Life Expectancy and Built Environments in the U.S.: A Multilevel Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between built environments and life expectancy across a gradient of urbanicity in the U.S. METHODS: Census tract‒level estimates of life expectancy between 2010 and 2015, except for Maine and Wisconsin, from the U.S. Small-Area Life Expectancy Estimates Project were analyzed in 2022. Tract-level measures of the built environment included: food, alcohol, and tobacco outlets; walkability; park and green space; housing characteristics; and air pollution. Multilevel linear models for each of the 4 urbanicity types were fitted to evaluate the associations, adjusting for population and social characteristics. RESULTS: Old housing (built before 1979) and air pollution were important built environment predictors of life expectancy disparities across all gradients of urbanicity. Convenience stores were negatively associated with life expectancy in all urbanicity types. Healthy food options were a positive predictor of life expectancy only in high-density urban areas. Park accessibility was associated with increased life expectancy in all areas, except rural areas. Green space in neighborhoods was positively associated with life expectancy in urban areas but showed an opposite association in rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: After adjusting for key social characteristics, several built environment characteristics were salient risk factors for decreased life expectancy in the U.S., with some measures showing differential effects by urbanicity. Planning and policy efforts should be tailored to local contexts.

Mapping environmentally sustainable urban development within six US cities through object-based image change analysis of aerial orthoimagery.

The rapid expansion of cities and continuous urban population growth underscores a need for sustainable urban development. Sustainable development is that which addresses human needs, contributes to well-being, is economically viable, and utilizes natural resources at a degree sustainable by the surrounding environmental systems. Urban green spaces, green roofs, and solar panels are examples of environmentally sustainable urban development (ESUD), or development that focuses on environmental impact, but also presents the potential to achieve social and economic sustainability. The aim of this study was to map and compare amounts of ESUD c. 2010 and c. 2019 through an object-based image analysis (OBIA) approach using National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial orthoimagery for six mid- to large-size cities in the USA. The results of this study indicate a hybrid OBIA and manual interpretation approach applied to NAIP orthoimagery may allow for reliable mapping and areal estimation of urban green space and green roof changes in urban areas. The reliability of OBIA-only mapping and estimation of areal extents of existing green roofs, and new and existing solar panels, is inconclusive due to low mapping accuracy and coarse spatial resolution of aerial orthoimagery relative to some ESUD features. The three urban study areas in humid continental climate zones (Dfa) were estimated to have greater areal extent of new and existing urban green space and existing green roofs, but less areal extent of new green roofs and existing solar panels compared to the three study areas in humid subtropical climate zones (Cfa).

Social capital and women's narratives of homelessness and multiple exclusion in northern England.

Women experiencing three or more co-occurring issues (homelessness, substance misuse, mental health) are a highly vulnerable population associated with multimorbidity. Taking women's life stories of trajectories into social exclusion in the north of England as its focus, this paper aims to explore the complexity of social contexts in which women navigate extreme health inequalities. Of the few studies that have examined women's experiences of homelessness through the lens of social capital, most have focused on network size, rather than the quality and influence of the relationships which precipitate or contextualise experiences of social exclusion. We utilise case studies to offer a theoretically-grounded analysis which illustrates the relationship between social capital and homelessness within this population. Our results illustrate how structural contexts, and specifically social capital accrual and social bonding processes particularly pertinent to women can act to both ameliorate and perpetuate social exclusion. We conclude by arguing that health inequalities cannot be tackled as single-issue processes but instead are multi-layered and complex.

Quantitative spatial assessment of the impact of urban growth on the landscape network of Türkiye's coastal cities.

