Environment

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
Daniel Rodriguez
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...

Roundtrip Carsharing in New York City: An Evaluation of a Pilot Program and System Impacts

Martin, Elliot, PhD
Stocker, Adam
Nichols, Aqshems
Susan Shaheen
2021

The study found that roundtrip carsharing in NYC mostly serves as a substitute for car rental, other personal vehicle modes, and personal vehicle ownership. The analysis showed that the broader pilot program had a modest impact on user behavior through carsharing (i.e., reduced vehicle ownership, reduced VMT, and mode shift). It also found that the pilot program likely expanded the membership base of carsharing to demographic cohorts that are traditionally underrepresented in carsharing populations (i.e., increased participation by lower education levels, lower household incomes, minority...

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
Daniel Rodriguez
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
Daniel Rodriguez
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
Daniel Rodriguez
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
Daniel Rodriguez
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...

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
Daniel Rodriguez
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.

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

Daniel Rodriguez
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
Daniel Rodriguez
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-...

Associations of Urban Environment Features with Hypertension and Blood Pressure Across 230 Latin American Cities

Avila-Palencia, I
Daniel Rodriguez
Miranda, J
Moore, K
Gouveia, N
Moran, M
Caiaffa, W
Roux, AV Diez
2022
Features of the urban physical environment may be linked to the development of high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for global burden of disease. We examined associations of urban physical environment features with hypertension and blood pressure measures in adults across 230 Latin American cities. In this cross-sectional study we used health, social, and built environment data from the SALud URBana en América Latina (SALURBAL) project. The individual-level outcomes were hypertension and levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The exposures were city and subcity built...