Rhew, Isaac C.; Guttmannova, Katarina; Kilmer, Jason R.; Fleming, Charles B.; Hultgren, Brittney A.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Dilley, Julia A.; Larimer, Mary E. (2022). Associations of Cannabis Retail Outlet Availability and Neighborhood Disadvantage with Cannabis Use and Related Risk Factors Among Young Adults in Washington State. Drug & Alcohol Dependence, 232.
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Abstract
Background: This study examined associations of local cannabis retail outlet availability and neighborhood disadvantage with cannabis use and related risk factors among young adults. Methods: Data were from annual cross-sectional surveys administered from 2015 to 2019 to individuals ages 18-25 residing in Washington State (N = 10,009). As outcomes, this study assessed self-reported cannabis use at different margins/frequencies (any past year, at least monthly, at least weekly, at least daily) and perceived ease of access to cannabis and acceptability of cannabis use in the community. Cannabis retail outlet availability was defined as the presence of at least one retail outlet within a 1-kilometer road network buffer of one's residence. Sensitivity analyses explored four other spatial metrics to define outlet availability (any outlet within 0.5-km, 2-km, and the census tract; and census tract density per 1000 residents). Census tract level disadvantage was a composite of five US census variables. Results: Adjusting for individual- and area-level covariates, living within 1-kilometer of at least one cannabis retail outlet was statistically significantly associated with any past year and at least monthly cannabis use as well as high perceived access to cannabis. Results using a 2-km buffer and census tract-level metrics for retail outlet availability showed similar findings. Neighborhood disadvantage was statistically significantly associated with at least weekly and at least daily cannabis use and with greater perceived acceptability of cannabis use. Conclusions: Results may have implications for regulatory and prevention strategies to reduce the population burden of cannabis use and related harms.
Keywords
Outlet Stores; Young Adults; Neighborhoods; Older People; Sensitivity Analysis; Washington (state); Cannabis; Cannabis Retail Outlets; Neighborhood Disadvantage; Alcohol-use; Marijuana Use; Density; Proximity; Health; Norms
Abramson, Daniel Benjamin. (2011). Places for the Gods: Urban Planning as Orthopraxy and Heteropraxy in China. Environment & Planning D: Society & Space, 29(1), 67 – 88.
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Abstract
Among the many revivals of older urban practices in China since the death of Mao and the Reforms of Deng Xiaoping is the resurgence of unofficial folk-religious space. As a national phenomenon, it is an uneven process, but where it has become prevalent, it presents challenges both to official standard urban-planning practice, as well as to the public presentation of planning practice. This paper describes how nonstandard practices can emerge in the current context of rapid urbanization, which itself is a force for standardized urban spatial practices in terms of Chinese domestic cultural and political institutions as well as global capital flows. Both local and translocal actors, navigating among various conflicting standards of practice and discourse, can find room to resist hegemony, maintain identity, and innovate. The political and bureaucratic ritualization of planning practice, however, conceals this fact.
Keywords
Urban Planning -- Social Aspects; Urban Policy; Urbanization; Hegemony; Cultural Policy; Social Conditions In China; Social Aspects; China; Late Imperial China; Standardization; Property; Shanghai; Culture; Space; State
Cowling, Krycia; Lindberg, Ruth; Dannenberg, Andrew L.; Neff, Roni A.; Pollack, Keshia M. (2017). Review of Health Impact Assessments Informing Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition Policies, Programs, and Projects in the United States. Journal Of Agriculture Food Systems And Community Development, 7(3), 139 – 157.