This study aims to evaluate the impact of urban spatial expansion on the landscape patterns of coastal cities in Türkiye through the use of spatio-temporal indices. To this end, temporal samples covering a period of approximately 30 years (1986-2000 and 2000-2015) were analyzed for six selected coastal cities in Türkiye. The urban spatial growth patterns in these cities were characterized using 17 geospatial indices, and Pearson's correlation coefficient and principal component analysis were employed to assess the quantitative relationships between urban spatial development and the fragmentation of landscape networks. The results of the study demonstrated that the patterns of landscape fragmentation caused by the spatial growth patterns of the selected coastal cities can be divided into two categories: disconnected landscape connections and perforated landscape patterns. Leapfrog development was identified as a major factor in the fragmentation of landscape continuity, leading to the formation of perforated green structures. The findings of this research can serve as spatial guidelines for addressing disconnected landscapes, a crucial factor in enhancing urban sustainability in Türkiye's coastal cities. Furthermore, the outcomes of this study may be useful for informing the national well-being strategy for urban planning and natural mitigating policies in Türkiye's coastal regions.

The Role of the COVID-19 Crisis in Shaping Urban Planning for Improved Public Health: A Triangulated Study.

This paper aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the link between urban planning practices and public health. A triangulated study was conducted to gain a comprehensive understanding of the topic. The first phase consisted of semi-structured interviews with health and urban planning experts, which were analyzed with the aid of Artificial Intelligence tools. The second phase involved an on-site investigation in the city of Algiers, including a survey, site visits, and a thorough analysis of the master plan for land use and urban planning. The findings emphasize the critical importance of a comprehensive health-centric approach to city design, improved governance and management practices, community involvement, and political commitment to prioritize health in urban planning. Furthermore, the results proved a strong correlation between prioritizing public health in urban planning practices and residents' satisfaction with the city's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, it is necessary to consider public health as a priority in urban planning practices and as a need for all stakeholders to work towards a healthier and more equitable urban environment.

Healthy City Community Space-Oriented Structural Planning and Management Optimization under COVID-19.

This work studies ways of Healthy City Construction (HCC) and Urban Governance Optimization (UGO) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific urban community space planning structure is proposed following a literature review on the healthy city's theoretical basis and historical development. Then, the proposed HCC-oriented community space structure is tested by surveying residents' physical and mental health and infectious risk using a questionnaire survey and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Specifically, the particle fitness is calculated according to the original data conditions, and the community space with the highest fitness is determined. Based on the calculation, the community space's neighbors are investigated from different aspects through a questionnaire survey on patients' daily activities and community health security coverage. The results showed that: (1) The score of daily activities of community patients with respiratory diseases was 2312 before the implementation of the proposed community structure and 2715 after the implementation. Therefore, the service quality of residents increases after implementation. (2) The proposed HCC-oriented community space structure improves the physical self-control ability of chronic patients and helps them reduce their pain. This work aims to create a people-oriented healthy city community space, improve the city's "immune system," and regenerate the energy and environmental sustainability of the urban living environment.

Modeling Production-Living-Ecological Space for Chengdu, China: An Analytical Framework Based on Machine Learning with Automatic Parameterization of Environmental Elements.

Cities worldwide are facing the dual pressures of growing population and land expansion, leading to the intensification of conflicts in urban productive-living-ecological spaces (PLES). Therefore, the question of "how to dynamically judge the different thresholds of different indicators of PLES" plays an indispensable role in the studies of the multi-scenario simulation of land space changes and needs to be tackled in an appropriate way, given that the process simulation of key elements that affect the evolution of urban systems is yet to achieve complete coupling with PLES utilization configuration schemes. In this paper, we developed a scenario simulation framework combining the dynamic coupling model of Bagging-Cellular Automata (Bagging-CA) to generate various environmental element configuration patterns for urban PLES development. The key merit of our analytical approach is that the weights of different key driving factors under different scenarios are obtained through the automatic parameterized adjustment process, and we enrich the study cases for the vast southwest region in China, which is beneficial for balanced development between eastern and western regions in the country. Finally, we simulate the PLES with the data of finer land use classification, combining a machine learning and multi-objective scenario. Automatic parameterization of environmental elements can help planners and stakeholders understand more comprehensively the complex land space changes caused by the uncertainty of space resources and environment changes, so as to formulate appropriate policies and effectively guide the implementation of land space planning. The multi-scenario simulation method developed in this study has offered new insights and high applicability to other regions for modeling PLES.

