution exposure. Work is needed to ensure that the poor do not bear an undue burden of urban air pollution and that neighborhoods designed for walking, bicycling, or mass transit do not adversely affect resident’s exposure to air pollution. Analyses presented here could be replicated in other cities and tracked over time to better understand interactions among neighborhood walkability, air pollution exposure, and income level. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2009-11 2009-07-20 /pmc/articles/PMC2801167/ /pubmed/20049128 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0900595 Text en http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ Publication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from EHP may be reprinted freely. Use of materials published in EHP should be acknowledged (for example, ?Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives?); pertinent reference information should be provided for the article from which the material was reproduced. Articles from EHP, especially the News section, may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright. |
spellingShingle | Research Marshall, Julian D. Brauer, Michael Frank, Lawrence D. Healthy Neighborhoods: Walkability and Air Pollution |
title | Healthy Neighborhoods: Walkability and Air Pollution |
title_full | Healthy Neighborhoods: Walkability and Air Pollution |
title_fullStr | Healthy Neighborhoods: Walkability and Air Pollution |
title_full_unstemmed | Healthy Neighborhoods: Walkability and Air Pollution |
title_short | Healthy Neighborhoods: Walkability and Air Pollution |
title_sort | healthy neighborhoods: walkability and air pollution |
topic | Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801167/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20049128 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0900595 |
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