Crowdsourcing Neighbourhood Delineations in Wellington, New Zealand

<p>Neighbourhoods are important in our everyday lives, but physical definitions of neighbourhoods are often ambiguous. Official representations of neighbourhood boundaries used to present geographic outcomes poorly reflect individuals’ perceptions of their neighbourhoods. Existing methods of collecting neighbourhood delineations commonly consist of small sample sizes or stratified surveys on residents of individual neighbourhoods. By reducing effort and potentially increasing response rates, a crowdsourcing approach may be effective in collecting neighbourhood delineations across an entire city. This thesis presents results from a web-based application used to crowdsource neighbourhood delineations from residents of Wellington City, Aotearoa-New Zealand. Over eight hundred responses were analysed to investigate how personal characteristics impact neighbourhood boundaries, determine areas of shared neighbourhood geographies based on overlapping demarcations, and examine how participants neighbourhood delineations compare to official representations of neighbourhoods. Case studies of a range of geographic features are provided to explore how they impact neighbourhood delineations. This thesis found transport choices significantly impact perceived neighbourhood area; neighbourhood areas differ markedly in terms of consensus about their boundaries; and there are both similarities and discrepancies between official and perceived neighbourhood boundaries. A variety of geographic features were found to function as different perceptual elements in informing neighbourhood delineations. Crowdsourcing was a practical method to collect neighbourhood perceptions with possible implications for official neighbourhood boundaries. Finally, recommendations for future research aiming to crowdsource neighbourhood delineations were made with a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods being of high value.</p>

Crowdsourcing Neighbourhood Delineations in Wellington, New Zealand

<p>Neighbourhoods are important in our everyday lives, but physical definitions of neighbourhoods are often ambiguous. Official representations of neighbourhood boundaries used to present geographic outcomes poorly reflect individuals’ perceptions of their neighbourhoods. Existing methods of collecting neighbourhood delineations commonly consist of small sample sizes or stratified surveys on residents of individual neighbourhoods. By reducing effort and potentially increasing response rates, a crowdsourcing approach may be effective in collecting neighbourhood delineations across an entire city. This thesis presents results from a web-based application used to crowdsource neighbourhood delineations from residents of Wellington City, Aotearoa-New Zealand. Over eight hundred responses were analysed to investigate how personal characteristics impact neighbourhood boundaries, determine areas of shared neighbourhood geographies based on overlapping demarcations, and examine how participants neighbourhood delineations compare to official representations of neighbourhoods. Case studies of a range of geographic features are provided to explore how they impact neighbourhood delineations. This thesis found transport choices significantly impact perceived neighbourhood area; neighbourhood areas differ markedly in terms of consensus about their boundaries; and there are both similarities and discrepancies between official and perceived neighbourhood boundaries. A variety of geographic features were found to function as different perceptual elements in informing neighbourhood delineations. Crowdsourcing was a practical method to collect neighbourhood perceptions with possible implications for official neighbourhood boundaries. Finally, recommendations for future research aiming to crowdsource neighbourhood delineations were made with a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods being of high value.</p>

Identifying neighbourhood and individual resilience profiles for cardiovascular health: a cross-sectional study of blacks living in the Atlanta metropolitan area

ObjectiveTo simultaneously examine multiple individual-level neighbourhood perceptions and psychosocial characteristics and their relationships with cardiovascular health (CVH) among blacks.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingSubjects were recruited between 2016 and 2018 via convenience sampling.Participants385 Black men and women, age 30–70 living in the Atlanta metropolitan area (Georgia, USA).Primary outcome measureIndividual’s CVH was summarised as a composite score using American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) metrics.MethodsWe implemented unsupervised learning (k-means) and supervised learning (Bayesian Dirichlet process clustering) to identify clusters based on 11 self-reported neighbourhood perception and psychosocial characteristics. We also performed principal component analysis to summarise neighbourhood perceptions and psychosocial variables and assess their associations with LS7 scores.ResultsK-means and Bayesian clustering resulted in 4 and 5 clusters, respectively. Based on the posterior distributions, higher LS7 scores were associated with better neighbourhood perceptions and psychosocial characteristics, including neighbourhood safety, social cohesion, activities with neighbours, environmental mastery, purpose in life, resilient coping and no depression. Taken together, the first principal components of neighbourhood perceptions and psychosocial characteristics were associated with an increase of 0.07 (95% CI −0.17 to 0.31) and 0.31 (95% CI 0.06 to 0.55) in LS7 score, respectively, after accounting for age, sex, household income and education level.ConclusionBoth neighbourhood perception and psychosocial domains were related to CVH, but individual psychosocial characteristics appeared to contribute to CVH most. Approaches that acknowledge the importance of factors in both domains may prove most beneficial for enhancing resilience and promoting CVH among black communities.

