Neighborhood Sociodemographics and Change in Built Infrastructure

Citation

Hirsch, Jana A.; Green, Geoffrey F.; Peterson, Marc; Rodriguez, Daniel A.; & Gordon-Larsen, Penny (2017). Neighborhood Sociodemographics and Change in Built Infrastructure. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 10(2), 181-197. PMCID: PMC5353850

Abstract

While increasing evidence suggests an association between physical infrastructure in neighbourhoods and health outcomes, relatively little research examines how neighbourhoods change physically over time and how these physical improvements are spatially distributed across populations. This paper describes the change over 25 years (1985-2010) in bicycle lanes, off-road trails, bus transit service, and parks, and spatial clusters of changes in these domains relative to neighbourhood sociodemographics in four U.S. cities that are diverse in terms of geography, size and population. Across all four cities, we identified increases in bicycle lanes, off-road trails, and bus transit service, with spatial clustering in these changes that related to neighbourhood sociodemographics. Overall, we found evidence of positive changes in physical infrastructure commonly identified as supportive of physical activity. However, the patterning of infrastructure change by sociodemographic change encourages attention to the equity in infrastructure improvements across neighbourhoods.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2016.1212914

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2017

Journal Title

Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability

Author(s)

Hirsch, Jana A.
Green, Geoffrey F.
Peterson, Marc
Rodriguez, Daniel A.
Gordon-Larsen, Penny

PMCID

PMC5353850

ORCiD

Gordon-Larsen - 0000-0001-5322-4188
Hirsch - 0000-0003-3355-5558
Peterson, M. - 0000-0002-3206-563X