The global wildland-urban interface

The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is where buildings and wildland vegetation meet or intermingle1,2. It is where human-environmental conflicts and risks can be concentrated, including the loss of houses and lives to wildfire, habitat loss and fragmentation and the spread of zoonotic diseases3. However, a global analysis of the WUI has been lacking. Here, we present a global map of the 2020 WUI at 10 m resolution using a globally consistent and validated approach based on remote sensing-derived datasets of building area4 and wildland vegetation5. We show that the WUI is a global phenomenon, identify many previously undocumented WUI hotspots and highlight the wide range of population density, land cover types and biomass levels in different parts of the global WUI. The WUI covers only 4.7% of the land surface but is home to nearly half its population (3.5 billion). The WUI is especially widespread in Europe (15% of the land area) and the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome (18%). Of all people living near 2003-2020 wildfires (0.4 billion), two thirds have their home in the WUI, most of them in Africa (150 million). Given that wildfire activity is predicted to increase because of climate change in many regions6, there is a need to understand housing growth and vegetation patterns as drivers of WUI change.

Spatiotemporal pattern and coordination relationship between urban residential land price and land use intensity in 31 provinces and cities in China

The trend towards efficient and intensive use of land resources is an inevitable outcome of current social development. The rational matching of urban land prices and land use intensity has become an important factor under accelerating urbanization, and promotes the healthy development of the social economy. Using data on residential land price and on land use intensity for 31 provinces and cities in China, we employ the E-G cointegration test and quadrant map classification to determine the coordination relationship between land price and land use intensity. We then employ HR coordination to calculate the coordination degree of land price and land use intensity, and classify the coordination type accordingly. Our results are as follows. (1) The spatio-temporal distribution of urban land price shows high variability with multiple maxima, and follows a decreasing trend from the southeast coastal area to the northwest inland area and the northeast. (2) The overall land use intensity is at or above the middle level, and shows large spatial differences between provinces, but the agglomeration between provinces is increasing. (3) From the perspective of the relationship between urban land price and land use intensity at the inter-provincial scale, we find that the land price and land use intensity are well coordinated, and the number of provinces has been dynamically changing during different development periods. There is an east-west difference in the spatial distribution of land price and land use intensity coordination level. Different provinces and cities with the same coordination stage show differences in their land price and land use intensity level.

Housing conditions and health in Indigenous Australian communities: current status and recent trends

Ensuring sufficient and adequately maintained housing in Indigenous Australian communities remains an ongoing policy challenge for government, with major implications for the health of Indigenous Australians. This study sought to characterise the current status of housing conditions experienced by Indigenous Australians, with special reference to the Northern Territory. The assessment examined a range of indicators relating to crowding, dwelling condition, 'health hardware', and provision of maintenance and repairs. While acknowledging data deficiencies and inconsistencies, the analysis produced mixed results. There was evidence of a reduction in crowding but little observable improvement in the provision of maintenance and repairs. Some housing-related health outcomes have shown improvement, though these have tended to coincide with mass treatment campaigns. Achieving the goal of healthy homes - and ultimately closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage - requires further investment in new houses that are appropriately designed and constructed, alongside an increased emphasis on cyclical maintenance.

Online housing search: A gravity model approach

In this paper we apply a gravity framework to user-generated data of a large online housing market platform. We show that gravity describes the patterns of inflow and outflow of hits (mouse clicks, etc.) from one municipality to another, where the municipality of the user defines the origin and the municipality of the property that is viewed defines the destination. By distinguishing serious searchers from recreational searchers we demonstrate that the gravity framework describes geographic search patterns of both types of users. The results indicate that recreational search is centered more around the user’s location than serious search. However, this finding is driven entirely by differences in border effects as there is no difference in the distance effect. By demonstrating that geographic search patterns of both serious and recreational searchers are explained by their physical locations, we present clear evidence that physical location is an important determinant of economic behavior in the virtual realm too.

Characteristics and influencing factors of Airbnb spatial distribution in China's rapid urbanization process: A case study of Nanjing

As in other countries, short-term rentals for tourism services are growing rapidly in China's tourist cities, which are mainly operated through Airbnb. This paper explores whether the spatial distribution of Airbnb in China's rapid urbanization process exhibits characteristics, paths, and drivers that are different from those of cities in other countries. Airbnb is a model for the global sharing economy, but it is increasingly influenced by other functions and facilities in cities as it grows. In this paper, the zero-expansion negative binomial regression was used to study the factors affecting the spatial distribution of Airbnb in Nanjing, China. The results showed that the spatial distribution of Airbnb listings was correlated with the distribution of cultural attractions, universities, public transport accessibility, shopping centers, and business apartments. By analyzing the driving forces of Airbnb's development in Nanjing, this paper found that a large number of business apartments developed in cities were essential providers of Airbnb listings, and affected its spatial distribution. The gap between short-term and long-term rentals was also correlated with the distribution of Airbnb. In addition, similar to the previous literature findings, the increase in the proportion of professional hosts changes the original intention of Airbnb for sharing and communication. Our empirical results applies to the current situation of Airbnb in Chinese cities, which is conducive to the government's more intelligent management and effective promotion of the Airbnb market. Our findings also provide positive references for urban renewal policies and public participation methods in China.

