Acolin, Arthur; Ramiller, Alex; Walter, Rebecca J; Thompson, Samantha; Wang, Ruoniu. (2021). Transitioning to Homeownership: Asset Building for Low- and Moderate-Income Households. Housing Policy Debate, 31(6), 1032 – 1049.
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Abstract
This article assesses the asset building of households that take part in shared-equity homeownership (SEH) models. The contribution of this article is a comparison of outcomes for households participating in shared-equity programs with other low- and moderate-income households who rent or own properties without restrictions on appreciation. We matched participants in SEH programs to households with similar characteristics from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) over the 1997-2017 period. The findings indicate that in real terms, median SEH homeowners accumulated about $1,700 in housing wealth annually or around $10,000 during their holding period. This amount is lower than the $2,100 median annual gain in home equity experienced by similar PSID owners but statistically and economically significantly larger than the $16 in annual gain experienced by similar PSID renters. The findings provide evidence that households participating in SEH programs experienced positive, but modest, wealth gains that were slightly lower than those of homeowners in unrestricted units but substantially higher than those of renters.
Keywords
Appreciation; Households; Property; Wealth; Income; Housing; Dynamic Tests; Home Ownership; Assets; Tenants; Equity; Owners
Duncan, Glen E.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Avery, Ally R.; Tsang, Siny. (2021). Measurement of Neighborhood-Based Physical Activity Bouts. Health & Place, 70.
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Abstract
This study examined how buffer type (shape), size, and the allocation of activity bouts inside buffers that delineate the neighborhood spatially produce different estimates of neighborhood-based physical activity. A sample of 375 adults wore a global positioning system (GPS) data logger and accelerometer over 2 weeks under free-living conditions. Analytically, the amount of neighborhood physical activity measured objectively varies substantially, not only due to buffer shape and size, but by how GPS-based activity bouts are identified with respect to containment within neighborhood buffers. To move the neighborhood-effects literature forward, it is critical to delineate the spatial extent of the neighborhood, given how different ways of measuring GPS-based activity containment will result in different levels of physical activity across different buffer types and sizes.
Keywords
Built Environment; Walking; Home; Accelerometry; Geographic Information Systems; Gps; Neighborhood; Physical Activity
Mugerauer, Robert. (2021). Professional Judgement in Clinical Practice (Part 3): A Better Alternative to Strong Evidence-Based Medicine. Journal Of Evaluation In Clinical Practice, 27(3), 612 – 623.
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Abstract
Parts 1 and 2 in this series of three articles have shown that and how strong evidence-based medicine has neither a coherent theoretical foundation nor creditable application to clinical practice. Because of its core commitment to the discredited positivist tradition it holds both a false concept of scientific knowledge and misunderstandings concerning clinical decision-making. Strong EBM continues attempts to use flawed adjustments to recover from the unsalvageable base view. Paper three argues that a promising solution is at hand if we can manage several modes of inclusion. A modified original, moderate version of EBM continues though usually overshadowed. As definitively laid out by Sackett in the 1990s, clinical decision making is intended to be person-centered, recognizing and integrating multiple modes of evidence and knowledge that have been marginalized: professional experience, illness narratives, and individual patients' values and preferences. Complementary resources are at hand: interpretative understanding and practice, such as philosophical anthropology, hermeneutical phenomenology, complexity theory, and phronetic practices respond to the major problems and open new possibilities. Phronesis is especially important in regard to public decision making. Within part 3 an additional tone necessarily occurs. While most of papers 1, 2, and 3 are written in the classical mode of contrasting the theoretical-logical and empirical evidence offered by contending positions bearing on the decision making and judgement in clinical practice, a shift occurs when considerations move beyond what is possible for clinical practitioners to accomplish. A different, discontinuous level of power operates in the trans-personal realm of instrumental policy, insurance, and hospital management practices. In this social-economic-political-ethical realm what happens in clinical practice today increasingly becomes a matter of what is done unto clinical practitioners, of what hampers their professional action and thus care of individual patients and clients.
Keywords
Medical Policy; Judgment (psychology); Professions; Evidence-based Medicine; Patient-centered Care; Phenomenology; Decision Making In Clinical Medicine; Casuistry; Decision Making; Evidence‚Äêbased Medicine; Phronƒìsis; 2009 Cancer-control; Integrating Evidence; Decision-making; Health-care; G. H.; Mental-health; Tonelli; Challenge; Knowledge; Evidence‐ Based Medicine; Phronē Sis
Walter, Rebecca J.; Caudy, Michael; Galvan Salcido, Christine; Ray, James; Viglione, Jill. (2021). Exploring Post-Incarceration Residential Trajectories: Indicators of Housing Stability During the Re-entry Process. Housing, Theory & Society, 38(3), 300 – 319.
