Hasil untuk "Metropolitan areas"

Jason K Lim, Jenlu Pagnotta, Richard Lee et al.

<h4>Background</h4>Stroke remains the fifth leading cause of mortality in the United States, with significant geographical and racial disparities in outcomes. Understanding trends in location of death for ischemic stroke patients is crucial for improving end-of-life care and addressing healthcare inequities.<h4>Methods & findings</h4>This retrospective study used Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) data to examine ischemic stroke mortality, stratified by urbanization level and race. Age-adjusted mortality rates were calculated using the 2000 US standard population. Age-adjusted ischemic stroke mortality rates increased across all urbanization levels since 2009, with the most pronounced rises in non-metropolitan areas. An increasing proportion of deaths occurred at home, shifting from inpatient medical facilities. Significant disparities were observed in access to specialized end-of-life stroke care, particularly for racial minorities and rural residents. Black/African American individuals and those in rural settings were more likely to die in less specialized environments due to healthcare access barriers.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The findings highlight a critical shift in the patterns of mortality and end-of-life care preferences among ischemic stroke patients over the past two decades. These findings highlight significant shifts in the patterns of mortality and location of death among ischemic stroke patients over the past two decades, with notable differences across urbanization levels and racial groups. The increasing proportion of home deaths and persistent disparities in location of death suggest a need for further research to understand the underlying factors driving these trends and their implications for end-of-life care quality and access.

Marc Prieto, G. Baltas, Valentina Stan

João Pedro Pereira Caetano de Lima, Raul Borges Guimarães

This article presents a methodological guide for analyzing COVID-19 at the intra-urban scale in non-metropolitan areas of south-central Brazil. To this end, it briefly discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and pertinent questions for making COVID-19 maps in different urban realities. It then presents different mapping techniques and how they can be implemented, especially in medium-sized cities. Point implementation, including proportional symbols and distribution in points; II. Zonal implementation with choropleth maps with some examples of epidemiological rates and bivariate choropleth maps; III. Surface implementation with maps using the Kernel Estimator; IV - spatial statistics maps and, finally, combination and synthesis maps, seeking to aggregate various pieces of information into a synthetic cartographic product. It is important to make it clear that the techniques and modes of deployment are subject to an assessment of the potential and weaknesses of the techniques given the type of data available. We therefore hope that this article will be useful for beginners in the fields of cartography and geography and for those who wish to improve their knowledge.

Gianluigi Salvucci, Luca Salvati, Maria Felice Arezzo

‘Marginal’ urban settlements can be assumed as specific locations within a metropolitan area that are unable to attract (incoming) commuter flows. The official statistical system of Italy (headed by the National Statistical Institute, Istat) introduced a summary index of ‘urban marginality’ following the original definition proposed by a national, ad hoc Parliamentary Committee and assessing together social vulnerability and material deprivation at a sufficiently detailed spatial scale. More specifically, the index—intended as a composite indicator of territorial marginality with a normative meaning—was calculated as a specific elaboration of the commuting matrix derived from decadal population censuses considering a municipal-level resolution. In this perspective, the ability of a given municipality to attract bigger (or smaller) inflows than outflows, indicates a specific demand for services allowing the identification of (respectively) central places and peripheral locations. Starting from the index described above, our study generalizes this approach to a wider background context, investigating the roles of spatial scale and geographical coverage. By providing a novel (functional) approach to centrality and periphery, we analyzed commuting patterns at a submunicipal level, indirectly focusing on patterns and processes of local development. A spatial clustering of a standardized polarization index quantifying home-to-work daily travels delineated submunicipal (homogeneous) areas taken as sinks (centers) or sources (peripheries) of commuter flows. The empirical results also demonstrate that spatial neighborhoods (i.e., contiguity order) did not affect the functional classification of a given territory as derived from spatial clustering. Our approach provides a dynamic and innovative interpretation of metropolitan hierarchy using simplified data derived from population censuses.

M. Ranagalage, R. Estoque, Y. Murayama

One of the major impacts associated with unplanned rapid urban growth is the decrease of urban vegetation, which is often replaced with impervious surfaces such as buildings, parking lots, roads, and pavements. Consequently, as the percentage of impervious surfaces continues to increase at the expense of vegetation cover, surface urban heat island (SUHI) forms and becomes more intense. The Colombo Metropolitan Area (CMA), Sri Lanka, is one of the rapidly urbanizing metropolitan regions in South Asia. In this study, we examined the spatiotemporal variations of land surface temperature (LST) in the CMA in the context of the SUHI phenomenon using Landsat data. More specifically, we examined the relationship of LST with the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) at three time points (1997, 2007 and 2017). In addition, we also identified environmentally critical areas based on LST and NDVI. We found significant correlations of LST with NDVI (negative) and NDBI (positive) (p < 0.001) across all three time points. Most of the environmentally critical areas are located in the central business district (CBD), near the harbor, across the coastal belt, and along the main transportation network. We recommend that those identified environmentally critical areas be considered in the future urban planning and landscape development of the city. Green spaces can help improve the environmental sustainability of the CMA.

