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New Ideas in Urban Research: Research Questions and Findings from Penn IUR’s Emerging Scholars

Artistic rendering of a city skyline by Dee Ashley via Flicker Creative Commons.

Penn IUR is invested in supporting and encouraging a new generation of urban scholars who are identifying and pursuing key questions related to urbanization. For this month’s issue of  Urban Link , we interviewed some of our most recent PhDs to get a feel for the issues that they consider important or that they are currently pursuing in their research. 

• Benchmarking Economic Development and Environmental Protection for Rural Agricultural Communities | Catherine Brinkley
• Redefining Food Deserts | Ben Chrisinger
• Place-Based Initiatives and Neighborhood Revitalization: Who Benefits and Who Loses from University Initiatives in Neighborhoods? | Meagan Ehlenz
• Proximal Greening:  A Distinct Form and Possible Norm for 21st Century Urban Design : | Theodore Eisenman
• Costal Green Infrastructure and Resilience Projects (Plus, a Grassroots Political Organizing Project) | Billy Fleming
• Housing Affordability in Canadian Metropolitan Areas | Albert Han
• Consequences and Geographic Factors of Police Transport for Traumatically Injured Patients | Sara Jacoby
• Distributed Stormwater Management Techniques in Cities and Urban Regions | Theodore Lim
• Can US Metropolitan Areas Use Large Commercial Airports as Tools to Bolster Regional Economic Growth? | Simon Mosbah
• Philanthropy, Partnership and Innovation: 21st Century Urban Revitalization in US Legacy Cities | Mary Rocco
• Using Spatial Analytics to Transform How Governments Provide Services, Minimize Waste and Increase Transparency | Ken Steif
• Historically Marginalized Populations In Airport-adjacent Communities | Amber Woodburn
• Does the Option to Extract Home Equity Affect House Prices? | Albert Alex Zevelev

Benchmarking Economic Development and Environmental Protection for Rural Agricultural Communities

Catherine Brinkley, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis

With a seed grant recently awarded from the Global Affairs program at UC Davis, I am now embarking on a study of the land-use and property value impacts of District Heating in Sweden. 

Sweden has shifted its energy supply from 75% oil import in the 1970s to over 30% biofuel, supplying rural economic development opportunities largely through forest management while reducing GHG emissions by 60%(Brinkley, 2014; IPCC Sweden 2014). The United Nations estimates that transition to DH systems, combined with energy efficiency measures, could result in a 30–50 per cent reduction in primary energy consumption, thereby reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 58 per cent in the energy sector by 2050 and allowing global temperature rises to stay within 2–3 degrees Celsius (UNEP, 2013).

Instead of every home and office operating an individual boiler, nearly 90% of apartment buildings and 20% of single-family homes in Sweden receive hot water and heat from district heating networks (DiLucia and Ericsson, 2014). Heat is produced by a central boiler and distributed through underground insulated pipes to heat exchangers at the point of use for both hot water and ambient heat (Bouffaron and Koch, 2014). Boilers can be coupled to geothermal, biomass incineration, waste heat from industry or heat storage during times of peak production. In light of this, my upcoming research will seek to answer the question: How has Sweden’s transition to DH systems affected land use and property values?

Redefining Food Deserts

Ben Chrisinger, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Medicine, Stanford University

Following early research linking food access to health outcomes, millions of community development dollars were spent building supermarkets in poor neighborhoods. Despite food access projects across the US [1] , and major pre/post evaluations in New York, Philly, and Pittsburgh, we have yet to find direct health benefits from opening supermarkets in food deserts. In light of disappointing results, at least in terms of diet and obesity, some food access funders and advocates have eased off the access-health rhetoric.

However, these evaluations mostly offered high-level epidemiological views of health: nobody was asking food desert residents about their thoughts and experiences. If new stores didn’t change diets or weight, why not?

To try and understand the value of a new supermarket, I interviewed dozens of shoppers in a North Philly store that had been developed in a food desert. I found that the store made shopping a little bit easier for low-income Philadelphians, and provided a higher-quality environment where customers felt respected and safe. In short: they got to shop like most Americans regularly do.

My findings made me believe that our food desert definition is wrong. More than anything, food deserts force individuals and families with limited means to settle for less. I believe that these stores can present a space where “upstream” health behavior changes can happen. [2] If we redefine food deserts as an experience - rather than a geography - we may start to identify better interventions.

Place-Based Initiatives and Neighborhood Revitalization: Who Benefits and Who Loses from University Initiatives in Neighborhoods?