Our Souls Look Back and Wonder: Reflections on Belonging and Being Invisible in Medicine.

Addressing the unequal impact of health disparities on historically marginalized communities is a top public health priority. Diversifying the work force has been lauded as key to addressing this challenge. Contributing to diversity in the workforce is the recruitment and retention of health professionals previously excluded and underrepresented in medicine. A major obstacle to retention, however, is the unequal way in which health professionals experience the learning environment. Through this perspective of 4 generations of physicians and medical students, the authors seek to highlight the similarities that have persisted over 40 years in the experiences of being underrepresented in medicine. Through a series of conversations and reflective writing, the authors reveal themes that spanned generations. Two common themes among the authors are the feeling of not belonging and feeling invisible. This is experienced in various aspects of medical education and academic careers. The lack of representation, unequal expectations, and over taxation contributes to the feeling of not belonging, leading to emotional, physical, and academic fatigue. Feeling invisible, yet paradoxically being hyper-visible, is also common. Despite the challenges, the authors conclude with a sense of hope for the future, if not for them, for the generations to come.

A Survey of the Landscape Visibility Analysis Tools and Technical Improvements.

Visual perception of the urban landscape in a city is complex and dynamic, and it is largely influenced by human vision and the dynamic spatial layout of the attractions. In return, landscape visibility not only affects how people interact with the environment but also promotes regional values and urban resilience. The development of visibility has evolved, and the digital landscape visibility analysis method allows urban researchers to redefine visible space and better quantify human perceptions and observations of the landscape space. In this paper, we first reviewed and compared the theoretical results and measurement tools for spatial visual perception and compared the value of the analytical methods and tools for landscape visualization in multiple dimensions on the principal of urban planning (e.g., complex environment, computational scalability, and interactive intervention between computation and built environment). We found that most of the research was examined in a static environment using simple viewpoints, which can hardly explain the actual complexity and dynamic superposition of the landscape perceptual effect in an urban environment. Thus, those methods cannot effectively solve actual urban planning issues. Aiming at this demand, we proposed a workflow optimization and developed a responsive cross-scale and multilandscape object 3D visibility analysis method, forming our analysis model for testing on the study case. By combining the multilandscape batch scanning method with a refined voxel model, it can be adapted for large-scale complex dynamic urban visual problems. As a result, we obtained accurate spatial visibility calculations that can be conducted across scales from the macro to micro, with large external mountain landscapes and small internal open spaces. Our verified approach not only has a good performance in the analysis of complex visibility problems (e.g., we defined the two most influential spatial variables to maintain good street-based landscape visibility) but also the high efficiency of spatial interventions (e.g., where the four recommended interventions were the most valuable), realizing the improvement of intelligent landscape evaluations and interventions for urban spatial quality and resilience.

'Harnessing the power of the law': a qualitative analysis of the legal determinants of health in English urban planning and recommendations for fairer and healthier decision-making.

BACKGROUND: Urban environments impact negatively on the risks of non-communicable diseases and perpetuate health inequalities. Against this, law could play a critical role, notably through implementing and securing visions of health and well-being, and evidence-based interventions. METHODS: Seven teams conducted 123 interviews with 132 actors in urban planning in England. Teams had expertise in urban planning, transport, real estate, public health, public policy, administration, and management. An additional team with expertise in law analysed data from all interviews to explore how the law is perceived and used to promote health in urban planning. RESULTS: Six issues were identified as preventing actors from using the law to improve health in urban planning: (i) density and complexity of the law; (ii) weak and outdated regulatory standards; (iii) absence of health from legal requirements in the decision-making process; (iv) inconsistent interpretations by actors with competing interests; (v) lack of strong health evidence-based local planning policies; and (vi) inertia of the law. CONCLUSIONS: The legal determinants of health listed in the Lancet-O'Neill Commission's report need to be strengthened at the local level to effectively deploy law in English urban development. The findings call for strong, evidence-based local planning policies and decision-making frameworks, placing health as (one of the) core value(s) of urban planning and showing what types of development benefit health, i.e., prevent NCDs risks and reduce health inequalities on the long term. The legal capacity of local government should be strengthened to empower decision-makers in shaping urban development that promotes health for everyone.