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Abstract
Extant research on housing instability focuses on external housing barriers but limited research exists on individual-level indicators of housing stability for individuals returning to society from incarceration. This study addresses this gap with data collected from 70 individuals recently released from incarceration who returned to Bexar County (San Antonio, Texas) that were not placed in specific housing programmes, leaving them to seek housing independently. The study explores residential trajectories and the utility of individual-level characteristics, specifically readiness for change, in relation to housing stability. The findings reveal the importance of assessing the dynamics of each individual living situation since many of the participants are housed but not in stable housing situations. Furthermore, readiness for change (specifically action, self-sufficiency, and human agency) is found to be a significant indicator of housing stability and may represent an important intervention target for re-entry and reintegration programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Housing, Theory & Society is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Keywords
Housing Discrimination; Housing; Self-reliant Living; Housing Instability; Housing Stability; Re-entry; Readiness For Change; Residential Trajectories
Altenberg Vaz, Nathan; Inanici, Mehlika. (2021). Syncing with the Sky: Daylight-Driven Circadian Lighting Design. Leukos, 17(3), 291 – 309.
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Abstract
The use of daylight in the built environment is often preferred to artificial light sources as its successful application can provide visual comfort and satisfaction along with the potential for significant energy savings. Exposure to daylight is also the primary source for stimulus that establishes a healthy day/night cycle in all living organisms. This is known as circadian rhythm. Newly discovered photoreceptors (intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells - ipRGC) within the mammalian eye, including humans, are specifically linked to the portion of the brain responsible for maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm. This discovery has led to a new subject area in the field of lighting design focused on controlling the spectrum of light that these photoreceptors are sensitive to. Currently, work in the field of circadian lighting design is concentrated on the use of artificial light sources for circadian stimulus. This is largely due to the advent of the widespread use of LED technology, which has proven that it can be a significant source of light that can delay or advance the circadian clock. The use of daylight to provide circadian stimulus has been a given in this field of design, however, there has not been very much research into how the built environment affects our ability to effectively receive this stimulus from daylight. In this research, the groundwork is established to start to create a set of guidelines to help architects and designers maximize the potential for daylight to provide circadian stimulus at the earliest stages of a project. This is accomplished through a series of lighting simulations that explore and test various architectural parameters that affect daylight-driven circadian lighting, with simultaneous consideration given to photopic lighting availability and visual comfort. The architectural parameters tested in this study included window head height, building orientation, shading devices, visual obstructions to the sky, and room depth. The results show that informed design decisions could maximize circadian potential in a given space, while achieving visually satisfactory luminous environments.
Keywords
Action Spectrum; Melanopsin; Environments; Sensitivity; Framework; Stimulus; Rod; Circadian Lighting; Daylight; Lighting Simulation; Alfa
Dunn, Peter T. (2021). Autonomous People: Identity, Agency, and Automated Driving. Journal Of Urban Technology, 28(3-4), 25 – 44.
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Abstract
The prevailing discourse on autonomous vehicles (AVs) has not yet developed a sophisticated conceptualization of autonomy and has given insufficient attention to the autonomy of people. In response, this article shifts our attention away from the AV's autonomy and towards that of its user. Autonomy is conceived here as the socially and materially situated capacity of an individual to identify and act on one's own values and desires, a capacity that is desirable for collective political life. This definition is drawn selectively from a survey of thought illustrating the richness of this concept. I then examine how studies of transportation have already made use of certain themes of autonomy in understanding mobility practices beyond dominant utilitarian models. This sets up an examination of AVs, where the existing literature tends to use a narrow conceptualization of autonomy. I then briefly examine two examples of unsettled questions in AV development, discretionary user controls and shared ride systems, in light of autonomy. The goal of this article is both to show how autonomy can be productive in understanding mobility practices, and to argue for personal autonomy as a normative value worth pursuing in the technical, political, and social development of automated mobility systems.
Keywords
Car Use; Vehicles; Travel; Accidents; Policy; Autonomy; Agency; Autonomous Vehicles; Mobility
Nemati, Kamran M.; Uhlmeyer, Jeff S. (2021). Accelerated Construction of Urban Intersections with Portland Cement Concrete Pavement (PCCP). Case Studies In Construction Materials, 14.
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Abstract
The frequent maintenance required on asphalt concrete (AC) pavement sections has made reconstruction with portland cement concrete pavement (PCCP) a feasible alternative. However, many constructability issues need to be addressed in order to realize the full potential of this alternative. Accelerated paving encompasses three classes of activities: methods to accelerate the rate of strength gain, methods to minimize the construction time, and traffic control strategies to minimize user delay. In this paper a case study will be presented in which an AC intersection was reconstructed with portland cement concrete pavement. The entire reconstruction of the intersection, including demolition of the AC pavement and its replacement with PCCP, took place over a period of three days, starting on Thursday evening and opening the intersection to the traffic on Sunday afternoon. This paper documents this effort in order to provide practitioners additional options for rapid reconstruction of urban intersections and includes documentation of the construction process, traffic management strategies, and an analysis of the costs. The results of this investigation can be used to educate pavement construction professionals and the academic community on the use of PCCP for accelerated reconstruction of major urban intersections with minimal user and traffic disruption, using innovative construction techniques and traffic management optimization principles. This investigation produced valuable information to demonstrate that concrete pavements can be constructed efficiently and quickly. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords
Concrete; Accelerated Construction; Pavement; Portland Cement Concrete Pavement; Maturity Method
Wang, Lan; Zhang, Surong; Yang, Zilin; Zhao, Ziyu; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Feng, Huasen; Liang, Junhao; Sun, Wenyao; Cao, Buyang. (2021). What County-level Factors Influence Covid-19 Incidence in the United States? Findings from the First Wave of the Pandemic. Cities, 118.
