Cities & healthPub Date : 2023-05-17DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2023.2207924
Seyed Mojtaba Fakhrahmad, S. M. Fakhrahmad, A. Soltani, K. Hajipour
{"title":"Perceived environment and neighbourhood satisfaction: introducing a fuzzy modeling approach","authors":"Seyed Mojtaba Fakhrahmad, S. M. Fakhrahmad, A. Soltani, K. Hajipour","doi":"10.1080/23748834.2023.2207924","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2207924","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The present study aims at developing the existing methodology to determine the predictors of neighborhood satisfaction under an uncertain environment. To achieve this purpose, required data are gathered from 320 households living in Shiraz, Iran, including their perceptions of neighborhood social characteristics and neighborhood satisfaction through a questionnaire survey. Due to uncertainty among the numeric independent variables, a set of fuzzy estimation systems are developed, each of which predicts the value of neighborhood satisfaction using the values of one specific subset of the influencing independent variables. According to the findings, the environmental characteristics of neighborhood contribute to improving neighborhood satisfaction more effectively than individual attributes of residents. Fuzzy results, also, show that perceived security, social control and trust are important predictors of neighborhood satisfaction among single variables, while the combination of trust and perceived security has the strongest effect among all variables and can determine neighborhood satisfaction with a high accuracy. Parts of the results were consistent with prior research. There are important implications for researchers and policy-makers in the findings.","PeriodicalId":72596,"journal":{"name":"Cities & health","volume":"5 1","pages":"808 - 822"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90555279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cities & healthPub Date : 2023-05-15DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2023.2195580
T. Kabanda, A. Gumede
{"title":"Using spatial analytics to model tree planting priorities in two South African cities of Bloemfontein and Kimberley","authors":"T. Kabanda, A. Gumede","doi":"10.1080/23748834.2023.2195580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2195580","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study uses geographic information-based multi-criteria decision analysis to identify and prioritise tree planting sites to promote equitable access to tree canopy coverage across a city. The study was conducted to find new urban tree plantings locations in the two South African cities of Bloemfontein and Kimberley. The study’s results found several trends highlighting inequity regarding access to trees. In Bloemfontein, 55% of census sub-places citizens are Black dominated, compared to 41% White and 3% Coloured. In Kimberley, 60% of census sub-places citizens are Black dominated, but these places have fewer tree covers of 1.2% compared to 8.3% in the White neighbourhoods. White-dominated neighbourhoods enjoy four times as much tree cover as found in the Black neighbourhoods. The findings of tree planting prioritization maps in the two cities show that places with a high priority for tree planting are often located in townships and low-income neighbourhoods. This work demonstrates how civil society may use publicly available satellite data and the techniques outlined here to hold governments responsible for environmental justice. The results stress the importance of greening policies and initiatives to reduce environmental disparities and advance sustainable development goals. KEY POLICY HIGHLIGHT Maintain and improve the existing urban forest canopy. Create and maintain a balance of trees between the developed and previously disadvantaged Promote the planting of indigenous and drought-resistant trees.","PeriodicalId":72596,"journal":{"name":"Cities & health","volume":"9 1","pages":"795 - 807"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90552075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cities & healthPub Date : 2023-05-09DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2023.2203970
O. Baron-Epel, I. Ran
{"title":"Factors impacting the use of outdoor gyms, Israel as a case study","authors":"O. Baron-Epel, I. Ran","doi":"10.1080/23748834.2023.2203970","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2203970","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Outdoor gyms offer community facilities for physical activity. The aim of this study was to measure levels of use of outdoor gyms and identify characteristics of these outdoor gyms associated with their use. An observational study was performed at 18 outdoor gyms in three towns of Israel. About 1000 individuals were observed at these outdoor gyms. In addition, observations included location, other facilities, and the mean number of users per hour in each outdoor gym. Large differences in use between outdoor gyms were observed. At the outdoor gyms located at parks and beaches, we observed the highest volume of trainees compared to outdoor gyms in residential areas. The location of the outdoor gym explained 75% of the variance in use of the outdoor gyms. The number of equipment devices explained another 8.4% of variance. More men and younger adults compared to women and older adults trained on the equipment. There is a need to identify ways to encourage the public to use outdoor gyms in residential areas or invest in outdoor gyms in large public spaces adjacent to other physical activity facilities. Developing outdoor gyms suitable for women and older adults should also be a priority.","PeriodicalId":72596,"journal":{"name":"Cities & health","volume":"R-29 1","pages":"1045 - 1054"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84751704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cities & healthPub Date : 2023-05-04DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2023.2204011
Marcus Grant
