The causal feedback implied by urban neighborhood conditions that shape human health experiences, that in turn shape neighborhood conditions through a complex causal web, raises a challenge for traditional epidemiological causal analyses. This article introduces the loop analysis method, and builds off of a core loop model linking neighborhood property vacancy rate, resident depressive symptoms...

The regeneration of brownfield land to greenspace is a governmental policy objective of many European countries. Healthy vegetation establishment and growth is an essential component of successful greenspace establishment, and research has shown that a planting medium of an appropriate standard for supporting vegetation can be created through amendment of soil-forming materials with organic was...

OBJECTIVE This study examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships of built environment characteristics with adiposity and glycaemic measures. METHOD Longitudinal study sample consisted of 4,010 Framingham Heart Study Offspring (baseline: 1998-2001; follow-up: 2005-2008) and Generation Three (baseline: 2002-2005; follow-up: 2008-2011) participants (54.8% women, baseline mean age...

This study employs interviews, document review, and a national survey of local government officials to investigate the factors that influence the success of efforts to convert underutilized contaminated properties into greenspace. We find that the presence of contamination continues to be a concern despite federal and state efforts to ease liability fears but also that site and project features...

ABSTRACT Background: Natural ecosystems provide necessary services for human beings, including ecosystem service values (ESVs) and socioeconomic (SSVs). The value orientations of ESVs SSVs are mainly related to people’s interaction with nature. This study reclassified greenspace from a perspective exposed non-exposed based on the level by people greenspace. We applied an expert questionnaire su...

Knowing when and where people use greenspace is key to our understanding of urban ecology. The number of cellular phones active in a geographic area can serve as a proxy for human density in that area. We are using anonymous records of cellular network activity to study the spatiotemporal patterns of human density in an urban area. This paper presents the vision and some early results of this e...

The role of vegetation in mitigating the effects of PM(10) pollution has been highlighted as one potential benefit of urban greenspace. An integrated modelling approach is presented which utilises air dispersion (ADMS-Urban) and particulate interception (UFORE) to predict the PM(10) concentrations both before and after greenspace establishment, using a 10 x 10 km area of East London Green Grid ...

Greenspace has long been recognised as a crucial urban amenity for environmental, social and economic reasons. Garvin (2001, 11) maintains that ‘it is impossible to understand fully the functioning of cities and suburbs or plan adequately for their future’ without a ‘deep appreciation of parks and the way they affect every aspect of our lives’. Internationally, a wide range of research projects...

other natural resources for aesthetic, recreational, and economic significance, so over the past several decades they have become increasingly concerned about the loss of wildlife habitat and greenspace. Urban and suburban development is one of the leading causes of this loss: A recent study indicated that every day in Kentucky more than 100 acres of rural land is being converted to urban devel...