Linking Urban Planning, Community Environment, and Physical Activity: A Socio-Ecological Approach.

Lack of physical activity is a growing concern among public health advocates and urban planners. Our socio-ecological model incorporates urban planning and World Health Organization actions on physical activity to identify key factors related to leisure-time physical activity at the community level. Our 2019 nationwide US survey of 1312 communities enables examination of the influence of individual, community, and policy levels on physical activity. Individual factors-poverty, aging, minority population, and longer commuting time-result in lower physical activity. Community-level factors have both positive and negative effects. Physical activity is lower in rural and suburban communities, but higher in communities with more transportation services, recreation and social activities, and safety. Communities with mixed-use neighborhoods and complete streets also show higher levels of physical activity. At the policy level, zoning and cross-agency collaboration have an indirect effect on physical activity by increasing these community-level factors. This suggests an alternative approach to promoting physical activity. Local governments can promote transportation, recreation and safety, especially in rural and minority communities lacking active-friendly built environments and facing challenges from aging population, poverty, and longer commuting time. This socio-ecological approach can assess multilevel factors related to physical activity in other countries.

Variations of Urban Thermal Risk with Local Climate Zones.

Due to the differences in land cover and natural surroundings within cities, residents in various regions face different thermal risks. Therefore, this study combined multi-source data to analyze the relationship between urban heat risk and local climate zones (LCZ). We found that in downtown Shenyang, the building-type LCZ was mainly found in urban centers, while the natural- type LCZ was mainly found in suburbs. Heat risk was highest in urban centers, gradually decreasing along the suburban direction. The thermal risk indices of the building-type LCZs were significantly higher than those of the natural types. Among the building types of LCZs, LCZ 8 (open middle high-rise) had the highest average thermal risk index (0.48), followed by LCZ 3 (0.46). Among the natural types of LCZs, LCZ E (bare rock and paved) and LCZ F (bare soil and sand) had the highest thermal risk indices, reaching 0.31 and 0.29, respectively. This study evaluated the thermal risk of the Shenyang central urban area from the perspective of LCZs and combined it with high-resolution remote sensing data to provide a reference for thermal risk mitigation in future urban planning.

Community Environment Co-Production and Environmental Satisfaction of Older Urban Residents in Shanghai, China.

OBJECTIVE: Many factors may affect the environmental satisfaction of elderly people, including their sense of involvement. This study examined the associations between community environment co-production and environmental satisfaction in older urban residents in China. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in four age-friendly communities in Shanghai, China. Co-production and environmental satisfaction were assessed through a self-developed questionnaire. General health status was measured through the EuroQol-Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS). Data on affective commitment for the community demographic and health-related factors were also collected. Multilevel linear regression was used to detect the associations. RESULTS: In total, 480 older urban residents completed the survey. On average, the environment satisfaction score was 76.82/90, 8/10 for co-production, and 87.5/100 for EQ-VAS. Univariate analysis demonstrated environmental satisfaction was associated with educational background, party membership, physical activity, community location, age, sleep hours, co-production, affective commitment, and EQ-VAS. After controlling for confounding factors, the co-production score was significantly associated with higher environmental satisfaction (ß = 4.68, p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression revealed that effective commitment for the community (ß = 6.17, p < 0.001) and EQ-VAS (ß = 0.06, p = 0.002) were also significantly associated with environment satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Community environment co-production was positively associated with environmental satisfaction among older urban residents in Shanghai. Environmental co-production should be encouraged when developing age-friendly communities for the elderly.