{"title":"Research for city practice","authors":"Marcus Grant","doi":"10.1080/23748834.2023.2204011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2204011","url":null,"abstract":"SUPPORTING CITY KNOW-HOW We all know that human health and planetary health are heavily influenced by the urban environments we create. For both human and planetary health, worrying trends show ongoing and increasing risks. These are of global concern. It is imperative that finding and testing solutions become a core focus for urban policy. This will require concerted action. Cities & Health is dedicated to supporting a multidirectional flow of knowledge to support this. Our aim is to foster conversations between researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, communities, and decision-makers in cities. That is the specific purpose of this innovative section of the journal, with its short ‘City Know-how’ policy briefings from research findings. The team at Cities & Health, and our two knowledge partners (International Society for Urban Health and SALUS.Global), invite you to join their networks, and contribute to the conversations we so urgently need. We call out internationally to communities, researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers to consider publishing in Cities & Health to help influence urban policy.","PeriodicalId":72596,"journal":{"name":"Cities & health","volume":"26 1","pages":"288 - 295"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75870795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cities & healthPub Date : 2023-05-04DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2023.2176202
Gareth Davey
{"title":"Travel and the travelogue as innovative research methodology: knowledge creation for advancing urban health and health equity in the 21st century","authors":"Gareth Davey","doi":"10.1080/23748834.2023.2176202","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2176202","url":null,"abstract":"New methodologies and knowledge creation are at the forefront of advancing urban health and health equity in the 21 century (Grant et al. 2017, Grant and Thompson 2018). There is growing interest in new paradigms about mobility and space in social life, characterised as the ‘mobility turn’ and the ‘spatial turn’ (Sheller and Urry 2006, Hein et al. 2008). Cities & Health has been commendably innovative in encouraging articles involving travel around cities, thereby supporting the creation of knowledge outside conventional academic practices. Excellent examples include Gill’s (2019) visits to cities in Europe and Canada to report on child-friendly urban planning, Selamet’s (2022) walking and driving in Kuwait to photograph street views of fast-food displays, and Davey’s (2022) trip around Bangkok to critically reflect on the design of no-smoking signs. These examples break with convention by bringing travel and travel writing by the researcher into the research process. In this editorial, I introduce the travelogue as a new research methodology. I begin by outlining the key features of a travelogue and how they can be put together as a research methodology, by drawing upon a rich history of documented travel dating back to antiquity, and upon the empirical nature of health and social science research. Next, I guide you through the steps involved in conducting a travelogue study from start to finish, illustrated with an example about cities and health to exemplify what it looks like in practice and what can be achieved. Since travel, travel writing, and ‘travel research methods’ are neglected and under-theorised in the literature, this editorial has important theoretical and practical implications.","PeriodicalId":72596,"journal":{"name":"Cities & health","volume":"20 1","pages":"283 - 287"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73514848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cities & healthPub Date : 2023-05-04DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2022.2144106
Gareth Davey
{"title":"You can’t smoke here! Some observations of no-smoking signs in Bangkok, Thailand","authors":"Gareth Davey","doi":"10.1080/23748834.2022.2144106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2022.2144106","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT No-smoking signs communicate smoke-free rules to eliminate second-hand smoke and tobacco consumption. In this essay, I critically reflect on the presence, meanings, and context of no-smoking signs in public places in Bangkok, illustrated with photos of signs and accompanying commentary. Impressively, no-smoking signs were omnipresent in the city. However, unattractive designs, condescending messages, lack of language diversity and technological application, and smoking violations observed by the author all raise questions about whether they were noticed and acted upon. I call for an overhaul of no-smoking signs to curb the global tobacco epidemic and its devastating impact in cities.","PeriodicalId":72596,"journal":{"name":"Cities & health","volume":"56 1","pages":"318 - 323"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90599215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cities & healthPub Date : 2023-04-20DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2023.2201016
Caglar Koksal
{"title":"Public health spatial planning in practice: improving health and wellbeing","authors":"Caglar Koksal","doi":"10.1080/23748834.2023.2201016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2201016","url":null,"abstract":"With growing evidence of the links between the built environment and population health, there is an increasing demand for practical guides and toolkits to help decision-makers improve public health and address health inequalities. If anything, there is now a plethora of evidence reviews, guidance notes, and good practice cases available, often with overlapping advice (e.g. partnership boards, secondments), overused examples (e.g. Amsterdam as the cycling capital) and falling in the same common pitfalls (e.g. ignoring path-dependency, different planning regulations). What we need is a less of proliferation of the same, but more clarity, coherence, and practical guides that are based on case studies of contextualised planning practices, and chart possible pathways for good practices usable in that context. Therein lies the strength of Public Health Spatial Planning in Practice: Improving Health and Wellbeing, written by Michael Chao-Jung Chang, Liz Green and Carl Petrokofsky, and published by Bristol