Meagan Ehlenz,  Senior Sustainability Scholar, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Assistant Professor, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University

My research examines universities pursuing neighborhood revitalization, focusing on the ways institutions have used place-based initiatives to engage with their surrounding communities. In recent work, I use a survey of university administrators to understand what university anchors do in the realm of neighborhood investment and, subsequently, study how neighborhoods with university revitalization initiatives have changed over time.

Three findings emerge from this current work. First, survey results suggest that universities typically emphasize attraction strategies, focusing on catalytic developments that meet university consumer demand (e.g. apartments, retail, dining, entertainment). Collectively, this imparts a vibrant, “college town” brand onto the neighborhood. In addition, it is common for universities to invest in value-added programs, including public safety, public amenities, and partnerships with K-12 schools. This marks a shift from 20 years ago, as universities now recognize neighborhoods as an asset instead of a liability.

Second, across these 19 cities, neighborhoods with university revitalization investment show statistically-significant differences in market indicators relative to other tracts within the same county, including increases in median home values and rents, and decreases in vacancy rate. Importantly, these home value observations hold across all cities in the sample, regardless of market strength, institutions, and revitalization style.

Third, despite growth in the real estate market, these university initiatives have not substantially changed the socioeconomic indicators for target neighborhoods. The trends suggest moderate growth in student-sensitive categories, such as educational attainment and poverty rate, in ways that augment existing conditions, rather than substantially changing trajectories. Amenity rich university neighborhoods are supporting changes that attract students and shift away from the commuter campus model. Also, new development is attracting middle- and upper-class professionals and families who can afford more expensive homeownership choices.

Universities now recognize neighborhoods should be an asset. But collectively, these observations point to a key unresolved question for university revitalization initiatives: who benefits from university initiatives in neighborhoods? And, perhaps more importantly, who does not These represent the future questions needed to refine our understanding of the field.

Proximal Greening: A Distinct Form and Possible Norm for 21st Century Urban Design

Theodore Eisenman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

My principal research addresses the historical, scientific, cultural, and design bases of urban greening, which I define as the introduction or conservation of outdoor vegetation in cities. As noted in “ Greening Cities in an Urbanizing Age: The Human Health Bases in the Nineteenth and Early Twenty-first Centuries ,” published in the fall 2016 issue of Change Over Time , this scholarly interest is rooted in an observation that cities have entered a historically significant period in the enduring aspiration to integrate nature with city.

Unlike the large destination parks of the 19th century, contemporary greening of roofs, facades, bridges, vacant lots, traffic islands, street sides, railways, and waterways is integrated into the very fabric of cities. Additionally, three decades of research now substantiates stress and related psychological outcomes as, perhaps, the most reliable health benefit of urban greenery. This nexus of practice and research points to proximal greening as a distinct form, and possible norm, for 21st century urban design. It also supports the call for “nature at the doorstep” three decades ago by esteemed environmental psychologist Rachel Kaplan at the University of Michigan, predicated on repeated, short-term exposures to greenery that may provide cumulative benefits through “micro-restorative opportunities.”

A proximal greening norm also aligns with the Nature Pyramid, a four-tiered hierarchy of nature contact scale and exposure proposed by Tim Beatley and Tanya Denckla-Cobb at the University of Virginia. Here, neighborhood greenery provides “the bulk of our nature diet” through daily encounters. The Nature Pyramid also provides a compelling framework to bridge urban greening practice with scholarly research, which has identified a need to better link health outcomes more directly to types of green spaces, while accounting for both quantity and quality of green spaces. 

Costal Green Infrastructure and Resilience Projects (Plus, a Grassroots Political Organizing Project)

Billy Fleming, PhD

For much of 2017, I have been engaged with two major projects. One, my dissertation, is ending. The other, a public, grassroots organizing project known as  Indivisible , is just beginning.

At the core of my dissertation, at least two key findings stand out. One takeaway is that the U.S. Army Corps (USACE) of Engineers is unable—or unwilling—to invest in coastal green infrastructure at a scale that’s commensurate with the problem of sea level rise. The likeliest outcome of this failure is that the U.S. will continue to build large, monolithic forms of grey infrastructure along the coast—a process that we know will induce new, greenfield development in flood-prone areas at the base of levees and surge barriers that we won’t be able to maintain. Without reforming the ways in which the USACE evaluates and invests in coastal infrastructure, it’s difficult to imagine a Corps-led process that bolsters the resilience of American cities—and that’s particularly important given the singular role that the Corps plays in shaping our coastline.