G. Boisjoly, Robbin Deboosere, Rania Wasfi et al.

Abstract Introduction The ability to access healthcare services has long been considered a ‘right’ by Canadian citizens and is protected as such under the Canada Health Act. However, socio-spatial factors can limit access to healthcare services, especially for vulnerable populations. This paper aims to quantify the spatial accessibility to healthcare services by public transport across eight major Canadian metropolitan areas and compare accessibility to healthcare across vulnerable population groups. This is the first study, to the authors’ knowledge, to conduct an assessment of accessibility to hospitals by public transport across multiple metropolitan regions in Canada, thereby allowing to identify common trends, challenges, as well as knowledge gaps. Methods Spatial accessibility to general medical and surgical hospitals by public transport was measured through a two-step floating catchment area method, considering both service-to-population ratios and travel time to these health services. For each metropolitan area, the average accessibility of all census tracts and the average accessibility of the 20% most vulnerable census tracts were calculated. To quantify vertical equity, an indicator was subsequently developed using the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient between accessibility and vulnerability. Main findings Within metropolitan areas (except for Vancouver), residents of vulnerable census tracts generally have greater access to hospitals by public transport. Yet, larger metropolitan areas (Calgary, Toronto-Hamilton, and Vancouver) tend to underperform in terms of vertical equity and average accessibility. In line with this, vulnerable census tracts in these metropolitan areas are characterized by the lowest levels of accessibility compared to vulnerable census tracts in the other metropolitan areas. Conclusion This research highlights the challenges associated with the suburbanization of poverty in large Canadian metropolitan regions and the need to provide efficient public transport services to reach hospitals located in the periphery. It also shed lights on the necessity to conduct more empirical research to inform the implementation of guidelines in terms of accessibility to healthcare in Canada. This study is of relevance to researchers, planners and policy-makers wishing to improve accessibility to healthcare, especially for vulnerable populations.

Linda Powers Tomasso, Jose Guillermo Cedeño Laurent, Jarvis T Chen et al.

Antecedent factors which influence adult engagement with nature are underexplored given the human health benefits strongly associated with nature exposure. Formative pathways and impediments to nature contact merit understanding as they may contribute to later-life health disparities. We probed experiential pathways and attitudes toward nature engagement among adults purposefully sampled across U.S. regions, age, race/ethnicity, and urbanicity through semi-structured focus group discussions. The research aims were to explore entryways and barriers to experiencing nature and learn how natured and built environments compete in influencing human-nature relationships. Sessions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed following Braun and Clarke's phases of thematic analysis. Qualitative content analysis of discussions identified three principal themes: 1) formative influences promoting adult nature engagement (i.e., persons/organizations and places of origin), 2) detractors from nature engagement (i.e., perceptual, material, and physical barriers), and 3) role of current setting (i.e., natural and built environments) shaping nature-seeking relationships. We found experiential factors that included early life exposures outdoors, personal mentorship, and organizational affiliation to be highly influential in socializing individuals to nature and in soldering attachment to nature which manifests into adulthood. In contrast, changing demographics and childhood, inequity, social dynamics, metropolitan growth, urban renewal explained alienation from nature. These findings emphasize the importance of efforts to expand opportunities for nature contact, especially for youth living in economically challenged urban areas, which go beyond increasing greenspace to encompass mentoring partnerships for gaining skills and comfort outdoors and redesign of safe natured spaces within cities for hands-on learning and discovery.

Svetlana Pushkar

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) version 3 (v3) encourages the recertification of existing buildings by offering them four bonus points (“bonus approach”). This study investigates the influence of a bonus approach on recertification strategies. We analyzed 112 LEED-EB v3 certification-to-recertification office space projects in Washington, DC; Chicago; and New York City. The percentage of average score (PAS) was used to evaluate the difference in certification strategies between (1) gold certification and recertification (with bonus); (2) silver certification and gold recertification (with bonus); (3) gold certification and recertification (without bonus); and (4) silver and gold certification, and gold recertification (combined data from Cases 1–3). In Case 1, recertification showed worse results in the materials and resources (MR), and indoor environmental quality (EQ) categories. In Case 2, recertification showed better results in the water efficiency, and energy and atmosphere categories. In Case 3, certification and recertification showed the same results. We found that recertification of LEED-EB v3 projects with a four-point bonus system resulted in lower results in the MR and EQ categories. This highlights the need to include additional controls in the LEED-EB v3 and v4.1 bonus systems, possibly including a moderate penalty for diminishing achievements in certain categories.