The impact of social isolation from COVID-19-related public health measures on cognitive function and mental health among older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

We aimed to estimate the impact of social isolation on cognitive function and mental health among older adults during the two-year-and-a-half COVID-19 period. Pubmed Central, Medline, CINAHL Plus and PsychINFO were searched between March 1, 2020, and September 30, 2022. We included all studies that assessed proportions of older adults with the mean or the median with a minimum age above 60 reporting worsening cognitive function and mental health. Thirty-two studies from 18 countries met the eligibility criteria for meta-analyses. We found that the proportions of older adults with dementia who experienced worsening cognitive impairment and exacerbation or new onset of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) were approximately twice larger than that of older adults with HC experiencing SCD and worsening mental health. Stage of dementia, care options, and severity of mobility restriction measures did not yield significant differences in the number of older adults with dementia reporting worsening cognitive impairment and BPSD, while the length of isolation did for BPSD but not cognitive impairment. Our study highlights the impact of social isolation on cognitive function and mental health among older adults. Public health strategies should prioritize efforts to promote healthy lifestyles and proactive assessments.

The impact of social isolation from COVID-19-related public health measures on cognitive function and mental health among older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

We aimed to estimate the impact of social isolation on cognitive function and mental health among older adults during the two-year-and-a-half COVID-19 period. Pubmed Central, Medline, CINAHL Plus and PsychINFO were searched between March 1, 2020, and September 30, 2022. We included all studies that assessed proportions of older adults with the mean or the median with a minimum age above 60 reporting worsening cognitive function and mental health. Thirty-two studies from 18 countries met the eligibility criteria for meta-analyses. We found that the proportions of older adults with dementia who experienced worsening cognitive impairment and exacerbation or new onset of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) were approximately twice larger than that of older adults with HC experiencing SCD and worsening mental health. Stage of dementia, care options, and severity of mobility restriction measures did not yield significant differences in the number of older adults with dementia reporting worsening cognitive impairment and BPSD, while the length of isolation did for BPSD but not cognitive impairment. Our study highlights the impact of social isolation on cognitive function and mental health among older adults. Public health strategies should prioritize efforts to promote healthy lifestyles and proactive assessments.

Modern zoning plans versus traditional landscape structures: Ecosystem service dynamics and interactions in rapidly urbanizing cultural landscapes.

Cultural landscapes provide abundant and diverse ecosystem services (ES) for human-wellbeing. However, many traditional cultural landscapes worldwide are currently undergoing rapid urbanization. In decision-making concerning sustainable urbanization, tradeoffs frequently occur between different objectives (i.e., between multiple ES) and between different pathways or urbanization strategies (e.g., following modern zoning principles or traditional landscape structures). This study aims to examine the dynamics and interactions between multiple ES under different strategies for the urbanization of cultural landscapes. A case study was conducted in Nansha, China. Three scenarios-business-as-usual, zoning plan-based, and traditional landscape structure-based-were developed to reflect the most common urbanization strategies, each parameterized with identical land-use quantities. Land-use change from 2020 to 2035 under different scenarios was simulated using the PLUS model (integrated Random Forest and Cellular Automata models). The traditional landscape structure-based scenario used the settlement pattern before urbanization to predict the chances of future urban areas' occurrence. Eleven ES indicators were used to examine ES dynamics and interactions in the simulation outcomes. The results showed that the amount of ES provided by the landscape declined and significant tradeoffs occurred between cultural and non-cultural ES. The business-as-usual scenario resulted in the greatest decrease in ES. The zoning plan-based scenario did not offer a significant improvement over the business-as-usual scenario. The traditional landscape structure-based scenario was the most effective in limiting ES decline, which also mitigated the tradeoff between urban development and flood regulation and fostered synergy between urban efficiency and ecotourism opportunity. Based on these findings, we recommend that traditional landscape structures should be emphasized in the development of cultural landscapes.

Limpieza Urbana

The elimination of disease vectors and environmental conservation by treating residues and wastes and by disposing them properly. The treatment and disposal of waste are directly related to health conditions of the environment and health indicators. (Free translation from the original: Cartilha de Limpeza Urbana, http://www.resol.com.br/cartilha/apresentacao.php)

La eliminación de los vectores de enfermedades y la conservación del medio ambiente mediante el tratamiento de residuos y desechos y su disposición de manera adecuada. El tratamiento y eliminación de residuos están directamente relacionados con las condiciones de salud del medio ambiente y los indicadores de salud.