The other lesson from my dissertation is that, at least amongst landscape architects and designers, the recent push to build “resilience projects” like the ones generated through Rebuild by Design has left us a bit over our skis. By that I mean that many of these projects have developed without the kind of evidence base that’s needed—and available—to support their claims. There are things a reinforced dune can do, for instance, that an oyster reef cannot. It’s incumbent upon designers to better integrate the science of resilience within the practice of coastal design—we may only get one shot at it getting right.

Housing Affordability in Canadian Metropolitan Areas

Albert Han, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Metropolitan Growth and Change, University of Calgary

I am conducting research on urban sprawl and growth management policies in Canadian metropolitan areas and am currently analyzing development patterns of 11 major Canadian Metropolitan Areas between 1990 and 2010 in association with housing affordability. The research questions I seek to answer are “Did suburban sprawl decline as the result of densification of inner city in major Canadian Metropolitan Areas (CMA) in the 2000s compared to the 1990s? If so, how did housing affordability change along with the trend?”

I am hypothesizing that if a metro area successfully managed to promote infill and compact developments in the 2000s, I expect to find significant increase in density in “Inner City” areas. Densification may influence housing affordability What I hope to find from my study is whether housing affordability remains a key factor in attracting people to suburbs in Canadian metros and thus how affordability and density interact.

Consequences and Geographic Factors of Police Transport for Traumatically Injured Patients

Sara Jacoby, Postdoctoral Fellow, Penn Injury Science Center, University of Pennsylvania

Through ethnographic fieldwork with traumatically injured patients in Philadelphia, I recognized the profound impact of first responders on the way that patients interpret their injury and injury care. Pre-hospital police transport (PPT), known colloquially as ‘scoop and run,’ is authorized in select US cities, including Philadelphia, to reduce transport time and alleviate strain on emergency medical systems (EMS). This policy has been enacted specifically for victims of penetrating injuries like gunshot and stab wounds. It was codified on the basis of research that demonstrated comparable survival rates between patients who were transported by police and those transported by EMS providers.

In my recent work, I have collaborated with researchers at the Penn Injury Science Center in a mixed geospatial-qualitative study to investigate the broader consequences of PPT and its impact on different Philadelphia neighborhoods over the past decade. We identified several patient factors associated with the likelihood of PPT which included being male, black, and Hispanic and being injured at night, by a firearm, and outdoors. After controlling for these factors and the geographic distribution of police and EMS stations, crime rates, and relative economic disadvantage, we found that residents of specific Philadelphia neighborhoods were more likely to experience PPT than others. In qualitative analysis, the speed of transport was identified as PPT’s primary benefit by patients, police, and trauma care clinicians. Patients, however, perceived pain and being unsecured in a police vehicle as major drawbacks. Trauma clinicians found the unpredictability of police drop-offs challenging. And police described fears about blood exposure and limited knowledge of first response best practices. This ongoing work is demonstrating that while PPT has the potential to improve survival, cities implementing this practice should evaluate geographic equity in access to services and multifaceted impacts on patients, police, and the trauma care system at large.

Distributed Stormwater Management Techniques in Cities and Urban Regions

Theodore Lim, Global Environmental Data Scientist at Monsanto

Unlike the centralized pipes and treatment plants of traditional drainage infrastructure systems, distributed stormwater management techniques try to restore “near natural” site hydrology, close to where rain falls. These techniques are often collectively referred to as “green infrastructure.” The green infrastructure approach acknowledges that improvements to development practices and infrastructure planning can increase urban livability with less economic burden than re-constructing traditional drainage infrastructure.

My research explores the physical function and implementation of distributed stormwater management practices in cities and urban regions. Through a statistical analysis of stream flows in over 100 urban watersheds, I show that site planning needs to consider the integrity of native soil and vegetation, and not merely focus on limiting imperviousness. Second, I build a high resolution, surface-subsurface hydrologic laboratory of a Washington DC test site to show the dependence of networks of distributed infrastructure effectiveness on spatial configuration. Lastly, I studied one of the largest voluntary green infrastructure programs in the US, to show that social networks are an important factor in explaining adoption of green infrastructure within cities.

My work has shown how natural land conservation should be prioritized over practices that claim to allow development to match “near-natural” hydrologic conditions. However, within existing development, the spatial configuration of green infrastructure facilities is not expected to have a detectable effect on the network’s hydrological response. This finding frees planners from the burden of “optimal” location of individual green infrastructure projects, and allows them to focus on other placement based on other benefits of green infrastructure to communities. Lastly, planners can leverage the role of social networks to adapt the urban landscape to both increased urbanization and climate change-related challenges of water resource management in cities.

Can US Metropolitan Areas Use Large Commercial Airports as Tools to Bolster Regional Economic Growth?