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Abstract
Policies, programs, and projects related to agriculture, food, and nutrition can significantly affect public health. Health impact assessment (HIA) is one tool that can be used to improve awareness of the health effects of decisions outside the health sector, and increasing the use of HIA for agriculture, food, and nutrition decisions presents an opportunity to improve public health. This study identifies and reviews all HIAs completed in the United States on agriculture, food, and nutrition topics. Studies were identified from HIA databases, an Internet search, and expert consultation. Key characteristics were extracted from each study: type of decision assessed, location, level of jurisdiction, lead organization, methods of analysis, and recommendations. Twenty-five eligible HIAs that were conducted between 2007 and 2016 address topics such as regulations on land use for agriculture; food and beverage taxes; and developing grocery stores in food deserts. These HIAs have predominantly supported policy, as opposed to program or project, decisions. Four case studies are presented to illustrate in detail the HIA process and the mechanisms through which HIA findings affected policy decisions. Among other influences, these four HIAs affected the language of legislation and provided guidance for federal regulations. These examples demonstrate several findings: appropriate timing is critical for findings to have an influence; diverse stakeholder involvement generates support for recommendations; and the clear communication of feasible recommendations is highly important. There is substantial scope to increase the use of HIA in the agriculture, food, and nutrition sectors. Challenges include the paucity of monitoring and evaluation of HIAs' effects on health outcomes, and the limited funding available to conduct HIAs. Opportunities include integrating HIAs and community food assessments, and more widely sharing HIA findings to inform related decisions in different jurisdictions and to increase support for additional HIAs that address the food system.
Keywords
Environments; Obesity; Health Impact Assessment; Policy; Food; Nutrition; Agriculture
Jones-Smith, Jessica C.; Walkinshaw, Lina Pinero; Oddo, Vanessa M.; Knox, Melissa; Neuhouser, Marian L.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Saelens, Brian E.; Chan, Nadine. (2020). Impact of a Sweetened Beverage Tax on Beverage Prices in Seattle, WA. Economics & Human Biology, 39.
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Abstract
Seattle's Sweetened Beverage Tax is an excise tax of 1.75 cents per ounce on sugar-sweetened beverages and is one of the highest beverage taxes in the U.S. This study examined the impact of Seattle's tax on the prices of beverages. We conducted audits of 407 retail food stores and eating places (quick service restaurants and coffee shops) before and 6 months after the tax was implemented in Seattle and in a comparison area. Ordinary least squares difference-in-differences models with store fixed effects were used to estimate the effect of the tax on prices, stratified by beverage type and store type. In secondary analyses, we assessed the effect of the tax on the price of non-taxed beverages and foods. Results from the adjusted difference-in-differences models indicated the tax was associated with an average increase of 1.58 cents per ounce among Seattle retailers, representing 90 % of the price of the tax. By store type, price increases were highest in smaller grocery stores and drug stores. By beverage type, price increases were highest for energy beverages and soda and lowest for bottled coffee and juice drinks. Prices of some nontaxed beverages also increased while the prices of select healthy foods generally did not. The sweetened beverage tax in Seattle is higher than beverage taxes in most other cities, and nearly the full cost of the tax is being passed through to consumers for many beverage types and stores types. (c) 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Keywords
Soda Taxes; Food Policy; Health Policy; Beverage Taxes; Obesity
Zuidema, Christopher; Austin, Elena; Cohen, Martin A.; Kasner, Edward; Liu, Lilian; Isaksen, Tania Busch; Lin, Ken-Yu; Spector, June; Seto, Edmund. (2022). Potential Impacts Of Washington State’s Wildfire Worker Protection Rule On Construction Workers. Annals Of Work Exposures & Health, 66(4), 419 – 432.