Elizabeth Carlen, Jason Munshi‐South

Abstract Urbanization may restrict, facilitate, or have no effect on gene flow, depending on the organism and extent of urbanization. In human commensals, with high dispersal ability, urbanization can facilitate gene flow by providing continuous suitable habitat across a wide range. Additionally, suburban or rural areas with lower human population density may act as a barrier to gene flow for these human commensals. Spatial population genetic approaches provide a means to understand genetic connectivity across geographically expansive areas that encompass multiple metropolitan areas. Here, we examined the spatial genetic patterns of feral pigeons (Columba livia) living in cities in the eastern United States. We focused our sampling on the Northeastern megacity, which is a region covering six large cities (Boston, Providence, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC). We performed ddRAD‐Seqon 473 samples, recovered 35,200 SNPs, and then used multiple evolutionary clustering analyses to investigate population structuring. These analyses revealed that pigeons formed two genetic clusters—a northern cluster containing samples from Boston and Providence and a southern cluster containing all other samples. This substructuring is possibly due to reduced urbanization across coastal Connecticut that separates Boston and Providence from New York and mid‐Atlantic cities. We found that pairs of pigeons within 25 km are highly related (Mantel r = 0.217, p = .001) and that beyond 50 km, pigeons are no more related than they would be at random. Our analysis detected higher‐than‐expected gene flow under an isolation by distance model within each city. We conclude that the extreme urbanization characteristic of the Northeastern megacity is likely facilitating gene flow in feral pigeons.

Rafaela Squizzato, Thiago Nogueira, Leila D. Martins et al.

Abstract Most of the world’s population lives in rural areas or small to medium-sized cities (totalling 68% of the world population), all of which are impacted by distant air pollution sources. In Brazil, primary pollutant emissions have decreased in urban centres because of government actions, while secondary pollutants such as surface ozone (O3) increased. In addition, O3 and its precursors can be worsening air quality in areas already affected by biofuels production, especially ethanol. We provide almost 3 months of hourly data (June 7, 2019 to August 25, 2019) for concentrations of O3, CO2 and other priority pollutants from a mobile station positioned to distinguish among pollutant plumes (biomass burning, metropolitan area of São Paulo (MASP) and other cities). Although the concentrations of O3 and CO2 were highest in the plumes from biomass burning, the MASP accounted for up to 80% of the O3 concentration in communities over 200 km away.

Carla J. Berg, Nina C. Schleicher, Trent O. Johnson et al.

Vaping is increasingly prevalent and controversial. Vape shops and convenience stores are common but distinct sources of vaping products, and where they locate may reflect likely target markets. This study examined the density and neighborhood demographics of vape shops and convenience stores in six metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs): Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, San Diego, Seattle. We identified 459 vape shops using Yelp and Google application programming interfaces and 10,777 convenience stores using ReferenceUSA and Dun &amp; Bradstreet. Retailers were geocoded to census tracts (n = 4,442), and logistic regressions were conducted using as predictors percent non-White, percent youth (5–17 years or 5–20 years), and median household income from the American Community Survey, 2013–2017. Per 10,000 young adults, vape shop density ranged from 0.6 (Boston, San Diego) to 1.7 (Oklahoma City), and convenience store density ranged from 12.6 (San Diego) to 26.3 (Oklahoma City). Logistic regressions indicated that vape shops more likely resided in tracts with lower percentages of youth in Boston, but higher percentages of youth in Atlanta, as well as with lower incomes in Boston and Seattle. Convenience stores more likely resided in tracts with lower percentages of non-Whites in Atlanta and Boston; lower incomes in Atlanta, Boston, San Diego, and Seattle; and higher percentages of youth in Atlanta, Boston, and Minneapolis. These common retail sources of vaping products differentially locate in relation to neighborhood sociodemographics across MSAs. Findings suggest that, in some MSAs, vape shops and convenience stores may target youth and lower income populations.

Mohammad H. Rahmati, Vahid Moghani, Mohammad Vesal

This paper studies the short-term impacts of air pollutants on mortality rates in a range of diseases including cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive diseases, tumors and cancers. It uses daily data of suspended particulate matters (SPM), CO, NOx, and O3 in six metropolitan areas of Tehran, Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tabriz, Shiraz, and Esfahan during 2011-2015. In order to determine the impact of air pollution on mortality rate, both daily air pollution and its average over the past two weeks is used. In this research, no association was found between daily pollution and mortality rate. However, the results show that increasing CO in the past two weeks causes a significant increase in mortality rates

Ana Carolina Fernandes Pires, Érika Cristine Kneib, Rômulo José da Costa Ribeiro

Resumo O processo de urbanização ao qual estão submetidas as regiões metropolitanas brasileiras ocorre de forma insustentável. Intensa polarização e dependência entre seus municípios propicia deslocamentos pendulares, realizados geralmente por ônibus coletivos, que circulam com baixa rotatividade de passageiros em extensos vazios urbanos. Esta pesquisa apresenta os impactos que a metropolização provoca no sistema de transporte coletivo, com estudo de caso em municípios selecionados da Região Metropolitana de Goiânia (RMG). Indicadores de qualidade e eficiência são utilizados para a avaliação do sistema de transporte coletivo. Os resultados demonstram impactos econômicos no sistema de transporte coletivo e impactos sociais para os passageiros. A conclusão deste trabalho demonstra necessidade de descentralização das atividades socioeconômicas na RMG e políticas para potencialização do transporte coletivo.

