What’s this about?
The Built Environment & Health (BEH) project is an interdisciplinary program of research at Columbia University. Led by epidemiologist Andrew Rundle, BEH uses spatial data to examine the implications of the built environment, including land use, public transit, and housing, for physical activity, diet, obesity, and other aspects of health. With a focus on New York City, BEH research will inform public policy to promote health in the city and metropolitan area. BEH is affiliated with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program at Columbia.
Spatial Equity in New York City
Thesis Wins Award
Marnie Purciel, now a Research Associate at BEH, graduated in May 2007 from Columbia University with dual master’s degrees in Urban Planning and Public Health. Her thesis, “Spatial Equity in New York City Neighborhoods” received the Charles Abrams award for the best quantitative thesis in the Urban Planning program this year.
Purciel used BEH data to study neighborhood differences in basic retail and services in New York City. She used GIS network analysis to estimate the numbers and types of businesses within a half-mile of Census block group centroids. Population and built environment characteristics were compared with business accessibility measures to determine whether aspects of the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic environment were related to the goods and services present. Results show that areas with greater proportions of black residents have significantly fewer “positive” goods and services such as banks or supermarkets, and also fewer “negative” resources such as convenience stores or fast food restaurants. Greater proportions of Latino residents are associated with fewer positive and more negative resources. Higher proportions of white and Asian residents are associated with better access to positive resources and lesser access to many negative resources, as compared to black and Latino residents. Disparities in access to these resources can impose time, financial, and health burdens on the most vulnerable members of our society.
Purciel has worked with the BEH group since October 2005. Last summer she took a lead role in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Research-funded project on observation measures of urban design. She joined the BEH group full-time in June 2007.