Predicting the rental value of houses in household surveys in Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi: Evaluations of hedonic pricing and machine learning approaches

Housing value is a major component of the aggregate expenditure used in the analyses of welfare status of households in the development economics literature. Therefore, an accurate estimation of housing services is important to obtain the value of housing in household surveys. Data show that a significant proportion of households in a typical Living Standard Measurement Survey (LSMS), adopted by the Word Bank and others, are self-owned. The standard approach to predict the housing value for such surveys is based on the rental cost of the house. A hedonic pricing applying an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method is normally used to predict rental values. The literature shows that Machine Learning (ML) methods, shown to uncover generalizable patterns based on a given data, have better predictive power over OLS applied in other valuation exercises. We examined whether or not a class of ML methods (e.g. Ridge, LASSO, Tree, Bagging, Random Forest, and Boosting) provided superior prediction of rental value of housing over OLS methods accounting for spatial autocorrelations using household level survey data from Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi, across multiple years. Our results showed that the Machine Learning methods (Boosting, Bagging, Forest, Ridge and LASSO) are the best models in predicting house values using out-of-sample data set for all the countries and all the years. On the other hand, Tree regression underperformed relative to the various OLS models, over the same data sets. With the availability of abundant data and better computing power, ML methods provide viable alternative to predicting housing values in household surveys.

Association of Long-Term Trajectories of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status With Weight Change in Older Adults

IMPORTANCE

Studying long-term changes in neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) may help to better understand the associations between neighborhood exposure and weight outcomes and provide evidence supporting neighborhood interventions. Little previous research has been done to examine associations between neighborhood SES and weight loss, a risk factor associated with poor health outcomes in the older population.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether improvements in neighborhood SES are associated with reduced likelihoods of excessive weight gain and excessive weight loss and whether declines are associated with increased likelihoods of these weight outcomes.

DESIGN, STUDY, AND PARTICIPANTS

This cohort study was conducted using data from the National Institutes of Health-AARP (formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons) Diet and Health study (1995-2006). The analysis included a cohort of 126 179 adults (aged 50-71 years) whose neighborhoods at baseline (1995-1996) were the same as at follow-up (2004-2006). All analyses were performed from December 2018 through December 2020.

EXPOSURES

Living in a neighborhood that experienced 1 of 8 neighborhood SES trajectories defined based on a national neighborhood SES index created using data from the US Census and American Community Survey. The 8 trajectory groups, in which high, or H, indicated rankings at or above the sample median of a specific year and low, or L, indicated rankings below the median, were HHH (ie, high in 1990 to high in 2000 to high in 2010), or stable high; HLL, or early decline; HHL, or late decline; HLH, or transient decline; LLL, or stable low; LHH, or early improvement; LLH, or late improvement; and LHL, or transient improvement.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Excessive weight gain and loss were defined as gaining or losing 10% or more of baseline weight.

RESULTS

Among 126 179 adults, 76 225 (60.4%) were men and the mean (SD) age was 62.1 (5.3) years. Improvements in neighborhood SES were associated with lower likelihoods of excessive weight gain and weight loss over follow-up, while declines in neighborhood SES were associated with higher likelihoods of excessive weight gain and weight loss. Compared with the stable low group, the risk was significantly reduced for excessive weight gain in the early improvement group (odds ratio [OR], 0.87; 95% CI, 0.79-0.95) and for excessive weight loss in the late improvement group (OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.80-1.00). Compared with the stable high group, the risk of excessive weight gain was significantly increased for the early decline group (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.08-1.31) and late decline group (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.04-1.24) and for excessive weight loss in the early decline group (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.02-1.28). The increases in likelihood were greater when the improvement or decline in neighborhood SES occurred early in the study period (ie, 1990-2000) and was substantiated throughout the follow-up (ie, the early decline and early improvement groups). Overall, we found a linear association between changes in neighborhood SES and weight outcomes, in which every 5 percentile decline in neighborhood SES was associated with a 1.2% to 2.4% increase in the risk of excessive weight gain or loss (excessive weight gain: OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00-1.02 for women; OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03 for men; excessive weight loss: OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03 for women; OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03 for men; P for- trend < .0001).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

These findings suggest that changing neighborhood environment was associated with changes in weight status in older adults.

Impact of polysubstance use on high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I over time in homeless and unstably housed women

INTRODUCTION

The use of controlled substances like cocaine increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and myocardial infarction (MI). However, outside of alcohol and tobacco, substance use is not included in CVD risk assessment tools. We identified the effects of using multiple substances (nicotine/cotinine, cannabis, alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and other opioids) on cardiac injury measured by high-sensitivity troponin (hsTnI) in homeless and unstably housed women.

METHODS

We recruited 245 homeless and unstably housed women from shelters, free meal programs and street encampments. Participants completed six monthly study visits. Adjusting for traditional CVD risk factors, we examined longitudinal associations between substance use and hsTnI.