Simon Mosbah, Consultant, Transit and Rail Project Development and Finance, WSP USA

My dissertation,  “Airports, Airport Expansions and Employment at Local and Regional Scale,” investigates how transportation infrastructure supports city and regional economic development strategies. Airport expansions are major endeavors of U.S. metropolitan areas engaged in global competition. Exploring airport expansions’ political economy and the zones surrounding airports, coined “airport zones”, sheds light on whether these projects support economic development locally and regionally.

Findings from three case studies of recent airport expansions in Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky contributed to answer two questions: (1) How do decision-makers of airport expansions perceive the impacts of the airport in the economy, and integrate this conceptualization in their decisions? and (2) To what extent do airport-related employment growth and airport-oriented development occur in areas closer to the airport, and through which mechanisms in terms of airport expansions and plans?

With respect to expected results from airport expansions, interviewees made no direct links between airport expansion and air service enhancement and employment growth. However, the different members of the “airport growth coalitions” focus on the role the airport and air service play to attract or retain Fortune 500 headquarters and regional headquarters of foreign companies. This finding is somewhat contradicted by the fact that interviews also suggest that changes in air service only have limited impacts on metro areas’ abilities to retain and attract companies’ headquarters.

Regarding airport zone development, coalition building and land assembly seem to matter most in order to build the basic infrastructure necessary to foster development in the airport zone and attract developers. For instance, in Denver, a mayoral administration successfully renegotiated with surrounding jurisdictions an agreement preventing local development on airport property and on land that was annexed for building the new airport.

The literature review of this dissertation was published in the Journal of Planning Literature ( http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0885412216653100 ) under the title “Can US Metropolitan Areas Use Large Commercial Airports as Tools to Bolster Regional Economic Growth?”

Philanthropy, Partnership and Innovation: 21st Century Urban Revitalization in US Legacy Cities

Mary Rocco, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher, Penn Institute of Urban Research (IUR)

The future of American cities depends increasingly on philanthropy. Older industrial cities, also referred to as Legacy Cities, continue to grapple with the long-term effects of physical and economic decline and high poverty rates. In the face of constrained public and private resources and limited leadership, how does revitalization occur? This question of who influences urban revitalization in declining cities as they attempt to recover matter more than ever. Philanthropic foundations challenge traditional assumptions about who catalyzes and leads urban revitalization. They do this in the cities where they work through investments in physical upgrading, community and economic development and in capacity building.

An analysis of grantmaking in 50 Legacy Cities between 2003-2012 found that philanthropic expenditure totaled $6.3 billion and surpassed federal sources such as community development block grants (CDBG) monies. While a small number of foundations engage in place-based activities, local foundations not only support local and regional regeneration but leverage funds from multiple sources to supplement and enhance revitalization planning and implementation. In-depth case studies revealed foundations amplified their role in efforts to revitalize in Legacy Cities through three models of philanthropy- traditional, collaborative and directive. Through traditional grantmaking, foundations solicit applications and fund projects based advanced by city agencies and local non-governmental organizations. In other cases, foundations collaborate widely with other funders, city agencies, non-governmental organizations and developers on a variety of project based and long-term investments. Increasingly, some foundations take a directive approach to conceive, plan and implement projects with the goal of revitalization. These findings suggest that philanthropic foundations amplified their roles in Legacy Cities beyond traditional grantmaking to contribute to and, in some cases, lead revitalization efforts

Using Spatial Analytics to Transform How Governments Provide Services, Minimize Waste and Increase Transparency

Ken Steif, MUSA Program Director and Lecturer, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania and Founder, Urban Spatial

Historically Marginalized Populations In Airport-adjacent Communities

Amber Woodburn, Assistant Professor, City and Regional Planning Section, Knowlton School, Center for Aviation Studies, The Ohio State University

As the busiest airport hubs have grown in size since the rise of the Jet Age, city planners have seen airport infrastructure transform into locally unwanted land uses while simultaneously spurring a new economic land use: the airport-centric activity center. Motivated by this airport transformation, my recent research takes a closer look at airport-adjacent communities (AACs) and asks “How has the population of historically marginalized groups living near airports changed with the rise of the Jet Age?”

The main findings are threefold. First, disadvantaged groups often constituted larger proportions in communities near the less dominant hubs (<250,000 operations per year), but only later in the jet age after most hubs were established. Thus, it seems unlikely that a lack of community power (as related to race, ethnicity, nationality, or socioeconomic status) was a driving force in the rise of the busiest hub airports.

