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Common Ground: Eight Factors that Influence Walking and Biking to School

Stewart, Orion; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Claybrooke, Charlotte. (2012). Common Ground: Eight Factors that Influence Walking and Biking to School. Transport Policy, 24, 240 – 248.

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Abstract

The primary goals of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs are to increase the number and safety of children walking, biking or using other forms of active travel to school (ATS). This study reviewed quantitative and qualitative research and identified eight common factors that influenced the choice of ATS: distance to school, parental fear of traffic and crime, family schedule constraints and values, neighborhood and family resources and culture, weather, and school characteristics. Suggestions were made as to how these barriers and facilitators of ATS could be integrated into the decision to fund local SRTS programs and to improve their effectiveness. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords

Commuting; Transportation Of School Children; Transportation Safety Measures; Qualitative Research; Cycling; Walking; Bike; Child; Pedestrian; Safe Routes To School; Safety; Walk; Active Transportation; Physical-activity; Urban Form; Elementary-schools; Safe Routes; Travel Mode; Children; Prevalence; Trip; Environment

The Built Environment and Utilitarian Walking in Small U.S. Towns

Doescher, Mark P.; Lee, Chanam; Berke, Ethan M.; Adachi-mejia, Anna M.; Lee, Chun-kuen; Stewart, Orion; Patterson, Davis G.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Carlos, Heather A.; Duncan, Glen E.; Moudon, Anne Vernez. (2014). The Built Environment and Utilitarian Walking in Small U.S. Towns. Preventive Medicine, 69, 80 – 86.

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Abstract

Objectives. The role of the built environment on walking in rural United States (U.S.) locations is not well characterized. We examined self-reported and measured built environment correlates of walking for utilitarian purposes among adult residents of small rural towns. Methods. In 2011-12, we collected telephone survey and geographic data from 2152 adults in 9 small towns from three U.S. regions. We performed mixed-effects logistic regression modeling to examine relationships between built environment measures and utilitarian walking (any versus none; high [>= 150 min per week] versus low [<150 min per week]) to retail, employment and public transit destinations. Results. Walking levels were lower than those reported for populations living in larger metropolitan areas. Environmental factors significantly (p < 0.05) associated with higher odds of utilitarian walking in both models included self-reported presence of crosswalks and pedestrian signals and availability of park/natural recreational areas in the neighborhood, and also objectively measured manufacturing land use. Conclusions. Environmental factors associated with utilitarian walking in cities and suburbs were important in small rural towns. Moreover, manufacturing land use was associated with utilitarian walking. Modifying the built environment of small towns could lead to increased walking in a sizeable segment of the U.S. population. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Cities & Towns -- Environmental Conditions; Walking; Telephone Surveys; Logistic Regression Analysis; Public Transit; Cities & Towns; Rural Conditions; United States; Exercise/physical Activity; Health Promotion; Physical Environment; Prevention; Rural Health; Social Environment; Physical-activity; Postmenopausal Women; Adults; Health; Risk; Transportation; Associations; Neighborhood; Travel; Determinants

Chandigarh: City and Periphery.

Chalana, Manish. (2015). Chandigarh: City and Periphery. Journal Of Planning History, 14(1), 62 – 84.

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Abstract

This article traces the history of the greenbelt of Chandigarh, India's first modernist city, designed by Le Corbusier. The zone's protection was mandated by the Periphery Control Act of 1952, although the act's contents are often misinterpreted and do not fully reflect the project team's complex vision. This work clarifies the intentions behind the Periphery's creation, and establishes its integration with the master plan. I demonstrate how ongoing transformations violate the spirit of the Periphery's original purpose, but rarely the letter of the law. I highlight ongoing conflicts whose resolution will fundamentally shape the future of the Periphery and the master plan of Chandigarh.

Keywords

Greenbelts; Urban Planning; Urban Cores; Landscape Protection; Architecture; Government Policy; Twentieth Century; History Of India, 1947-; Chandigarh (india); India; Chandigarh; Greenbelt; Le Corbusier; Modernism; Periphery; Le Corbusier, 1887-1965

Comparisons of Physical Activity and Walking between Korean Immigrant and White Women in King County, WA

Baek, So-Ra; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Saelens, Brian E.; Kang, Bumjoon; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Bae, Chang-hee Christine. (2016). Comparisons of Physical Activity and Walking between Korean Immigrant and White Women in King County, WA. Journal Of Immigrant & Minority Health, 18(6), 1541 – 1546.