RESULTS

Median participant age was 53 years and 74 % were ethnic minority women. At baseline, 76 % of participants had hypertension, 31 % were HIV-positive, 8% had a history of a prior MI and 12 % of prior stroke. The most commonly used substances were cotinine/nicotine (80 %), cannabis (68 %) and cocaine (66 %). HsTnI exceeding the 99th percentile (14.7 ng/L) - a level high enough to signal possible MI - was observed in 14 participants during >1 study visit (6%). In adjusted analysis, cocaethylene and fentanyl were significantly associated with higher hsTnI levels.

CONCLUSIONS

Fentanyl use and the co-use of cocaine and alcohol are associated with myocardial injury, suggesting that the use of these substances may act as long-term cardiac insults. Whether risk counseling on these specific substances and/or including their use in CVD risk stratification would improve CVD outcomes in populations where substance use is high merits further investigation.

Family homelessness, subsequent CWS involvement, and implications for targeting housing interventions to CWS-involved families

BACKGROUND

Homelessness is a risk factor for family involvement with child welfare services (CWS). Housing interventions are promising-but reasons for this are not well understood, and housing resources could be better targeted to families at risk of increased CWS involvement.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to better understand the relationship between homelessness and CWS involvement and examine whether homeless shelter data could combine with CWS data to enhance intervention targeting.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

For 4 years, we followed 2063 families investigated by the San Francisco Human Services Agency in 2011.

METHODS

Matching CWS data to homeless shelter data, we fit Cox models to examine the relationship between shelter use and subsequent CWS outcomes and produced ROC curves to judge model accuracy with and without shelter information.

RESULTS

Absent CWS covariates (family demographics, CWS history, and family safety and risk), past shelter entry predicted repeat maltreatment referral (HR = 1.92, p < .001), in-home case opening (HR = 1.51, p < .05), and child removal (HR = 1.95, p < .01), but not child reunification. With CWS covariates, past shelter use no longer predicted case opening and child removal, but still predicted referral (HR = 1.58, p < .01). Shelter data did not contribute to models' predictive accuracy.

CONCLUSIONS

We find mixed evidence that shelter use independently leads to CWS involvement. Housing interventions might help by addressing present housing problems and family experiences correlated with past shelter use. However, we find no evidence that data matches with shelter systems could enhance targeting.

(Re)shaping the self: An ethnographic study of the embodied and spatial practices of women who use drugs

While gendered experiences of drug use have been well-established, understanding how women resist structures that constrain their agency is important for mitigating drug-related harms, especially as overdose has become North America's leading cause of accidental death. Drawing on the intersectional risk environments of WWUD, this ethnographic study examined how gendered expectations of women's drug use, appearance, and comportment influenced vulnerability to overdose within the context of a fentanyl-driven overdose crisis. This community-engaged ethnography, conducted in Vancouver, Canada from May 2017 to December 2018, included in-depth interviews with 35 marginally-housed WWUD (transgender-inclusive) and approximately 100 h of fieldwork in single room accommodation (SRA) housing and an established street-based drug scene. Data were analyzed thematically with attention to embodiment, agency, and intersectionality. Findings highlight how gendered expectations and normative violence impacted women's use of space, both in the drug scene and SRAs. To resist efforts to 'discipline' their bodies, participants engaged in situated gender performances. Physical appearance was also deemed critical to managing drug use disclosure. Participants adopted gendered embodied practices, including altered consumption methods or injecting in less visible areas, to conceal their use from peers and at times, their partners. To resist harms associated with involuntary disclosure, participants often used alone in SRAs or in public spaces. While such practices allowed women to exert agency within constraining systems, they concurrently heightened overdose risk. Findings demonstrate how women engaged in everyday acts of resistance through embodied drug use practices, which increased their agency but elevated overdose risk. Implementing gender-specific programs that increase bodily agency and control (e.g. low-threshold services for personal care, women-focused harm reduction support) are needed to reduce risk of overdose for WWUD.

Longitudinal analysis of social and behavioral determinants of health in the EHR: exploring the impact of patient trajectories and documentation practices

Social and behavioral determinants of health (SBDH) are environmental and behavioral factors that impede disease self-management and can exacerbate clinical conditions. While recent research in the informatics community has focused on building systems that can automatically infer SBDH from the patient record, it is unclear how such determinants change overtime. This study analyzes the longitudinal characteristics of 4 common SBDH as expressed in the patient record and compares the rates of change among distinct SBDH. In addition, manual review of patient notes was undertaken to establish whether changes in patient SBDH status reflected legitimate changes in patient status or rather potential data quality issues. Our findings suggest that a patient's SBDH status is liable to change over time and that some changes reflect poor social history taking by clinicians.

The evolution and adaptive development of traditional dwelling in Southern Shaanxi, China

Traditional architecture has been successful in achieving harmony between housing and environment, which is one of the most important conditions for sustainability. The research tried to study and analyze the traditional architecture to diagnose its importance and ability to solve contemporary problems. Firstly, this study sets up qualitative survey, including location, function space, and structural materials of the dwelling. Then typical dwellings were selected for the assessments of their indoor thermal environment by on-site monitoring. Quantitative analysis reveals that the earth wall has a "warm in winter and cool in summer" property. Secondly, from the perspective of user willingness, we propose the impact factors of dwelling's development. Finally, it puts forward the measures of dwelling's sustainable development and seeks to establish a strategy to guide the construction of new dwellings.