Second, in evaluating the push–pull effect (or ‘come to the nuisance’ effect), the percentage of white persons frequently decreased far more near airports than in their respective metropolitan regions. Thus, there is evidence to suspect that the market has played a role in reshaping the demographics of AACs, often in a way that drastically increased the presence of historically marginalized groups.

Third, airport-adjacent residents frequently had less favorable socioeconomic outcomes when compared with their respective regions. Even if airports are functioning as strong activity centers, the economic benefits for local residents are not substantial enough to keep pace with the average socioeconomic performance of the metropolitan region.

Further research can explore “Good Neighbor” policies that (1) distribute the economic benefits of airport-centric development to airport-adjacent residents and (2) anticipate and remedy the challenges of further airport expansion into AACs with increasing proportions of historically marginalized groups.

Woodburn, A. (2017). Investigating neighborhood change in airport-adjacent communities in multiairport regions from 1970 to 2010. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2626, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.3141/2626-01

Does the Option to Extract Home Equity Affect House Prices?

Albert Alex Zevelev, Assistant Professor of Real Estate, Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College

Real Estate can be pledged as collateral for a loan at the time of purchase and after purchase via a home equity loan. My recent paper “Does Collateral Value Affect Asset Prices?” asks whether the ability to pledge an asset as collateral after purchase affects its price. Economic theory predicts the answer is yes: if households are credit constrained, they should prefer to own assets which facilitate their future ability to borrow.

The challenge to answering the question is to disentangle collateral value from other factors that affect house prices. The paper exploits law changes in Texas where home equity loans were illegal before 1998. The empirical strategy is to compare house prices in Texas zip codes to border zip codes before and after the law using a difference-in-differences estimator. The identifying assumption is parallel trends: that the law change was uncorrelated with other variables that affect Texas house prices. Research has linked this law change to the Tax Reform Act of 1986, a circuit court ruling in 1994 and growing Republican control in Texas. This assumption can be defended as these factors are not clearly linked to Texas house prices.

The impact of the law change on house prices was PHD: Positive, Heterogeneous and Direct. The law increased Texas house prices 3.5-5%. Pre-trends are parallel and the rise in prices was gradual. House prices rose more in inelastic locations, consistent with theory. Prices rose more in zip-codes with higher pre-law house prices, income and employment. This indicates that wealthier households value the option to extract home equity more strongly. Finally, variables related to house prices such as rent and income were unaffected by the laws. This indicates the rise in prices was due to demand for the option to extract equity.

References:

Zevelev, Albert A. “Does Collateral Value Affect Asset Prices? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Texas.”  (2017).

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2815609

[1] i Chrisinger, B. (2016). Taking Stock of New Supermarkets in Food Deserts: Patterns in Development, Financing, and Health Promotion. San Francisco: Community Development Investment Center, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Working Paper 2016-04. http://www.frbsf.org/community-development/publications/working-papers/ 2016/august/new-supermarkets-in-food-deserts-development-financing-health-promotion/

[2] ii Chrisinger, B. (2016). A Mixed-Method Assessment of a New Supermarket in a Food Desert: Contributions to Everyday Life and Health. Journal of Urban Health, 93(3):425-437. DOI: 10.1007/s11524-016-0055-8. PMID: 27197735. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27197735

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Selected Research Issues of Urban Public Health

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Health is created within the urban settings of people’s everyday lives. In this paper we define Urban Public Health and compile existing evidence regarding the spatial component of health and disease in urban environments. Although there is already a substantial body of single evidence on the links between urban environments and human health, focus is mostly on individual health behaviors. We look at Urban Public Health through a structural lens that addresses health conditions beyond individual health behaviors and identify not only health risks but also health resources associated with urban structures. Based on existing conceptual frameworks, we structured evidence in the following categories: (i) build and natural environment, (ii) social environment, (iii) governance and urban development. We focused our search to review articles and reviews of reviews for each of the keywords via database PubMed, Cochrane, and Google Scholar in order to cover the range of issues in urban environments. Our results show that linking findings from different disciplines and developing spatial thinking can overcome existing single evidence and make other correlations visible. Further research should use interdisciplinary approaches and focus on health resources and the transformation of urban structures rather than merely on health risks and behavior.