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Abstract

Immigrant and minority women are less physically active than White women particularly during leisure time. However, prior research demonstrates that reported household physical activity (PA) and non-leisure time walking/biking were higher among the former. Using accelerometers, GPS, and travel logs, transport-related, home-based, and leisure time PA were measured objectively for 7 days from a convenience sample of 60 first-generation Korean immigrant women and 69 matched White women from the Travel Assessment and Community Project in King County, Washington. Time spent in total PA, walking, and home-based PA was higher among Whites than Korean immigrants regardless of PA type or location. 58 % of the White women but only 20 % of the Korean women met CDC's PA recommendations. Socio-economic status, psychosocial factors, and participants' neighborhood built environmental factors failed to account for the observed PA differences between these groups.

Keywords

Accelerometer; Gps; Korean Immigrant Women; Objective Measures; Physical Activity; Walking; White Women; Nonleisure Time; Leisure-time; Environment; Transportation; Adults; Women; Socioeconomic Status; Time Use; Home Based; Environmental Aspects; Economic Status; Immigrants; Leisure; Socioeconomic Factors; Bicycles; Psychosocial Factors; Comparative Analysis; Minority & Ethnic Groups; Physical Fitness; Regression Analysis; Accelerometers; Travel; Traveltime; Environmental Factors; Recreation; Neighborhoods; Hispanic Americans; Global Positioning Systems--gps; Social Support; Noncitizens; Data Collection; Asian Americans; Psychological Aspects; Households; White People; Asian People; King County Washington; United States--us

Anthropotechnology: Sloterdijk on Environmental Design and the Foamworlds of Co-Isolation

Mugerauer, Robert. (2016). Anthropotechnology: Sloterdijk on Environmental Design and the Foamworlds of Co-Isolation. Architecture And Culture, 4(2), 227 – 248.

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Abstract

The paper has two primary goals. The first is to reexamine the dynamics of cultural change by applying the innovative interpretations of German theorist and cultural historian Peter Sloterdijk, who contends that the ways we traditionally have made and understood our built environment are grossly inadequate in our contemporary media-saturated, war-weary, biotechnological world. The second is to show how such a reinterpretation of space, architecture, and culture could help us to learn to design better and act by way of an anthropotechnology (Sloterdijk's word) that is simultaneously developmental and threatening - that might enable us to find an orientation in a world of complexity, and thus more positively shape our lives and future world. Sloterdijk's intriguing concepts - spheres of immunization (bubbles, globes, foams), co-isolation, dyads, tensegrity - hold great promise for the next pulse of architectural, planning, and construction theory.

Keywords

Peter Sloterdijk; Anthropotechnology; Spheres Of Immunization (bubbles, Globes, Foams); Co-isolation; Housing

The Residential Effect Fallacy in Neighborhood and Health Studies Formal Definition, Empirical Identification, and Correction

Chaix, Basile; Duncan, Dustin; Vallee, Julie; Vernez-moudon, Anne; Benmarhnia, Tarik; Kestens, Yan. (2017). The Residential Effect Fallacy in Neighborhood and Health Studies Formal Definition, Empirical Identification, and Correction. Epidemiology, 28(6), 789 – 797.

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Abstract

Background: Because of confounding from the urban/rural and socioeconomic organizations of territories and resulting correlation between residential and nonresidential exposures, classically estimated residential neighborhood-outcome associations capture nonresidential environment effects, overestimating residential intervention effects. Our study diagnosed and corrected this residential effect fallacy bias applicable to a large fraction of neighborhood and health studies. Methods: Our empirical application investigated the effect that hypothetical interventions raising the residential number of services would have on the probability that a trip is walked. Using global positioning systems tracking and mobility surveys over 7 days (227 participants and 7440 trips), we employed a multilevel linear probability model to estimate the trip-level association between residential number of services and walking to derive a naive intervention effect estimate and a corrected model accounting for numbers of services at the residence, trip origin, and trip destination to determine a corrected intervention effect estimate (true effect conditional on assumptions). Results: There was a strong correlation in service densities between the residential neighborhood and nonresidential places. From the naive model, hypothetical interventions raising the residential number of services to 200, 500, and 1000 were associated with an increase by 0.020, 0.055, and 0.109 of the probability of walking in the intervention groups. Corrected estimates were of 0.007, 0.019, and 0.039. Thus, naive estimates were overestimated by multiplicative factors of 3.0, 2.9, and 2.8. Conclusions: Commonly estimated residential intervention-outcome associations substantially overestimate true effects. Our somewhat paradoxical conclusion is that to estimate residential effects, investigators critically need information on nonresidential places visited.

