The Population Health Initiative announced the summer 2023 cohort of applied research fellows. Among the group of 5 students (3 graduate and 2 undergraduate) is Pamela Lim from the College of Built Environments Urban Design & Planning department. These students will spend 10 weeks over the summer working collaboratively with King County’s demographer and Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Assessment, Policy Development and Evaluation Unit with the support of the Population Health Applied Research Fellowship. The team will…
Research Theme: Housing & Homelessness
Includes social and real-estate implications of homelessness, housing affordability and livability in the built environment
College of Built Environments Announces 2023 Inspire Fund Awards
In 2021, the College of Built Environments launched the CBE Inspire Fund to “inspire” CBE research activities that are often underfunded, but for which a relatively small amount of support can be transformative. The Inspire Fund aims to support research where arts and humanities disciplines are centered, and community partners are engaged in substantive ways. Inspire Fund is also meant to support ‘seed’ projects, where a small investment in early research efforts may serve as a powerful lever for future…
Acolin Awarded NIH R21 Grant to Study Gentrification, Mobility, and Health
Arthur Acolin, Associate Professor and Bob Filley Endowed Chair in the Runstad Department of Real Estate, was recently awarded an NIH R21 grant for his project entitled ‘Gentrification, Mobility, and Exposure to Contextual Determinants of Health.’ The project will examine how gentrification affects mobility patterns at the neighborhood levels and changes exposure to contextual determinants of health that have been shown to contribute to social and race/ethnic inequalities in health. The proposed research leverages consumer trace data from Data Axle…
Factors Influencing Teleworking Productivity – a Natural Experiment during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Shi, Xiao; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Lee, Brian H. Y.; Shen, Qing; Ban, Xuegang (Jeff). (2020). Factors Influencing Teleworking Productivity – a Natural Experiment during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Findings.
Abstract
Of 2174 surveyed adults who were teleworking following the implementation of a Covid-19 work-from-home policy, 23.8% reported an increase in productivity, 37.6% no change, and 38.6% a decrease in productivity compared to working at their prior workplace. After controlling for feelings of depression and anxiety likely caused by pandemic-related circumstances, the socioeconomic characteristics associated with no change or an increase in productivity after shifting to teleworking included being older; not employed in higher education; having lower education attainment; and not living with children. Respondents with longer commute trips in single-occupancy vehicles prior to teleworking were more likely to be more productive but those with longer commute by walking were not. Lifestyle changes associated with increased productivity included better sleep quality, spending less time on social media, but more time on personal hobbies.
Homelessness is a Housing Problem
Colburn, G., & Page Aldern, C. (2022). Homelessness is a Housing Problem. University Of California Press.
Transforming the Irvine Ranch: Joan Irvine, William Pereira, Ray Watson, and the Big Plan
Oliver, H. Pike, & Stockstill, C. Michael. (2022). Transforming the Irvine Ranch: Joan Irvine, William Pereira, Ray Watson, and the Big Plan. Routledge.
Rachel Berney and Jeff Hou contribute to new book on social justice in urban design
“Just Urban Design: The Struggle for a Public City” (MIT Press 2022) features a collection of chapters and case studies that apply a social justice lens to the design of urban environments. Sixteen contributors, including Rachel Berney of Urban Design & Planning and Jeff Hou of Landscape Architecture, examine topics ranging from single-family zoning and community capacity building to immigrant street vendors and the right to walk. The book is open-access and can be downloaded from MIT Press here.
Steven Bourassa
Steven C. Bourassa is H. Jon and Judith M. Runstad Endowed Professor and Chair of the Runstad Department of Real Estate in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. Previously, he served as department chair at Florida Atlantic University, the University of Auckland, and the University of Louisville, where he was KHC Real Estate Research Professor. His research focuses on urban housing and land markets and policy, covering a range of topics including housing tenure, residential property valuation, property taxation, housing affordability, low-income housing policy, community land trusts, and public land leasehold. He has published his research in numerous real estate and related journals, such as the Journal of Housing Economics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Journal of Real Estate Research, and Journal of Urban Economics, as well as Real Estate Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics, and Urban Studies. His co-edited book, Leasing Public Land: Policy Debates and International Experiences, was published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Dr. Bourassa is on the editorial boards of eight real estate journals. He is a Fellow of the Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics and received the Research Achievement Award from the International Real Estate Society, of which he is a past President. He is currently Treasurer of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association. He holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania.