Systems change in the context of an initiative to scale up Housing First in Canada

In this study, we examine changes in the homeless-serving system in the context of a training and technical assistance initiative to scale up Housing First (HF) in 6 Canadian communities. Based on qualitative data from focus groups and individual interviews with key stakeholders (k = 7, n = 35) and field notes gathered over a 3-year period (n = 146), we found 2 main system changes: (a) changes in the capacity of the service delivery system at multiple levels of analysis (from individual to policy) to implement HF, and (b) changes in the coordination of parts of the service delivery system and collaboration among local stakeholders to enhance HF implementation. These changes were facilitated or constrained by the larger context of evidence, climate, policy, and funding. The findings were discussed in terms of systems change theory and implications for transformative systems change in the mental health and homelessness sectors.

Housing trajectories of teen mothers and their families over 28 years

Housing has received little attention in the research on teen mothers. A qualitative longitudinal study presented a unique opportunity to examine how teen mothers house their families over time. The study began in 1988 and has followed teen mothers and family members for 7 waves over 28 years. The 7th wave began in 2016. The specific aims of this substudy were to describe the housing trajectories of teen mothers over 28 years and to explore how their housing trajectories were shaped by family resources, housing programs, and discrimination. Data from 9 families were analyzed using interpretive phenomenology. Housing instability was pervasive for Black mothers who were disadvantaged as children. Their stories included many moves, doubling up, sending children to live with others, depression, unreliable partners, and racism. Housing instability was a source of toxic stress, interrupted personal and family goals, undermined family routines, and reflected a legacy of discriminatory housing policies. In contrast, White advantaged mothers were stably housed as children and adults, which reflected longstanding family resources, stable marriages, husbands' steady employment, and tax deductions for homeownership. These stark differences in housing trajectories reflect and reproduce multigenerational social and health inequities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Housing needs of grandparent caregivers: grandparent, youth, and professional perspectives

This qualitative study examined the housing needs of grandparent caregivers and the youth in their care in New York State. Nine focus groups were conducted separately with grandparent caregivers (n = 46) and youth (n = 34), and interviews were conducted with key informants (n = 17) knowledgeable about housing and issues. Housing needs of greatest priority, contextual differences, and potential barriers to securing housing and social services were identified. Key themes indicated that housing challenges stem from four problem domains: the experience of poverty, which creates affordability challenges that trap grandparent caregivers and their grandchildren in unsuitable homes and unsafe neighborhoods; physical challenges of aging grandparents, which require specific housing accommodations; changes in family composition when taking in grandchildren, which necessitate moving out of prior accommodations or changing housing plans due to regulatory issues; and obstacles to obtaining needed benefits, including a lack of information, burdensome application processes, ineligibility, and a shortage of resources. These issues are discussed with implications for policy and practice.

Implementation of a Legionella Ordinance for Multifamily Housing, Garland, Texas

CONTEXT

The incidence of legionellosis has sharply increased in the United States as a result of contaminated water systems. Jurisdictions across the country are considering whether to develop and implement regulations to protect individuals against Legionnaires' disease with its associated high morbidity and mortality.

OBJECTIVE

This article sheds light on the implementation and effectiveness of a 2005 citywide Legionella testing mandate of multifamily housing cooling towers in Garland, Texas. This ordinance has been in place for more than 10 years and represents the first of its kind in the United States to mandate routine testing of cooling towers for Legionella in multifamily housing.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND POPULATION

We utilized a mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the development, adoption, and implementation of the ordinance. Phone interviews were conducted with individuals from the City of Garland Health Department and apartment managers. Quantitative data included public health surveillance data on legionellosis.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Barriers and facilitators of implementation, number and percentage of cooling towers from multifamily housing units that tested positive for Legionella by year, and number of legionellosis cases by year in Garland, Texas.

RESULTS

Study outcomes highlight key themes that facilitated the successful implementation of the Legionella testing mandate, including the importance of timing, leadership support, stakeholder engagement, and education and outreach. The number of contaminated cooling towers was reduced over time.

CONCLUSION

Mandatory monitoring for legionella in a local jurisdiction may result in reduced risk of legionellosis from cooling towers through raising awareness and education of building owners and managers about the need to prevent, detect, and remediate legionella contamination in their building water systems. Garland, Texas, broke new ground in the United States in moving toward primary prevention of legionellosis. The ordinance may be useful both in serving to educate and increase awareness about the need for Legionella prevention and to monitor effectiveness of maintenance procedures.

Senior Services that Support Housing First in Metro Vancouver

Housing First is a model and philosophy for housing homeless people in immediate and permanent housing. In order to implement and deliver Housing First, research is essential to understand the system of support services as they currently exist. Guided by principles of community-based participatory research, this paper presents the findings from a senior-focused deliberative dialogue workshop in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Participants (16 service providers and 1 service recipient) identified services and resources available to support seniors in maintaining housing and barriers and facilitators for accessing services. Broadly, data were organized into seven themes: (1) Housing; (2) Home support; (3) Transportation; (4) Information availability, accessibility, and navigation; (5) Cultural diversity; (6) Discrimination; and (7) Funding and financial support. Results found that affordable housing that adapts to changing health conditions, income supports, health services, homecare, transportation, and culturally appropriate and nondiscriminatory informational resources are among the supports most needed for persons as young as 50 years old to succeed under the Housing First model in Metro Vancouver. Barriers to Housing First service provision, including rigid eligibility criteria for chronically and episodically homeless, should be revised to better support the growing number of older adults who are newly entering homelessness in Metro Vancouver.