Efthimios Bakogiannis, Charalampos Kyriakidis, Maria Siti et al.

Culture is frequently used as a means of promoting sustainable urban development. Indeed, in many areas across Europe, cultural and recreational routes or clusters have so far been utilized in order for urban regeneration and structural reconstruction to be pursued. Such routes have been developed in Greek cities as well, e.g., in the cities of Volos, Thessaloniki, and Athens. In the Greek capital, Athens, a couple of axes are actually recognized as cultural ones. Andreas Syngrou Avenue, initially designed as a six/eight-lane freeway located at the heart of the Athens metropolitan area, is one distinguished example. By focusing on this axis as a cultural route/cluster, the goal of this article is to elaborate on smart and sustainable mobility patterns for strengthening its cultural/recreational identity and increasing its attractiveness. To accomplish this goal, critical problems confining citizens&#8217; mobility and access to various cultural landmarks in this area are identified and are properly dealt with, stressing the importance of sustainable mobility in relevant cultural planning endeavors. Based on the study and an assessment of the current state of this route (land uses, traffic loads, design qualities, and environmental affordances), a sustainable mobility proposal is provided in order for a master plan that enhances and develops the cultural function and identity of this route.

Araujo-Alvarado L, Ortega-Montoya CY, Ávila-Galarza A

The accelerated growth of cities in developing countries poses a challenge for urban planning such as guaranteeing the safety of all inhabitants from natural and anthropogenic threats. The objective of this study is to determine the urban areas and social sectors of three medium sized Mexican cities that are exposed to high risk activities. The results indicate that for the metropolitan area of San Luis Potosi, 57.6% of high risk activities are within the urban sprawl, while 100% are in the cities of Zacatecas and Fresnillo. In all three case studies, most of the activities studied are in areas with low and medium rates of marginalization. In San Luis Potosi, 4.1% are in areas with high and very high population density but none of the case studies showed a conglomeration of these types of risks in a determined area of the cities. A database of companies with high risk activities, regulated at a federal level, public became public in Mexico in 2014. This information is of great value at a local level to define the strategies of land use planning that guarantee access to environmental justice as well as effective prevention strategies and responses to chemical emergencies.

Ana Maria Bonomi Barufi, Eduardo Amaral Haddad

The spatial mismatch hypothesis states that a lack of connection to job opportunities may affect an individual’s prospects in the labour market, especially for low-skilled workers. This phenomenon is especially observed in large urban areas, in which low-skilled minorities tend to live far away from jobs and face geographical barriers to finding and keeping jobs. This paper aims to investigate whether this negative relationship between spatial mismatch and labour market outcomes is valid in Brazil after controlling for individual characteristics. Our conclusions indicate that there is no clear relation between different measures of accessibility to jobs and the probability of being unemployed. However, for wages there is a clear correlation, which is stronger in larger metropolitan areas in the country. Given the exploratory nature of this work, our results still rely on strong identification hypotheses to avoid potential bias related to simultaneous location decisions of workers and firms within the city. Even if these conditions do not hold, the results are still meaningful as they provide a better understanding of the conditional distribution of wages and the unemployment rate in the biggest metropolitan areas of Brazil.

Jacob I. Stowell, S. Messner, Kelly Mcgeever et al.

T. Cuffney, R. Brightbill, J. May et al.

Luca D'Acierno, Marilisa Botte, Claudia Di Salvo et al.

A rail system may be considered a useful tool for reducing vehicular flows on a road system (i.e. cars and trucks), especially in high-density contexts such as urban and metropolitan areas where greenhouse gas emissions need to be abated. In particular, since travellers maximise their own utility, variations in mobility choices can be induced only by significantly improving the level-of-service of public transport. Our specific proposal is to identify the economic and environmental effects of implementing an innovative signalling system (which would reduce passenger waiting times) by performing a cost-benefit analysis based on a feasibility threshold approach. Hence, it is necessary to calculate long-term benefits and compare them with intervention costs. In this context, a key factor to be considered is travel demand estimation in current and future conditions. This approach was tested on a regional rail line in southern Italy to show the feasibility and utility of the proposed methodology.

P. Beaudry, Mark Doms, Ethan G. Lewis