Associations between Neighborhood Built Environment, Residential Property Values, and Adult BMI Change: The Seattle Obesity Study III
Buszkiewicz, James H.; Rose, Chelsea M.; Ko, Linda K.; Mou, Jin; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Cook, Andrea J.; Drewnowski, Adam. (2022). Associations between Neighborhood Built Environment, Residential Property Values, and Adult BMI Change: The Seattle Obesity Study III. SSM-Population Health, 19.
Abstract
Objective: To examine associations between neighborhood built environment (BE) variables, residential property values, and longitudinal 1-and 2-year changes in body mass index (BMI). Methods: The Seattle Obesity Study III was a prospective cohort study of adults with geocoded residential addresses, conducted in King, Pierce, and Yakima Counties in Washington State. Measured heights and weights were obtained at baseline (n = 879), year 1 (n = 727), and year 2 (n = 679). Tax parcel residential property values served as proxies for individual socioeconomic status. Residential unit and road intersection density were captured using Euclidean-based SmartMaps at 800 m buffers. Counts of supermarket (0 versus. 1+) and fast-food restaurant availability (0, 1-3, 4+) were measured using network based SmartMaps at 1600 m buffers. Density measures and residential property values were categorized into tertiles. Linear mixed-effects models tested whether baseline BE variables and property values were associated with differential changes in BMI at year 1 or year 2, adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, home ownership, and county of residence. These associations were then tested for potential disparities by age group, gender, race/ethnicity, and education. Results: Road intersection density, access to food sources, and residential property values were inversely associated with BMI at baseline. At year 1, participants in the 3rd tertile of density metrics and with 4+ fast-food restaurants nearby showed less BMI gain compared to those in the 1st tertile or with 0 restaurants. At year 2, higher residential property values were predictive of lower BMI gain. There was evidence of differential associations by age group, gender, and education but not race/ethnicity. Conclusion: Inverse associations between BE metrics and residential property values at baseline demonstrated mixed associations with 1-and 2-year BMI change. More work is needed to understand how individual-level sociodemographic factors moderate associations between the BE, property values, and BMI change.
Keywords
Body-mass Index; Physical-activity; Food Environment; Socioeconomic-status; Weight-gain; Health; Quality
Differences in Weight Gain Following Residential Relocation in the Moving to Health (M2H) Study
Cruz, Maricela; Drewnowski, Adam; Bobb, Jennifer F.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Cook, Andrea; Mooney, Stephen J.; Buszkiewicz, James H.; Lozano, Paula; Rosenberg, Dori E.; Kapos, Flavia; Theis, Mary Kay; Anau, Jane; Arterburn, David. (2022). Differences in Weight Gain Following Residential Relocation in the Moving to Health (M2H) Study. Epidemiology, 33(5), 747-755.
Abstract
Background: Neighborhoods may play an important role in shaping long-term weight trajectory and obesity risk. Studying the impact of moving to another neighborhood may be the most efficient way to determine the impact of the built environment on health. We explored whether residential moves were associated with changes in body weight. Methods: Kaiser Permanente Washington electronic health records were used to identify 21,502 members aged 18-64 who moved within King County, WA between 2005 and 2017. We linked body weight measures to environment measures, including population, residential, and street intersection densities (800 m and 1,600 m Euclidian buffers) and access to supermarkets and fast foods (1,600 m and 5,000 m network distances). We used linear mixed models to estimate associations between postmove changes in environment and changes in body weight. Results: In general, moving from high-density to moderate- or low-density neighborhoods was associated with greater weight gain postmove. For example, those moving from high to low residential density neighborhoods (within 1,600 m) gained an average of 4.5 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.0, 5.9) lbs 3 years after moving, whereas those moving from low to high-density neighborhoods gained an average of 1.3 (95% CI = -0.2, 2.9) lbs. Also, those moving from neighborhoods without fast-food access (within 1600m) to other neighborhoods without fast-food access gained less weight (average 1.6 lbs [95% CI = 0.9, 2.4]) than those moving from and to neighborhoods with fast-food access (average 2.8 lbs [95% CI = 2.5, 3.2]). Conclusions: Moving to higher-density neighborhoods may be associated with reductions in adult weight gain.
Keywords
Body-mass Index; Neighborhood Socioeconomic-status; New-york-city; Built Environment; Physical-activity; Food Environment; Urban Sprawl; Risk-factors; Obesity; Walking; Electronic Medical Records; Fast Foods; Population Density; Residential Density; Residential Moves; Supermarkets