Homeowner Behavior, Health Status, and Medicaid Payment Eligibility: Evidence from the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

This paper analyzes the effect of a change in the status of housing equity as a protected asset for Medicaid long-term care payment eligibility. A difference-in-difference-in-differences strategy is employed to estimate the effect of the policy on the housing equity holdings of potentially treated individuals. Using a panel of unmarried homeowners, the policy induced treated individuals who were likely to require long-term care to hold less housing equity by values of $82,000 to $193,000 relative to control individuals. This equates to relative reductions of 12 to 29 percent for treated individuals after the policy change. Similar effects are not observed when considering health measures less predictive of long-term care services and for a sample of married households who were unlikely affected by the policy. These estimates confirm the importance of the housing asset as a shelter for Medicaid eligibility.

Home Modifications among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Closer Look at Race and Ethnicity

This study investigated racial and ethnic differences in home modification use. Data from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study were used (n=6,764). Compared with non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics were less likely to have a grab bar (odds ratio (OR) = 0.6), bath seat (OR = 0.8), or raised toilet (OR = 0.6). Non-Hispanic Blacks were less likely to have a grab bar (OR = 0.7) or bath seat (OR = 0.7) than non-Hispanic Whites, but more likely to have a raised toilet (OR = 1.3). English proficiency largely explained ethnic differences, while health status partially accounted for racial disparities.

Politicians must commit to affordable homes

The cost of housing is an issue for most of us, but nursing staff have been among those hit hardest by soaring property prices. Finding affordable accommodation within striking distance of work is a challenge in many parts of the UK, not only hotspots such as London and south east England that are known to be expensive.

Social and Economic Development and Change in four Guatemalan Villages: Demographics, Schooling, Occupation, and Assets

This article uses census data and village histories to examine changes over the last 35 years in the four villages where the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP) Longitudinal Study (1969–77) was conducted and offers a rare picture of development and change in rural localities over a long period of time. In addition, by characterizing the environment in which the subjects of this study were raised, we provide context for and inputs into quantitative analyses of data collected at various points in time on these subjects. The villages have undergone massive demographic, social, and economic change. Initial differences have conditioned many of these changes, especially differences associated with agricultural potential and location. Originally these villages were rather isolated, but road and transportation access has improved substantially. The populations in the villages have more than doubled and also have aged. While marriage patterns have held steady, religious practice has changed a great deal. After many years of steady out-migration, three of the four villages are more recently experiencing net in-migration, a pattern associated with ease of access. Schooling access and outcomes also have improved, with average grades of schooling nearly tripling and literacy doubling to levels currently above national averages. Although agriculture remains an important component of individual livelihood strategies, non-agricultural sources of employment have become more important. Much of this change is associated with declining agricultural markets and increased access to non-agricultural jobs near the villages and in the capital. Accompanying these changes has been an improvement in living standards as measured by a number of indicators of household living conditions and consumer durable goods.

Do Wealth Shocks Affect Health? New Evidence from the Housing Boom

We exploit large exogenous changes in housing wealth to examine the impact of wealth gains and losses on individual health. In UK household, panel data house price increases, which endow owners with greater wealth, lower the likelihood of home owners exhibiting a range of non-chronic health conditions and improve their self-assessed health with no effect on their psychological health. These effects are not transitory and persist over a 10-year period. Using a range of fixed effects models, we provide robust evidence that these results are not biased by reverse causality or omitted factors. For owners' wealth gains affect labour supply and leisure choices indicating that house price increases allow individuals to reduce intensity of work with commensurate health benefits. © 2016 The Authors. Health Economics Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A New Neighborhood Every Fall: Aging in Place in a College Town

Older adults who live in residential neighborhoods adjacent to college and university campuses have a unique experience that makes them vulnerable to marginalization and displacement. As these neighborhoods become increasingly dominated by college students living in rental properties, older adults find themselves in the minority in a neighborhood where they have lived for many years. In addition, these neighborhoods are attractive to universities, city governments, and private companies for their development potential, which can result in gentrification. A year-long ethnographic study of a campus-adjacent neighborhood in a small US college town that is home to a medium-sized public university sheds light on the relationships between members of 5 stakeholder groups that have a vested interest in the neighborhood. The study highlights the need for additional research on different types of neighborhoods and their effects on aging in place in addition to outlining social work interventions in campus-adjacent neighborhoods that are designed to enhance these intergenerational spaces.