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Abstract
Effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic via appropriate management of the built environment is an urgent issue. This study develops a research framework to explore the relationship between COVID-19 incidence and influential factors related to protection of vulnerable populations, intervention in transmission pathways, and provision of healthcare resources. Relevant data for regression analysis and structural equation modeling is collected during the first wave of the pandemic in the United States, from counties with over 100 confirmed cases. In addition to confirming certain factors found in the existing literature, we uncover six new factors significantly associated with COVID-19 incidence. Furthermore, incidence during the lockdown is found to significantly affect incidence after the reopening, highlighting that timely quarantining and treating of patients is essential to avoid the snowballing transmission over time. These findings suggest ways to mitigate the negative effects of subsequent waves of the pandemic, such as special attention of infection prevention in neighborhoods with unsanitary and overcrowded housing, minimization of social activities organized by neighborhood associations, and contactless home delivery service of healthy food. Also worth noting is the need to provide support to people less capable of complying with the stay-at-home order because of their occupations or socio-economic disadvantage.
Keywords
Pandemics; Covid-19; Covid-19 Pandemic; Infection Prevention; Stay-at-home Orders; Structural Equation Modeling; United States; Communicable Disease Prevention; Influential Factors; Lockdown; Structural Equation Modeling (sem); Prevalence; Disease; Healthy Food; Social Activities; Counties; Neighborhoods; Housing; Built Environment; Prevention; Minimization; Socioeconomic Factors; Intervention; Health Care; Vulnerability; Occupations; Coronaviruses; Food Service; Disease Transmission; United States--us
Aziz, Ahmed M. Abdel. (2021). The Practice of Roadway Safety Management in Public-Private Partnerships. Journal Of Construction Engineering And Management, 147(12).
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Abstract
As a matter of course, the private party in public-private partnerships (PPPs) assumes the responsibility for roadway safety management (RSM). However, because most PPPs are performance-based, public highway agencies must articulate the specifications and methods they develop to enforce RSM practices. Despite the increased interest in PPPs in recent decades, little has been published on developing and propagating the RSM practices used with this delivery system. To fill this research gap and explore RSM practices in PPPs, this work took a synthesis research approach, using content analysis to critically review and analyze 16 PPP agreements in seven states and provinces leading in PPP contracting in North America. The study discovered several methods and organized them under five mechanisms: Mechanism 1, integrating roadway safety into project performance specifications and initiating new tools such as safety compliance orders; Mechanism 2, imposing nonconformance monetary deductions based on point and classification systems; Mechanism 3, regulating safety payments on the basis of crash statistics; Mechanism 4, promoting safety initiative programs; and Mechanism 5, enforcing administrative countermeasures such as work suspension and default/termination triggers for persistent developer noncompliance. Mechanisms 1 and 5 were the default mechanisms in all toll- and availability-based projects, whereas Mechanism 2 was common in availability-only projects. The research reviewed the RSM packages in the PPP agreements, elucidating the particulars of the RSM mechanisms, highlighting RSM design considerations, presenting implementation guidelines, and articulating research needs. The research results were validated against PPP highways in five other states and provinces. This synthesis research provides highway agencies with an extensive practice review to support RSM package design for future PPP projects.
Keywords
Qualitative Research; Incentives; Public-private Partnerships (ppps); Performance Specifications; Roadway Safety; Payment Mechanisms; Availability Payment; Highways
Firth, Caislin L.; Baquero, Barbara; Berney, Rachel; Hoerster, Katherine D.; Mooney, Stephen J.; Winters, Meghan. (2021). Not Quite a Block Party: Covid-19 Street Reallocation Programs in Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC. Ssm-population Health, 14.
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed mobility inequities within cities. In response, cities are rapidly implementing street reallocation initiatives. These interventions provide space for walking and cycling, however, other mobility needs (e.g., essential workers, deliveries) may be impeded by these reallocation decisions. Informed by mobility justice frameworks, we examined socio-spatial differences in access to street reallocations in Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia. In both cities, more interventions occurred in areas where people of color, particularly Black and Indigenous people, lived. In Seattle, more interventions occurred in areas where people with disabilities, on food stamps, and children lived. In Vancouver, more interventions occurred in areas where recent immigrants lived, or where people used public transit or cycled to work. Street reallocations could be opportunities for cities to redress inequities in mobility and access to public spaces. Going forward, it is imperative to monitor how cities use data and welcome communities to redesign these temporary spaces to be corridors for their own mobility.
Keywords
Covid-19; Equity; Inequalities; Built Environment; Mobility; Cities; Mobility Justice