Neighbourhood perceptions and residential mobility

This paper considers the ways in which neighbourhood perceptions can differentially affect residential mobility, particularly in low-income areas. Given the long history of understanding the relationship between neighbourhood context and residential mobility, this study includes measures of satisfaction, safety, decay and neighbourly agency to understand mobility. Using data from the Making Connections Initiative, this paper uses a unique panel survey across neighbourhoods in 10 US cities undergoing spatial and/or demographic transitions to analyse the extent to which neighbourhood perceptions are associated with residential mobility. By employing a multilevel structural equation model, the study accounts for neighbourhood perceptions, neighbourhood demographics and mobility risk over time. The results show that perceptions of neighbourhood context matter more than the actual neighbourhood setting. These findings highlight the continued importance of subjective rather than objective measures of neighbourhood conditions in understanding residential mobility.

Evaluating the effect of change in the built environment on mental health and subjective well-being: a natural experiment

BackgroundNeighbourhood characteristics may affect mental health and well-being, but longitudinal evidence is limited. We examined the effect of relocating to East Village (the former London 2012 Olympic Athletes’ Village), repurposed to encourage healthy active living, on mental health and well-being.Methods1278 adults seeking different housing tenures in East village were recruited and examined during 2013–2015. 877 (69%) were followed-up after 2 years; 50% had moved to East Village. Analysis examined change in objective measures of the built environment, neighbourhood perceptions (scored from low to high; quality −12 to 12, safety −10 to 10 units), self-reported mental health (depression and anxiety) and well-being (life satisfaction, life being worthwhile and happiness) among East Village participants compared with controls who did not move to East Village. Follow-up measures were regressed on baseline for each outcome with group status as a binary variable, adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, housing tenure and household clustering (random effect).ResultsParticipants who moved to East Village lived closer to their nearest park (528 m, 95% CI 482 to 575 m), in more walkable areas, and had better access to public transport, compared with controls. Living in East Village was associated with marked improvements in neighbourhood perceptions (quality 5.0, 95% CI 4.5 to 5.4 units; safety 3.4, 95% CI 2.9 to 3.9 units), but there was no overall effect on mental health and well-being outcomes.ConclusionDespite large improvements in the built environment, there was no evidence that moving to East Village improved mental health and well-being. Changes in the built environment alone are insufficient to improve mental health and well-being.

Children’s Transport Built Environments: A Mixed Methods Study of Associations between Perceived and Objective Measures and Relationships with Parent Licence for Independent Mobility in Auckland, New Zealand

Children’s independent mobility is declining internationally. Parents are the gatekeepers of children’s independent mobility. This mixed methods study investigates whether parent perceptions of the neighbourhood environment align with objective measures of the neighbourhood built environment, and how perceived and objective measures relate to parental licence for children’s independent mobility. Parents participating in the Neighbourhood for Active Kids study (n = 940) answered an open-ended question about what would make their neighbourhoods better for their child’s independent mobility, and reported household and child demographics. Objective measures of the neighbourhood built environment were generated using geographic information systems. Content analysis was used to classify and group parent-reported changes required to improve their neigbourhood. Parent-reported needs were then compared with objective neighbourhood built environment measures. Linear mixed modelling examined associations between parental licence for independent mobility and (1) parent neighbourhood perceptions; and (2) objectively assessed neighbourhood built environment features. Parents identified the need for safer traffic environments. No significant differences in parent reported needs were found by objectively assessed characteristics. Differences in odds of reporting needs were observed for a range of socio-demographic characteristics. Parental licence for independent mobility was only associated with a need for safer places to cycle (positive) and objectively assessed cycling infrastructure (negative) in adjusted models. Overall, the study findings indicate the importance of safer traffic environments for children’s independent mobility.