Reductions in the United Kingdom's Government Housing Benefit and Symptoms of Depression in Low-Income Households

Housing security is an important determinant of mental ill health. We used a quasinatural experiment to evaluate this association, comparing the prevalence of mental ill health in the United Kingdom before and after the government's April 2011 reduction in financial support for low-income persons who rent private-sector housing (mean reduction of approximately £1,220 ($2,315) per year). Data came from the United Kingdom's Annual Population Survey, a repeated quarterly cross-sectional survey. We focused our analysis on renters in the private sector, disaggregating data between an intervention group receiving the government's Housing Benefit (n = 36,859) and a control group not receiving the Housing Benefit (n = 142,205). The main outcome was a binary measure of self-reported mental health problems. After controlling for preexisting time trends, we observed that between April 2011 and March 2013, the prevalence of depressive symptoms among private renters receiving the Housing Benefit increased by 1.8 percentage points (95% confidence interval: 1.0, 2.7) compared with those not receiving the Housing Benefit. Our models estimated that approximately 26,000 (95% confidence interval: 14,000, 38,000) people newly experienced depressive symptoms in association with the cuts to the Housing Benefit. We conclude that reducing housing support to low-income persons in the private rental sector increased the prevalence of depressive symptoms in the United Kingdom.

Moving to opportunity and mental health: Exploring the spatial context of neighborhood effects

Studies of housing mobility and neighborhood effects on health often treat neighborhoods as if they were isolated islands. This paper argues that conceptualizing neighborhoods as part of the wider spatial context within which they are embedded may be key in advancing our understanding of the role of local context in the life of urban dwellers. Analyses are based on mental health and neighborhood context measurements taken on over 3000 low-income families who participated in the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration Program (MTO), a large field experiment in five major U.S. cities. Results from analyses of two survey waves combined with Census data at different geographic scales indicate that assignment to MTO's experimental condition of neighborhood poverty <10% significantly decreased average exposure to immediate and surrounding neighborhood disadvantage by 97% and 59% of a standard deviation, respectively, relative to the control group. Escaping concentrated disadvantage in either the immediate neighborhood or the surrounding neighborhood, but not both, was insufficient to make a difference for mental health. Instead, the results suggest that improving both the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods significantly benefits mental health. Compared to remaining in concentrated disadvantage in the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods, escaping concentrated disadvantage in both the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods (on average over the study duration) as a result of the intervention predicts an increase of 25% of a standard deviation in the composite mental health scores.

Housing Trajectories of Forensic Psychiatric Patients

The objectives of this study were to describe the disposition and housing trajectories of individuals found Not Criminally Responsible on account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD), and the factors that predict different trajectories. To do so, disposition and housing status were coded for 934 NCRMD patients over a 36-month follow-up period. Sequential data analysis resulted in four distinct trajectories: detention in hospital, conditional discharge in supportive housing, conditional discharge in independent housing, and absolute discharge to unknown housing. The likelihood of a placement in supportive housing compared with detention significantly decreased for individuals with a higher index offense severity. Less restrictive trajectories were significantly predicted by clinical factors. The results revealed little change in the disposition and housing trajectories of NCRMD patients. Furthermore, decisions about disposition and housing placement reflect a knowledge-practice gap between risk factors known to be predictive of community resources use in the forensic population. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Food consumption and waste and the embedded carbon, water and ecological footprints of households in China

Strategies for reducing food waste and developing sustainable diets require information about the impacts of consumption behavior and waste generation on climatic, water, and land resources. We quantified the carbon, water, and ecological footprints of 17,110 family members of Chinese households, covering 1935 types of foods, by combining survey data with available life-cycle assessment data sets. We also summarized the patterns of both food consumption and waste generation and analyzed the factors influencing the observed trends. The average person wasted (consumed) 16 (415) kg of food at home annually, equivalent to 40 (1080) kg CO2e, 18 (673) m(3), and 173 (4956) gm(2) for the carbon, water and ecological footprints, respectively. The generation of food waste was highly correlated with consumption for various food groups. For example, vegetables, rice, and wheat were consumed the most and accounted for the most waste. In addition to the three plant-derived food groups, pork and aquatic products also contributed greatly to embedded footprints. The data obtained in this study could be used for assessing national food security or the carrying capacity of resources.

New Energy Efficient Housing Has Reduced Carbon Footprints in Outer but Not in Inner Urban Areas

Avoiding urban sprawl and increasing density are often considered as effective means to mitigate climate change through urban planning. However, there have been rapid technological changes in the fields of housing energy and private driving, and the development is continuing. In this study, we analyze the carbon footprints of the residents living in new housing in different urban forms in Finland. We compare the new housing to existing housing stock. In all areas, the emissions from housing energy were significantly lower in new buildings. However, in the inner urban areas the high level of consumption, mostly due to higher affluence, reverse the gains of energy efficient new housing. The smallest carbon footprints were found in newly built outer and peri-urban areas, also when income level differences were taken into account. Rather than strengthening the juxtaposition of urban and suburban areas, we suggest that it would be smarter to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of both modes of living and develop a more systemic strategy that would result in greater sustainability in both areas. Since such strategy does not exist yet, it should be researched and practically developed. It would be beneficial to focus on area specific mitigation measures.

Low air exchange rate causes high indoor radon concentration in energy-efficient buildings

Since 1995, requirements on energy-efficient building construction were established in Russian Building Codes. In the course of time, utilisation of such technologies became prevailing, especially in multi-storey building construction. According to the results of radon survey in buildings constructed meeting new requirements on energy efficiency, radon concentration exceeds the average level in early-constructed buildings. Preponderance of the diffusion mechanism of radon entry in modern multi-storey buildings has been experimentally established. The experimental technique of the assessment of ventilation rate in dwellings under real conditions was developed. Based on estimates of average ventilation rate, it was approved that measures to increase energy efficiency lead to reduction in ventilation rate and accumulation of higher radon concentrations indoors. Obtained ventilation rate values have to be considered as extremely low.