1. Introduction

Urban Public Health gains in importance due to increasing health challenges of the ever-growing urban population. Many authors agree that we have entered the ‘urban age’ [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] despite the lack of consensus over the definition of urban areas [ 2 ]. Urban areas are the places and arenas of important societal changes and struggles around healthy environment, climate change, social justice, or the future of work and mobility. Urbanisation is coupled with different challenges related to Urban Public Health on the Global North (noncommunicable diseases and urban regeneration) and on the Global South (communicable diseases, urban expansion, and unfavourable living conditions) [ 4 ]. Multiple interdependencies on the global level influence cities and neighbourhoods that are local and context depended, but also local actions and activities may cause global crisis. Recognising the important role of urban setting, in the last decades, there have been calls to transform our cities into sustainable, healthy, and just places for global population [ 5 , 6 ]. Meanwhile, good health and wellbeing is one of the sustainable development goals (SDG3) [ 6 ], a cross-cutting issue of all other SDGs [ 7 ], of the New Urban Agenda [ 8 ], and a core issue in a recent publication from the UN-Habitat and World Health Organisation (WHO) on good planning of urban environments [ 9 ].

In view of global urbanization trends, the question how to shape urban environments should be closely linked to the health of the urban population [ 9 ]. Urban planning and governance have great impact on the distribution of health-promoting resources and on accumulation of risks that affect health of different population groups [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ] and contribute to both communicable and non-communicable diseases [ 18 ]. The importance of urban environments for health has been known since the ancient Greek city-states around 500 BC [ 19 , 20 ]. However, during the 20th century, health and disease were explored and practiced in a predominantly biomedical and individual-oriented approach. Lastly, with the Ottawa Charter (1986), a paradigm shift was initiated from an individual-oriented to a structural perspective emphasizing the importance of everyday settings in terms of health promotion [ 21 ]. Moreover, the Ottawa Charter shifted the focus from the causes of disease to a new understanding of health as resource and health promoting factor. The Charter emphasized for the first time that the responsibility for health also lies within many sectors besides health.

Meanwhile it is recognized that the urban living environment is not a self-contained, homogenous entity, but a complex system characterized by a number of different urban structures (e.g., educational, economic, mobility, political structures) that have their own dynamics and interact with each other in a complex urban grid. Thus, improving health and preventing disease in urban environments require genuinely joint efforts of different disciplines and sectors [ 22 ]. As an interdisciplinary research field, Urban Public Health attempts to address this need. The main aim of Urban Public Health is to explore the dimensions of health and disease in and by urban structures [ 15 ] (pp. 342–343). The international scientific debate, which operates primarily with the term Urban Health has its theoretical and disciplinary roots mainly in human ecology or medicine [ 10 , 23 , 24 ]. In contrast, we understand Urban Public Health explicitly as part of public health. This allows us to build on existing and well-established constructs and methods of public health, which include epidemiological tools. We extend the public health approach by linking it to the specific features of urban structures, paying particular attention to spatial relationships.

Addressing the spatial component allows insights into the distribution and constitution of health resources and risk factors in or by urban structures. The underlying question is how cities can be designed and (re)developed to create urban structures as health resources. Although there is already a substantial body of single evidence on the links between urban environments and human health, less is known regarding the specific connection between public health and place-based associations. We want to address this gap and explore in this paper the extent to which evidence on health effects of different urban structures contribute to Urban Public Health field by linking spatial approaches and public health.

Moreover, a conceptual overview of this fairly new field of Urban Public Health and its open research questions is still missing. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to review current evidence regarding the spatial component of health and disease in urban structures and to identify research issues, with particular attention to the links between public health and spatial perspectives from other disciplines such as urban planning, geography, social, and political science. In particular, our approach is not limited to looking at health outcomes and exposures, but rather we ask through a structural lens about the living conditions in urban environments beyond individual health behaviors. It is not within the scope of this article to comprehensively review findings for the entire field of Urban Public Health, but rather to present selected evidence from the view of the professional backgrounds of the authors, which is political science, urban planning, public health, and epidemiology. The aim is to provide a narrative towards new insights and possible research issues that can contribute to better understanding of the Urban Public Health challenges and potentials.

Categorization of Urban Public Health Issues

The complexity of interactions between urban environments and human health [ 25 ] is already conceptualized in several frameworks. Well-known ones are the Conceptual Framework for Urban Health [ 14 ] from Galea et al., the Health Map of Barton and Grant [ 11 ], and the illustration of Health Problems in different urban contexts from Rydin et al. [ 17 ]. A more recent example is the Conceptual Model of Key Drivers of Urban Health, Equity, and Sustainability [ 10 ]. They all describe, inter alia, how a variety of urban structures influences and shapes health and disease.

Based on these frameworks, we organized our review by selecting and categorizing Urban Public Health issues. We used three main categories: (i) build and natural environment , (ii) social environment , and (iii) governance and urban development . The first two categories include subcategories as listed in Table 1 . Since the transformation of urban environments into sustainable places and the shaping of health resources is to a considerable extent a matter of political negotiation processes, we defined the third category governance and urban development. This category goes across the first two categories. We compiled knowledge describing political structures that are shaping and influencing the built, natural, and social environments.