A eliminação de focos transmissores de doenças e a preservação do meio ambiente com o tratamento de resíduos e dejetos e sua destinação final apropriada. O tratamento e destinação final do lixo têm relação direta com as condições de higidez do meio ambiente e os indicadores de saúde. (Adaptação de Cartilha de Limpeza Urbana: http://www.resol.com.br/cartilha/apresentacao.php)

Scaling of Energy, Water, and Waste Flows in China's Prefecture-Level and Provincial Cities.

Cities have been envisioned as biological organisms as the integral part of nature's energy and material flows. Recent advances in urban scaling research have uncovered systematic changes in socioeconomic rates and infrastructural networks as urban population increases, providing predictive contents for the comparison between cities and organisms. However, it is still unclear how and why larger and smaller cities may differ in their per capita environmental impacts. Here, we study scaling patterns of urban energy, water, and waste flows as well as other relevant measures in Chinese cities. We divide cities into different groups using an algorithm that automatically assigns cities to clusters with distinct scaling patterns. Despite superlinear scaling of urban GDP, as predicted by urban scaling theories, resource consumption, such as the supply of electricity and water, and waste generation, such as wastewater and domestic waste, do not show significant deviations from linear scaling. The lengths of resource pipelines scale linearly in most cases, as opposed to sub-linearity predicted by theory. Furthermore, we show two competing forces underlying the overall observed effects of scale: a higher population density tends to decrease per capita resource consumption and infrastructure provisions, while intensified socioeconomic activities have the opposite effect.

The Driving Mechanism of Urban Land Expansion from 2005 to 2018: The Case of Yangzhou, China.

The driving mechanism of expansion is the basis for policymaking in urban land management and control. In this study, Yangzhou city in China was used as an example. Based on the supply and demand theory of land, a framework was constructed to analyze the driving factors behind urban land expansion. Path analysis was used to determine the direct and indirect factors driving urban land expansion. The results showed the following: (1) Urban land in Yangzhou city expanded 32,831.10 hm2 from 2005 to 2018, mainly in terms of farmland. This rapid expansion arose from the contraction of rural residential areas, threatening ecological spaces such as water bodies. (2) Path analysis indicated that fixed-asset investment, the added value of secondary and tertiary industries, urban population, distance to the city center, and farmland area are the direct factors driving urban land expansion. Land finance, technology input, and transportation ability indirectly influence urban land by affecting other driving factors. (3) Increasing the level of urban land-use intensification, properly adjusting economic development goals, reasonably controlling the population, exploring the retention of construction land in city centers, and optimizing farmland and basic farmland plans need to be considered in the management and control of urban land expansion. Furthermore, to guide the orderly expansion of urban land, improving land management systems, promoting scientific and technological progress, and scientifically designing transportation land are necessary strategies.

The Economic Value of Water Ecology in Sponge City Construction Based on a Ternary Interactive System.

Ecological water resources occupy a vital position in the national economy; without sufficient ecological water resources, the construction and economic development of sponge cities would be seriously restricted. Appropriately, the Chinese government proposed that sponge city planning should be carried out in accordance with the number of available ecological water resources. The government therefore put forward the method of conservation and intensification to solve the problem of water shortage. This paper highlights the interactions between ecological water resources, sponge cities, and economic development in northern China, starting with the interaction and mechanism of action that concerns ecological water resource utilization, sponge cities, and economic development. In the empirical test, the dynamic changes of the three indicators were analyzed empirically using the panel data vector autoregression method, and the dynamic relationship of each factor was measured using generalized moment estimation. It was found that ecological water resources are a key factor in promoting regional economic development, and the relationship between ecological water resources and sponge cities is both supportive and constraining; therefore, the constraints that ecological water resources place on sponge cities also indirectly affects economic development. To disconnect the use of water and ecological resources from economic development, it is necessary to note the following: the feedback effect of economic development and the resolution of the contradiction between sponge cities, water, and ecological resource use.