Exploring land developer perspectives on conservation subdivision design and environmentally sustainable land development

Insight into land developers' perspectives on alternative residential developments and the barriers they experience in trying to develop them can be crucial in efforts to change environmentally damaging low-density, large-lot, and automobile-dependent residential patterns. Using a semi-structured interview instrument followed by short surveys, I examined the views of 16 developers in Waukesha County, WI, USA, a county that has experienced significant development pressures and widespread implementation of conservation subdivision design. The land developer investigation focused on conservation subdivision design familiarity and implementation, and identified a number of barriers that developers experienced in implementing the design. While the majority of the developers appeared familiar with the design and had experience developing conservation subdivisions, their motivations for developing them varied, as did their on-site conservation practices. The barriers included the lack of land use regulations supporting the design, economic factors, community opposition, and a lack of knowledge about sustainable residential development practices. Strategies to promote more environmentally sustainable residential land development patterns include providing a more supportive institutional environment, enacting different regulations and guidelines for natural resources protection, and offering education on ecologically sound development and planning practices.

Long term durability of radon remedial measures in a sample of UK homes

A study to determine the long term effectiveness of commonly used radon remedial methods over a 15 year period is discussed. The overall failure rate for remediation systems was 63%, with roughly equal rates for passive and active type systems. The fans used in active systems performed better than expected, with many of them exceeding manufacturers' stated life spans by several years. The study found that all types of remedial measure can last more than ten years, but also found examples for all measures that failed in less than five years. This supports HPA advice that homes should be retested every 5-10 years. It was also noted that householders found it difficult to detect failures in passive systems. The need for a follow-up study is discussed, in light of likely changes in building practices and materials during the last twenty years.

Urban slum structure: integrating socioeconomic and land cover data to model slum evolution in Salvador, Brazil

BACKGROUND

The expansion of urban slums is a key challenge for public and social policy in the 21st century. The heterogeneous and dynamic nature of slum communities limits the use of rigid slum definitions. A systematic and flexible approach to characterize, delineate and model urban slum structure at an operational resolution is essential to plan, deploy, and monitor interventions at the local and national level.

METHODS

We modeled the multi-dimensional structure of urban slums in the city of Salvador, a city of 3 million inhabitants in Brazil, by integrating census-derived socioeconomic variables and remotely-sensed land cover variables. We assessed the correlation between the two sets of variables using canonical correlation analysis, identified land cover proxies for the socioeconomic variables, and produced an integrated map of deprivation in Salvador at 30 m × 30 m resolution.

RESULTS

The canonical analysis identified three significant ordination axes that described the structure of Salvador census tracts according to land cover and socioeconomic features. The first canonical axis captured a gradient from crowded, low-income communities with corrugated roof housing to higher-income communities. The second canonical axis discriminated among socioeconomic variables characterizing the most marginalized census tracts, those without access to sanitation or piped water. The third canonical axis accounted for the least amount of variation, but discriminated between high-income areas with white-painted or tiled roofs from lower-income areas.

CONCLUSIONS

Our approach captures the socioeconomic and land cover heterogeneity within and between slum settlements and identifies the most marginalized communities in a large, complex urban setting. These findings indicate that changes in the canonical scores for slum areas can be used to track their evolution and to monitor the impact of development programs such as slum upgrading.

The cost effectiveness of radon reduction programmes in domestic housing in England and Wales: the impact of improved radon mapping and housing trends

In the UK, excessive levels of radon gas have been detected in domestic housing. Areas where 1% of existing homes were found to be over the Action Level of 200Bq·m(-3) were declared to be Radon Affected Areas. Building Regulations have been introduced which require that, for areas where between 3% and 10% of existing houses are above the Action Level, new homes should be built with basic radon protection using a membrane, and that, where 10% or more of existing homes exceed this level, new homes should be built with full radon protection. Initially these affected areas followed administrative boundaries, known as Counties. However, with increasing numbers of measurements of radon levels in domestic homes recorded in the national database, these areas have been successively refined into smaller units - 5km grid squares in 1999, down to 1km grid squares in 2007. One result is the identification of small areas with raised radon levels within regions where previously no problem had been identified. In addition, some parts of areas that were previously considered radon affected are now considered low, or no, risk. Our analysis suggests that the net result of improved mapping is to increase the number of affected houses. Further, the process is more complex for local builders, and inspectors, who need to work out whether radon protection in new homes is appropriate. Our group has assessed the cost-effectiveness of radon remediation programmes, and has applied this analysis to consider the cost-effectiveness of providing radon protection in both new and existing homes. This includes modelling the potential failure rate of membranes, and whether testing radon levels in new homes is appropriate. The analysis concludes that it is more cost effective to provide targeted radon protection in high radon areas, although this introduces more complexity. The paper also considers the trend in housing to a greater proportion of apartments, the regional variations in types of housing and the decreasing average number of occupants in each dwelling, and concludes that data and methods are now available to respond to the health risks of radon at a local level, in keeping with a general initiative to prioritise responses to health and social welfare issues at a more local level.