Selected categories of Urban Public Health.

The built and natural environment describes the physical-material level of urban structures as material expressions of human activity and societal constitution. Research here is concerned with relations between physical space and health. The social environment describes the characteristics and properties of communities in and by urban structures, the prevailing social norms, processes of exchange and interaction, and their relation to health. Aspects of the social and physical environment interact with each other and are interdependent [ 15 ]. How these environments interact with each other and how they are shaped largely takes place on the basis of prevailing governance structures.

This paper is divided into five sections. The next section introduces the methods we used to create a compilation, select papers, and analyze results. We then critically review and describe the selected categories of Urban Public Health. This is followed by the discussion and more detailed examination of existing gaps. We conclude with the most critical aspects and recommendations for future research.

2. Materials and Methods

In order to narrow down the project we proceeded in three steps. In step 1, we outlined the conceptual approach for our review by using frameworks addressing urban space as a contributing factor for health [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. In step 2, we categorized the main topics of Urban Public Health, and used them to assign and compile the articles in step 3. Between February and May 2021 we screened the literature by performing a snowball approach in the databases PubMed, Cochrane, and Google Scholar (a tabular overview of the main literature for analysis can be found in the Appendix A , Table A1 ). As a restriction, the language filter was set to English. The methodical approach and search strategy of the narrative review is also illustrated in Figure 1 . Instead of reviewing singular results of studies on single public health aspects of urban environments, we focused our search to existing review articles and reviews of reviews for each of the used keywords in order to cover the range of issues in urban environments. The study area is focused on developed countries. We used the main keywords “Urban”, “Public Health”, and “Urban Health”. The search was refined by varying terms and combinations using predefined specific keywords ( Figure 2 ).

Methodical approach and search strategy for the narrative review.

Keywords of database research and research strategy.

The results were filtered by the first author by screening article titles and abstracts to determine: (a) if they address the spatial component of health risks and resources of urban structures, and (b) if they considered the link between public health and urban spaces. As a result of this screening, 183 papers were selected for a complete in-depth reading. According to the abovementioned criteria, (a) and (b), the final articles were selected for analysis. Finally, we included 120 papers for our review. As our approach is not a systematic review, we refrained from independent assessment of identified reviews. This approach has some limitations: important scientific contributions may be missed due to the selection criteria, e.g., (i) the selection of key words; (ii) the missing double check of excluded articles; (iii) by opting for English-language articles only. However, overall, this approach allowed us to explicitly address prevailing research strands and broad lines of Urban Public Health in order to identify existing research gaps at a more fundamental level.

3.1. Built and Natural Environment

3.1.1. overarching issues.

The built form of the city is a visible expression of the complex urban structures and socio-cultural characteristics of the heterogeneous population. Evidence shows that urban environment has direct and indirect impacts on physical and mental health [ 26 , 27 ]. However, urban environment is also conditioned by understandings of health in the sense of socio-cultural and historical specifications of health, which have constitutive effects on the built form [ 20 , 23 ]. Main characteristics of the built environment that are related to the population health are: buildings and density, land use, scale of streets and streets network, local facilities (services and retail), and public open spaces [ 11 , 14 ]. Mix of land uses, as well as design and maintenance of the urban environment, may support a healthy lifestyle and contribute to improved physical and mental health [ 28 ]. Design strategies determine the connection between morphological and functional features of urban environment that may provide opportunities for public health promotion and protection [ 29 ], but if inadequate, may also impair health. It has been well known that aspects such as high density, inadequate housing, and poor water supply and sanitation promote vector proliferation [ 30 ]. In the last decades, non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and mental health problems, are taking over the vector diseases [ 31 , 32 , 33 ] and can be associated with the build environment [ 34 , 35 ].

Although there is a general trend of increasing life expectancy [ 31 , 36 ] (p. 29), substantial inequalities in life expectancy between deprived and privileged neighborhoods still remain a challenge [ 37 ]. In particular, socioeconomic inequalities in relation to different components of the built environment have come to the fore. For example, Gelormino et al. [ 38 ] highlight key features of the built environment that shape the health of its inhabitants. However, these key features are unequally distributed and closely related to socioeconomic status [ 38 ]. Moreover, Dendup et al. [ 39 ] show in their review associations between development of Type 2 Diabetes mellitus and a health promoting urban environment, such as walkability, air quality, opportunities to easily purchase healthy foods and a range of facilities for physical activity. However, they acknowledge that there is still a lack of evidence on the influence of socioeconomic or demographic factors on the relationship between the environment and type 2 diabetes. Beyond diabetes, mixed land use, pedestrian and bicycle-friendly infrastructure, and street connectivity, as well as green and open spaces also have positive connotations with physical health [ 40 ].