University Press in 2022. It doesn’t aim to review the evidence of the links between the built environment and population health – there are plenty of other books making the case very strongly. Instead, this book lays out a clear plan on how planning and health agendas can converge to deliver healthy placemaking. The authors build their case on established evidence, practices and frameworks in the first two parts and offer action plans and practice guides in the third and fourth parts with the use of ‘insider stories’ and real-world examples to illustrate healthy planning practices. The final part, horizon scanning, draws lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and provides insights for creating healthy places and communities. What sets this book apart is its attention to the minutiae of the planning system, with a view to embedding health and wellbeing throughout. This includes both the complex planning decision-making process (p. 156) and planning education and professional development (pp. 169–183). The latter was especially a key focus of the authors, who goes to define what they call a new interdisciplinary practice of public health spatial planning (Chapter 9), albeit with more public health than planning, and with more focus on procedural tools of spatial planning. The book also features important discussions on health inequalities, challenges of implementing Health Impact Assessment (p. 97), and novel ideas such as ‘net health gain’ (p. 209). Furthermore, it may have been helpful to have a more nuanced discussion of the differences between spatial planning and land-use management in practice (p. 39). Moreover, whilst it was tacitly acknowledged that more planners are now working in the private sector and Chapter 10 included benefits of healthy places to the private sector and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises, the evidence presented and recommendations made were strongly biased towards public bodies. This book is a must-read for built envi","PeriodicalId":72596,"journal":{"name":"Cities & health","volume":"22 1","pages":"695 - 695"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74416281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cities & healthPub Date : 2023-04-10DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2023.2192895
D. Kleopa, A. Panayiotou, C. Kouta, N. Middleton
{"title":"Developing and field testing the Neighbourhood Observational Tool for auditing urban community environments (CyNOTes) in the city of Limassol, Cyprus","authors":"D. Kleopa, A. Panayiotou, C. Kouta, N. Middleton","doi":"10.1080/23748834.2023.2192895","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2192895","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Systematic Social Observation provides supplementary information about the micro-scale neighborhood environment. This study explored the feasibility of neighborhood audits for the first time in the city of Limassol, Cyprus (population size, 2021 census: 258.900). The prevalence and variability of audited features were investigated using the 126-item CyNOTes inventory, organised along a typology of 17 domains. Two independent audits, with a repeat in two weeks, were performed across 30 randomly selected street segments, stratified in three groups of neighborhoods according to the educational attainment of residents. Associations with census indicators and survey data on SF-36 Quality of Life among residents aged 45–64 (N = 150) were explored. More adverse conditions were recorded in low educational attainment neighborhoods, with differences apparent in domains with generally high as well as low scores. Neighborhood scores correlated with census indicators of the built environment, while negative correlations where observed with sociodemographic indicators, such as population aged over 65 and non-Cypriot population, suggesting social inequities. In neighborhoods with more adverse features, lower physical and mental health-related quality of life were reported. Overall, the study documented environmental inequity. CyNOTes offers the potential for further development and scaling-up for public health research, policy, and advocacy.","PeriodicalId":72596,"journal":{"name":"Cities & health","volume":"84 1","pages":"779 - 794"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75204129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cities & healthPub Date : 2023-04-05DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2022.2161978
M. McGreevy, Connie Musolino, F. Baum
{"title":"Liveability transitioning: results of a pilot study of walking, accessibility, and social connection strengths weaknesses in established suburbs in Adelaide","authors":"M. McGreevy, Connie Musolino, F. Baum","doi":"10.1080/23748834.2022.2161978","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2022.2161978","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Population health is profoundly affected by the liveability of the urban environments where people live. In Australia today most people live in suburbs which fall well short of the form and function required for liveability, which is adversely affecting population health and health equity. We produced the Healthy Urban Neighbourhood Transition Tool (HUNTT) to analyze the existing liveability strengths and weaknesses of neighbourhoods with the objective of assessing their potential for, and pathways required, for a liveability transition. This paper presents a summary of the findings of the application of the HUNTT in 22 suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, looking at the liveability determinant of walkability. The study showed that there were walkability strengths and weaknesses in all surveyed suburbs, and weaknesses tended to proliferate more in middle and all outer suburbs and those with lower median incomes. It also showed that a walkability transition is possible in all the suburbs surveyed. However, it would require coordination between multiple stakeholders, government regulatory changes and intervention, and significant public funding.","PeriodicalId":72596,"journal":{"name":"Cities & health","volume":"13 1","pages":"433 - 462"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78155760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}