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Abstract
Driven by climate change, wildfires are increasing in frequency, duration, and intensity across the Western United States. Outdoor workers are being exposed to increasing wildfire-related particulate matter and smoke. Recognizing this emerging risk, Washington adopted an emergency rule and is presently engaged in creating a permanent rule to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke exposure. While there are growing bodies of literature on the exposure to and health effects of wildfire smoke in the general public and wildland firefighters, there is a gap in knowledge about wildfire smoke exposure among outdoor workers generally and construction workers specifically-a large category of outdoor workers in Washington totaling 200,000 people. Several data sources were linked in this study-including state-collected employment data and national ambient air quality data-to gain insight into the risk of PM2.5 exposure among construction workers and evaluate the impacts of different air quality thresholds that would have triggered a new Washington emergency wildfire smoke rule aimed at protecting workers from high PM2.5 exposure. Results indicate the number of poor air quality days has increased in August and September in recent years. Over the last decade, these months with the greatest potential for particulate matter exposure coincided with an annual peak in construction employment that was typically 9.4-42.7% larger across Washington counties (one county was 75.8%). Lastly, the 'encouraged' threshold of the Washington emergency rule (20.5 mu g m(-3)) would have resulted in 5.5 times more days subject to the wildfire rule on average across all Washington counties compared to its 'required' threshold (55.5 mu g m(-3)), and in 2020, the rule could have created demand for 1.35 million N-95 filtering facepiece respirators among construction workers. These results have important implications for both employers and policy makers as rules are developed. The potential policy implications of wildfire smoke exposure, exposure control strategies, and data gaps that would improve understanding of construction worker exposure to wildfire smoke are also discussed.
Keywords
Particulate Matter; Industrial Safety; Occupational Exposure; Rules; Smoke; Construction Industry; Employment; Occupational Hazards; Descriptive Statistics; Industrial Hygiene; Wildfires; N95 Respirators; Washington (state); Forest Fires; Pm 2.5; Respirator; Wildfire Smoke Protection Rule; Wildland Fire; Pm2 5; Health Impacts; Climate-change; Forest-fire; Exposure; Firefighters; Infiltration
Whittington, Jan. (2012). When to Partner for Public Infrastructure? Journal Of The American Planning Association, 78(3), 269 – 285.
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Abstract
Problem, research strategy, and findings: Public agencies traditionally request bids and award contracts to private firms after infrastructure designs are complete (bid-build). They also increasingly partner with private firms, often by folding capital improvements into a contract to design and build (design-build). The latter involves much more than the mere transfer of design work to the private sector, such as time to completion; the merits or problems of design-build strategies can, thus, be difficult to isolate. This article presents a method for doing so. Together with the development of a theory of contracting, the comparative analysis of two very similar highway overpass projects, one design-build and the other bid-build, demonstrates how so-called transaction cost economics can clarify the details of partnership cost-effectiveness. Takeaway for practice: Transaction cost analysis disaggregates and evaluates the costs of completed projects, accounting for factors typically external to economic analysis. My approach reveals tradeoffs between variables of interest to planners, such as the pace of delivery, public participation, environmental compliance, and the transfer of risk of cost overrun to the private sector.
Keywords
Design & Build Contracts; Bridges; Infrastructure (economics); Transaction Costs; Construction Contracts; Public-private Sector Cooperation; Transportation Planning; Design-build; Evaluation; Infrastructure; Public–private Partnership; Transaction Cost; Vertical Integration; Contracting Process; Privatization; Firm; Services; Reverse; Lie; Public-private Partnership
Grover, Himanshu; Brody, Samuel D.; Vedlitz, Arnold. (2017). Understanding Climate Change Risk Perception in the USA. International Journal Of Global Warming, 13(2), 113 – 137.
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Abstract
Public perceptions of risk from climate change are an important determinant of the willingness of citizens to support climate change mitigation and adaptation policies. Although there is a growing body of research focusing on a variety of individual, cultural, and organisational factors that affect an individual's perception of risk, only a few studies have adopted a multivariate analytical approach to understand public perceptions of climate change risks. This study extends earlier interdisciplinary research initiatives and proposes a more comprehensive, integrated model for understanding climate change risk perception. Using measures of objective risk, individual climate stress, and individual capacity, we explain public perceptions of climate change risks. The analysis is based on a national representative survey of US citizens. Geographic information systems and spatial analytical techniques are used to supplement the survey data with measures of objective risk associated with the location of each respondent. Analysis of the data using multivariate regression suggests that increased objective risk and individual capacity result in significantly higher perception of risk from climate change, whereas higher individual climate stress results in lower risk perceptions.