Pathways into living alone in mid-life: diversity and policy implications

This paper adopts a life course approach to investigate the pathways into living alone in mid-life in Britain and how these vary by gender and socio-economic status. The rise in the proportion of people living alone over the past three decades has been well documented. However, much of the focus of the existing literature has been on either people living solo in young adulthood or in later life. Mid-life has received surprising little scholarly attention, despite the fact that living arrangements in mid-life are changing rapidly, and that household composition and socio-economic circumstances in the period immediately prior to retirement are strongly associated with living arrangements and associated sources of support in later life. This paper therefore aims to fill this gap. We begin with a review of previous research on living alone and present a conceptual framework of the pathways into living alone in mid-life. Data from the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Survey (UKHLS) are used to analyse the partnership and parenthood histories and socio-economic characteristics of those currently living alone in mid-life. The findings indicate that the dissolution of a marriage with children is the dominant pathway into mid-life solo-living, but that there is also a substantial group of never partnered men living alone. These never partnered men are split between those with low and high socio-economic status. Distinguishing between different groups of individuals living alone in mid-life is important for policy as these groups of men and women will have different social and financial resources as they enter later life. Mid-life men living alone who have not had children, have no educational qualifications, are not economically active and who live in rented housing are likely to be most at risk of needing a social and economic 'safety net' in old age.

Poverty, housing, and the rural slum: policies and the production of inequities, past and present

We studied historical materials to examine the conditions that gave rise to California's rural slums, the consequences of their emergence, and how interpretations of housing, health, and welfare policies by government officials, and public health officials in particular, produced health inequities for residents of these communities. For more than a century, successive groups of immigrants and domestic migrant laborers have worked on California's farms and faced numerous challenges, among them a lack of safe and affordable housing, poor working conditions, and denial of public services. Although these experiences are not new, nor are they unique to agricultural workers, they illustrate a longer history in which inequities and injustices have been rooted in the exploitation and disposability of labor. Ameliorating or even redressing inequities will require understanding the social determinants of health through ecological approaches that can overcome the historical, social, and political causes of inequity.

Home foreclosure and risk of psychiatric morbidity during the recent financial crisis

BACKGROUND

A defining feature of the US economic downturn of 2008-2010 was the alarming rate of home foreclosure. Although a substantial number of US households have experienced foreclosure since 2008, the effects of foreclosure on mental health are unknown. We examined the effects of foreclosure on psychiatric symptomatology in a prospective, population-based community survey.

METHOD

Data were drawn from the Detroit Neighborhoods and Health Study (DNHS), waves 1 and 2 (2008-2010). A probability sample of predominantly African-American adults in Detroit, Michigan participated (n=1547). We examined the association between home foreclosure between waves 1 and 2 and increases in symptoms of DSM-IV major depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

RESULTS

The most common reasons for foreclosure were an increase in monthly payments, an increase in non-medical expenses and a reduction in family income. Exposure to foreclosure between waves 1 and 2 predicted symptoms of major depression and GAD at wave 2, controlling for symptoms at wave 1. Even after adjusting for wave 1 symptoms, sociodemographics, lifetime history of psychiatric disorder at wave 1 and exposure to other financial stressors between waves 1 and 2, foreclosure was associated with an increased rate of symptoms of major depression [incidence density ratio (IDR) 2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6-3.6] and GAD (IDR 1.9, 95% CI 1.4-2.6).

CONCLUSIONS

We provide the first prospective evidence linking foreclosure to the onset of mental health problems. These results, combined with the high rate of home foreclosure since 2008, suggest that the foreclosure crisis may have adverse effects on the mental health of the US population.

The housing and support needs of people with an intellectual disability into older age

BACKGROUND

People with intellectual disabilities (IDs) are growing older as a population cohort. Many live at home with family members who are their carers but who are also becoming older and less able to provide care. The housing and support preferences of people with IDs and their carers into older age are poorly characterised in the literature.

METHODS

Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with 15 people with IDs who work in supported employment and with 10 family members who care for adults with IDs. Data were thematically analysed independently by two researchers.

RESULTS

The major themes that emerged were as follows: (1) living arrangements; (2) housing preferences; (3) ageing in place; and (4) transition from informal to formal housing and support services.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants with an ID and their carers want housing and support that enable people with an ID to maintain and enhance their social networks with their peers as they grow older and require transition to formal housing and support services, and to be able to 'age in place'. A preference was expressed for models of housing that provide the opportunity for people with an ID to live in close proximity to their peers and in large groups in the community rather than in small, dispersed community housing.

[Adapting the answers to new problems of living in a changing society]

The paper focuses on the health consequences of recent social and economic changes and stresses on the issue of housing emergency, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. What emerges is a bleak picture, especially in the suburbs of large cities, with sanitation problems comparable to those of the time of the Unity of Italy. Authors then analyze the evidence of risk related to degradation of housing and present some examples that quantify the effectiveness of environmental improvement on health. The work concludes stressing the need to bring this issue back to center of the Public Health agenda, both in terms of health impact assessment, both in terms of training and awareness of the different social actors involved, also recovering a political role emphasized by Rudolf Virchow as early as the late nineteenth century.