Environment

Park Use, Perceived Park Proximity, and Neighborhood Characteristics: Evidence from 11 Cities in Latin America

Moran, M
Rodriguez, D
Cotinez-O'Ryan, A
Miranda, J
2020
This study examines how park use may be associated with perceived park proximity, neighborhood-built environment and perceived social disorder in Latin American cities. The study uses self-reported data from the 2016 CAF survey, including 7,970 urban residents from 11 cities across Latin America. Results show positive graded associations between perceived park proximity and use, holding all others constant. Additional factors that were found to be associated with park use are neighborhood formality and related built-environment characteristics, including paved streets and sidewalks. Park use...

Disentangling Associations Between Vegetation Greenness and Dengue in a Latin American City: Findings and Challenges

Dronova, I
Ribeiro, S
Bruhn, F
Sales, D
Schultes, O
Rodriguez, D
Cunha, M
Lima, L
Caiffa, W
Morais, MHF
Ju, Y
2021

Being a Re-emerging Infectious Disease, dengue causes 390 million cases globally and is prevalent in many urban areas in South America. Understanding the fine-scale relationships between dengue incidence and environmental and socioeconomic factors can guide improved dieses prevention strategies. This ecological study examine the association between dengue incidence and satellite-based vegetation greenness in 3826 census tracts nest in 474 neighborhoods in Belo Horizonte, Brazil during the 2010 dengue epidemic.

Greenness and Education Inequalities in Life Expectancy in Latin American Cities: An Ecological Study

Moran, M
Bilal, U
Dronova, I
Ju, Y
Gouveia, N
Caiaffa, W
Friche, A
Moore, K
Miranda, J
Rodriguez, D
2021
Greenness has been found to be associated with reduced mortality and morbidity and improved wellbeing, with recent evidence further linking it to narrower health inequalities. However, results come mostly from high-income countries and thus might not be generalisable to other settings. In this preliminary analysis, we address this gap by examining whether education inequalities in life expectancy in Latin American cities vary by area-level greenness.We used data from the Salud Urbana en America Latina (SALURBAL) study. The analysis sample included 28 large cities in nine Latin American...

Health and Environmental Co-benefits of City Urban Form in Latin America: An Ecological Study

Avila-Palencia
Sánchez, BN
Rodriguez, DA
Ferrer, C
Miranda, J
Gouveia, N
Bilal, U
Useche, A
Wilches-Mogollon, M
Moore, K
Sarmiento, O
Roux, AV Diez
2021
Urban design features are often studied in relation to health and behavioural outcomes. They can also have major implications for environmental outcomes. However, the impact of these features on both health and environmental outcomes (co-benefits) is rarely examined. We investigated how urban landscape and street design profiles are related to jointly occurring health and environmental outcomes in Latin America cities. We used data from the Salud Urbana en América Latina (SALURBAL) project, which has compiled and harmonised data on built environment, environmental...

The Impact of Population Mobility on COVID-19 Incidence and Socioeconomic Disparities at the Sub-city Level in 314 Latin American Cities

Kephart, JL
Delclòs-Alió, X
Bilal, U
Sarmiento, O
Barrientos-Gutierrez, T
Rodriguez, D
Ramirez-Zea, M
Quistberg, A
Roux, AV Diez
2021

Little is known about the impact of changes in mobility at the sub-city level on subsequent COVID-19 incidence or the contribution of mobility to socioeconomic disparities in COVID-19 incidence. Methods We compiled aggregated mobile phone location data, COVID-19 confirmed cases, and features of the urban and social environments to analyze linkages between population mobility, COVID-19 incidence, and educational attainment at the sub-city level among cities with >100,000 inhabitants in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico from March to August 2020. We used mixed effects...

Ambient Fine Particulate Matter in Latin American Cities: Levels, Population Exposure, and Associated Urban Factors

Gouveia, N
Kephart, J
Dronova, I
McClure, L
Granados, J
Rodriguez, D
Bentancourt, R
O'Ryan, A
Texalac-Sangrador, J
Martinez-Folgar, K
Roux, AV Diez
2021
Exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) is a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality. Yet few studies have examined patterns of population exposure and...

The Equigenic Effect of Greenness on the Association Between Education with Life Expectancy and Mortality in 28 Large Latin American Cities

Moran, M
Bilal, U
Dronova, I
Ju, Y
Gouveia, N
Caiaffa, W
Friche, A
Moore,K
Miranda, J
Rodriguez, D
2021
Recent studies highlight the equigenic potential of greenspaces by showing narrower socioeconomic health inequalities in greener areas. However, results to date have been inconsistent and derived from high-income countries. We examined whether urban greenness modifies the associations between area-level education, as a proxy for socioeconomic status, and life expectancy and cause-specific mortality in Latin American cities. We included 28 large cities, >137 million inhabitants, in nine Latin American countries, comprising 671 sub-city units, for 2012–2016. Socioeconomic status was assessed...

Extreme Temperatures and Mortality in 326 Latin American Cities

Kephart, JL
Sánchez, BN
Moore, K
Schinasi, LH
Bakhtsiyarava, M
Ju, Y
Gouveia, N
Caiaffa, WT
Dronova, I
Arunachalam, S
Roux, AV Diez
Rodriguez, D
2021

Climate change and urbanization are rapidly increasing human exposure to extreme ambient temperatures, yet few studies have examined the impact of temperature on mortality across Latin America, where 80% of residents live in urban areas. Methods We used distributed lag nonlinear conditional Poisson models to estimate city-specific associations between daily temperatures above (“heat”) and below (“cold”) each city-specific minimum mortality temperature and all-cause mortality, overall and stratified by age and cause of death. We estimated the percentage of total deaths attributable to heat...

Accessibility, Mobility, and Transportation Innovations in Latin America and the Caribbean: Successes and Areas for Improvement

Rodriguez, Daniel
2022

High traffic congestion and travel times in the cities of Latin America and the Caribbean have significant impacts on air quality, population health, and well-being. To address these challenges, policy and infrastructure innovations have been proposed and implemented over recent decades. This chapter reviews the current state of mobility and accessibility in the region, with special attention to innovative practices and their impacts on accessibility, especially for low-income populations. Specifically, bus rapid transit and aerial tram infrastructure as well as policy innovations such as...

Is Self-reported Park Proximity Associated with Perceived Social Disorder? Findings from Eleven Cities in Latin America

Moran, M
Rodríguez, D
Cortinez-O'Ryan, A
Miranda, JJ
2022
Parks and greenspaces can enhance personal health in various ways, including among others, through psychological restoration and improved well-being. However, under certain circumstances, parks may also have adverse effects by providing isolated and hidden spaces for non-normative and crime-related activities. This study uses a survey conducted by the Development Bank of Latin America in a cross-...