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.
New Research on Spatial Accessibility in New York City
The BEH research group is developing a suite of new projects that examine how spatial accessibility—proximity to basic retail and services—varies across New York City neighborhoods. Spatial accessibility is significant for health because it may promote pedestrian travel. When people have stores, banks, and other services nearby, they can take care of everyday needs by walking rather than driving. In addition, when people have ready access to supermarkets, greengrocers, and other outlets for nutritious food, it is easier for them to maintain a healthy diet. Disparities in spatial accessibility may help to explain health disparities among city neighborhoods and among income and racial/ethnic groups.
Our research takes advantage of the detailed data on business and service locations we have acquired from Dun and Bradstreet. These data will be matched to census characteristics on neighborhood composition. We plan two streams of research in this area.
The first is basic research on the patterns and determinants of spatial accessibility in New York City. Previous research has found mixed results, with some studies reporting that poor neighborhoods are “under-retailed” while others indicate that poor neighborhoods actually have better spatial accessibility than more affluent neighborhoods. The fact that low-income neighborhoods tend to be high-density with mixed land use may help explain why some studies find better-than-expected spatial accessibility for low-income urban residents. In addition, the differences in the types of stores and services may be as significant as their numbers. For instance, low-income neighborhoods may be well served by convenience stores and fast food restaurants but have few local supermarkets. We will examine these questions using our data from New York City; we will also consider the implications of gentrification for spatial accessibility in low-income areas. A proposal to support this research is currently under review at the National Science Foundation. BEH group members involved in this project include Sam Field, Lance Freeman, Kathryn Neckerman, Marnie Purciel, and James Quinn.
The second stream of research explores the policy implications of spatial accessibility. We plan to meet with representatives of city agencies and nonprofit organizations concerned with these issues to learn what kinds of data on spatial accessibility are most useful for informing policy, and to explore possibilities for joint initatives to promote spatial accessibility and reduce neighborhood disparities. BEH group members involved in this project include Silvett Garcia, Gina Lovasi, Kathryn Neckerman, Marnie Purciel, James Quinn, Andrew Rundle, and Gia Storms.