Keywords
United-states; Public Support; Experience; Adaptation; Beliefs; Gender; Impact; Policy; Representations; Communication; Climate Change; Risk Perception; Objective Risk; Individual Climate Stress; Individual Capacity; Data Processing; Perceptions; Geographic Information Systems; Mitigation; Interdisciplinary Research; Multivariate Analysis; Environmental Risk; Regression Analysis; Environmental Policy; Perception; Interdisciplinary Studies; Remote Sensing; Information Systems; Analytical Techniques; Surveying; Policies; Research; Capacity; Adaptations; Climatic Changes; Gis; Climatic Analysis; Climate Models; Research & Development--r&d; Climate Change Mitigation; United States--us
Martins, Antonio Miguel; Serra, Ana Paula; Martins, Francisco Vitorino; Stevenson, Simon. (2020). House Price Dynamics and Bank Herding: European Empirical Evidence. Journal Of Real Estate Research, 42(3), 365 – 396.
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Abstract
This paper examines house price dynamics, bank herding behavior, and the linkages between them. The analysis presented indicates that prior to the financial crisis, non-fundamental factors played a significant role in several European countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and Ireland. We also provide evidence indicative of herding behavior in the residential mortgage loan market. Finally, Granger causality tests show that non-fundamentally justified price dynamics contributed to the herding displayed by lenders and that this behavior was a response by banks as a group to common information on residential property assets.
Keywords
Bubbles; Market; Behavior; Fundamentals; Constraints; Policy; Model; House Prices; Mortgages; Price Bubble; Herding Behavior
Purcell, Mark. (2013). To Inhabit Well: Counterhegemonic Movements and the Right to the City. Urban Geography, 34(4), 560 – 574.
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Abstract
A right to the city, understood as a conjoint claim to a right to inhabit urban space well, can be an effective starting point from which diverse urban movements can begin to build broad counterhegemonic coalitions for alternative urban futures. In this article, I argue that the right to the city supports the project of establishing relations of equivalence among members of coalitions--balancing relations of sameness/difference and interdependence/autonomy.
Keywords
Right To The City; Urban Social Movements; Autogestion; Urban Politics
McAndrews, Carolyn; Pollack, Keshia M.; Berrigan, David; Dannenberg, Andrew L.; Christopher, Ed J. (2017). Understanding and Improving Arterial Roads to Support Public Health and Transportation Goals. American Journal Of Public Health, 107(8), 1278 – 1282.
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Abstract
Arterials are types of roads designed to carry high volumes of motorized traffic. They are an integral part of transportation systems worldwide and exposure to them is ubiquitous, especially in urban areas. Arterials provide access to diverse commercial and cultural resources, which can positively influence community health by supporting social cohesion as well as economic and cultural opportunities. They can negatively influence health via safety issues, noise, air pollution, and lack of economic development. The aims of public health and transportation partially overlap; efforts to improve arterials can meet goals of both professions. Two trends in arterial design show promise. First, transportation professionals increasingly define the performance of arterials via metrics accounting for pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and nearby residents in addition to motor vehicle users. Second, applying traffic engineering and design can generate safety, air quality, and livability benefits, but we need evidence to support these interventions. We describe the importance of arterials (including exposures, health behaviors, effects on equity, and resulting health outcomes) and make the case For public health collaborations with the transportation sector.
Keywords
Arterial Roads; Public Health -- United States; Public Health -- Social Aspects; Road Construction; Transportation & Society; Health; Air Pollution; Social Cohesion; Influence; Physiological Effects Of Noise; Interprofessional Relations; Metropolitan Areas; Motor Vehicles; Public Health; Transportation; Low-birth-weight; Air-pollution; Land-use; Policy