Keywords

Self-rated Health; Record Cohort; Physical-activity; Transportation Modes; Built Environment; Activity Spaces; Research Agenda; Risk-factors; Associations; Exposure

The Relationship between Objectively Measured Walking and Risk of Pedestrian–Motor Vehicle Collision

Quistberg, D. Alex; Howard, Eric J.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Moudon, Anne V.; Ebel, Beth E.; Rivara, Frederick P.; Saelens, Brian E. (2017). The Relationship between Objectively Measured Walking and Risk of Pedestrian–Motor Vehicle Collision. American Journal Of Epidemiology, 185(9), 810 – 821.

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Abstract

Safe urban walking environments may improve health by encouraging physical activity, but the relationship between an individual's location and walking pattern and the risk of pedestrian-motor vehicle collision is unknown. We examined associations between individuals' walking bouts and walking risk, measured as mean exposure to the risk of pedestrian-vehicle collision. Walking bouts were ascertained through integrated accelerometry and global positioning system data and from individual travel-diary data obtained from adults in the Travel Assessment and Community Study (King County, Washington) in 2008-2009. Walking patterns were superimposed onto maps of the historical probabilities of pedestrian-vehicle collisions for intersections and midblock segments within Seattle, Washington. Mean risk of pedestrian-vehicle collision in specific walking locations was assessed according to walking exposure (duration, distance, and intensity) and participant demographic characteristics in linear mixed models. Participants typically walked in areas with low pedestrian collision risk when walking for recreation, walking at a faster pace, or taking longer-duration walks. Mean daily walking duration and distance were not associated with collision risk. Males walked in areas with higher collision risk compared with females, while vehicle owners, residents of single-family homes, and parents of young children walked in areas with lower collision risk. These findings may suggest that pedestrians moderate collision risk by using lower-risk routes.

Keywords

Traffic Accidents; Confidence Intervals; Geographic Information Systems; Health Promotion; Maps; Research Funding; Walking; Accelerometry; Physical Activity; Data Analysis Software; Diary (literary Form); Descriptive Statistics; Risk Factors; Washington (state); Accidents; Environment Design; Global Positioning Systems; Pedestrians; Risk Assessment; Traffic; Physical-activity; Built Environment; Traffic Safety; Accident Risk; Injury Rates; Route-choice; Exposure; Gps; Travel; Accidents, Traffic

Neighborhood Food Environment, Dietary Fatty Acid Biomarkers, and Cardiac Arrest Risk

Mooney, Stephen J.; Lemaitre, Rozenn N.; Siscovick, David S.; Hurvitz, Philip; Goh, Charlene E.; Kaufman, Tanya K.; Zulaika, Garazi; Sheehan, Daniel M.; Sotoodehnia, Nona; Lovasi, Gina S. (2018). Neighborhood Food Environment, Dietary Fatty Acid Biomarkers, and Cardiac Arrest Risk. Health & Place, 53, 128 – 134.

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Abstract

We explored links between food environments, dietary intake biomarkers, and sudden cardiac arrest in a population-based longitudinal study using cases and controls accruing between 1990 and 2010 in King County, WA. Surprisingly, presence of more unhealthy food sources near home was associated with a lower 18:1 trans-fatty acid concentration ( - 0.05% per standard deviation higher count of unhealthy food sources, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.01, 0.09). However, presence of more unhealthy food sources was associated with higher odds of cardiac arrest (Odds Ratio [OR]: 2.29, 95% CI: 1.19, 4.41 per standard deviation in unhealthy food outlets). While unhealthy food outlets were associated with higher cardiac arrest risk, circulating 18:1 trans fats did not explain the association.

Keywords

Fatty Acids; Biological Tags; Cardiac Arrest; Food Contamination; Standard Deviations; Food Supply; Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest; Residence Characteristics; Sudden Cardiac Death; Trans Fatty Acids; New-york-city; Acute Myocardial-infarction; Low Socioeconomic-status; United-states; Vascular Inflammation; Cardiovascular Health; Older-adults; Death; Epidemiology; Arrhythmias; Dietary Supplements; Biomarkers; Heart Attacks; Risk Factors; Diet; Heart; Healthy Food; Fats; Dietary Intake; Food Sources; Food; Confidence Intervals; Biological Markers; Myocardial Infarction; Population Studies; Food Intake; Correlation Analysis; Neighborhoods

Spatial Relationships between Urban Structures and Air Pollution in Korea

Jung, Meen Chel; Park, Jaewoo; Kim, Sunghwan. (2019). Spatial Relationships between Urban Structures and Air Pollution in Korea. Sustainability, 11(2).

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Abstract

Urban structures facilitate human activities and interactions but are also a main source of air pollutants; hence, investigating the relationship between urban structures and air pollution is crucial. The lack of an acceptable general model poses significant challenges to investigations on the underlying mechanisms, and this gap fuels our motivation to analyze the relationships between urban structures and the emissions of four air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and two types of particulate matter, in Korea. We first conduct exploratory data analysis to detect the global and local spatial dependencies of air pollutants and apply Bayesian spatial regression models to examine the spatial relationship between each air pollutant and urban structure covariates. In particular, we use population, commercial area, industrial area, park area, road length, total land surface, and gross regional domestic product per person as spatial covariates of interest. Except for park area and road length, most covariates have significant positive relationships with air pollutants ranging from 0 to 1, which indicates that urbanization does not result in a one-to-one negative influence on air pollution. Findings suggest that the government should consider the degree of urban structures and air pollutants by region to achieve sustainable development.

Keywords

Land-use Regression; Particulate Matter Concentrations; Nitrogen-dioxide; Temporal Variations; Smart City; Quality; Health; Pm10; Fine; Pollutants; Urban Structure; Air Pollution; Moran's I; Bayesian Spatial Model; Motivation; Population; Urbanization; Nitrogen Oxides; Urban Structures; Emissions; Regression Analysis; Regression Models; Sulfur; Spatial Dependencies; Environmental Impact; Outdoor Air Quality; Metropolitan Areas; Economic Growth; Photochemicals; Industrial Areas; Urban Areas; Industrial Plant Emissions; Particulate Emissions; Particulate Matter; Data Analysis; Bayesian Analysis; Sustainable Development; Sulfur Oxides; Regions; Mathematical Models; Cities; China

The Unignorable Impacts of Pan Wall on Pan Evaporation Dynamics

Wang, Kaiwen; Liu, Xiaomang; Liu, Changming; Yang, Xiaohua; Bai, Peng; Li, Yuqi; Pan, Zharong. (2019). The Unignorable Impacts of Pan Wall on Pan Evaporation Dynamics. Agricultural & Forest Meteorology, 274, 42 – 50.

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Abstract

Open water evaporation (E-ow), such as evaporation of lake and reservoir, is typically estimated by observations of different pans. The observation networks of pan evaporation (E-pan) were established and maintained worldwide for a long history. All the pans in the world consist of water body and pan wall, which includes side wall, pan rim and (if any) pan bottom. Since the pan wall will affect E-pan by radiation absorption and heat conduction, once pan wall absorbs and conducts more heat for vaporizing than water body in a pan, observed E-pan dynamics will greatly deviate E-ow causing uncertainties and errors in estimating E-ow. Thus, this study calculated E-pan at 767 meteorological stations in China and quantified the contributions of water body and pan wall on E-pan trends. For China as a whole, E-pan decreased at -3.75 mm/a(2) and increased at 3.68 mm/a(2) during 1960-1993 and 1993-2016, respectively. 84% of E-pan trends were contributed by water body. For 767 stations, E-pan trends of 84 and 96 stations were dominated by pan wall during 1960-1993 and 1993-2016, respectively. Since pan wall contributed more than half of E-pan trends for (similar to)23% of the stations in China, the impacts of pan wall on E-pan dynamics cannot be ignored.

Keywords

Heat Radiation & Absorption; Heat Conduction; Meteorological Stations; Bodies Of Water; Dynamics; Water Diversion; China; Pan Evaporation Dynamics; Pan Wall; Radiation Absorption And Heat Conduction; Trends; Sensitivity; Demand; Model; Absorption; Evaporation; Heat Transfer; Lakes; Surface Water; Uncertainty