Since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015, there has been a more explicit need to link Urban Public Health with the debate around the ecological crisis and sustainable development. Increased attention is being paid to the potential positive synergies between climate mitigation and adaptation measures and health resources [ 27 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. Reduction of automotive traffic, initiatives for more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly urban and transportation planning, and the importance of green and blue infrastructure for the improvement of air quality are further examples of such synergies [ 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. Possible interventions for more urban green space, for example, are evaluated in terms of co-benefits for climate resilience and human health [ 49 ]. Specifically in deprived neighborhoods, interventions should enable access to affordable quality housing, various local facilities, quality open spaces and various mobility options [ 53 ]. The Corona pandemic has increased awareness of the importance of quality housing, public spaces, and urban greenery. Questions about the post-Corona city should be linked to questions about health promoting, sustainable, and climate-resilient urban transition [ 54 , 55 ] and reduction of inequalities.

3.1.2. Housing Conditions

Since the pioneering work of social medicine in the 19th century, the spread of communicable diseases has been greatly curbed in industrialized countries [ 56 , 57 , 58 ]. The catastrophic living and sanitary conditions at the beginning of industrialization [ 59 ] have been largely remedied. Meanwhile, following classical problems of hygiene and changing living conditions, other factors have come to the foreground. It is now evident, that physical factors such as temperature, air humidity and ventilation, and building materials contaminated with pollutants have an impact on respiratory health [ 60 , 61 ]. Parasites, fungi, and other pollutants have been known to cause asthma and allergies since the 1980s [ 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ]. At the same time, indirect, intangible factors of housing also have an impact on health [ 66 , 67 ]: the home is perceived as a place of refuge, security, and privacy. It is a constant, a space of daily routines and control over one’s own life, an identity-forming place, possibly tied to social norms and status symbols [ 66 ]. The consequences of losing these factors have an impact on health, especially in extreme cases of homelessness [ 67 ]. Beyond the evidence that housing conditions are associated with various diseases, these are not simple cause-and-effect relationships, but a complex network of effects [ 68 ]. These effects not only translate into increased costs for the health care system, but may also create additional costs in education, crime management, or energy supply [ 68 ].

Thus, socioeconomic aspects and the social production of health inequalities are increasingly research issues [ 69 ] (pp. 360–361). Almost twenty years after the Ottawa Charter, Mary Shaw still states that despite the strong historical links between housing conditions and health, too much attention is still paid to factors of individual behavior rather than environmental and socioeconomic structures, and that increasing income inequality is inseparable from the problem of lack of affordable housing [ 67 ] (p. 414). Numerous factors of poor housing conditions are beyond the direct influence of those who are affected, so an effective solution to these problems must be located at a structural level.

Given the recognition that sociodemographic and socioeconomic conditions may have a stronger influence on poor housing than has long been assumed, there is a need for a fundamental revision of previous (primarily biomedical) established research approaches and methods that justify the link between health, urban planning, social and environmental policy [ 70 ]. This would also contribute to more optimal use of available resources [ 60 ].

3.1.3. Mobility and Transport Infrastructures

Urban mobility, connectivity and infrastructure are particularly intertwined with urban development and planning. The orientation of urban planning towards the car-friendly city since the 1960s has meanwhile revealed some downsides from the Urban Public Health perspective. The strong research focus since the 1990s on air pollution, (allergic) respiratory diseases, cancer risks, traffic accidents, and possible interventions are expressions of an emerging critique of urban car traffic [ 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 ]. The use of research findings from other disciplines is being embraced by Urban Public Health; in particular, the use of transportation and planning research to examine the impact of land use and design on public health [ 78 ]. This is due to the recognition that urban and traffic planning of the past decades has “engineered physical activity out of our daily lives.” [ 78 ] (p. 89) Urban Public Health perspectives increasingly advocate for urban planning that considers and promotes improving air quality, solving traffic congestion, and increasing overall quality of life in an integrated manner: “Health researchers need to become more involved in environmental research and policy studies, discussion, and decisions about environmental factors […]” [ 78 ] (p. 89).

In addition to reduced physical activity, high traffic volume and speeds reduce social contact and contact to goods and services [ 79 ]. Transportation infrastructure can connect or disconnect society and thus have impact on social integration, cohesion, and public health [ 79 ]. Street connectivity, mixed land use, access to public transportation, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, short distances, and traffic safety have been recommended to promote public health and are recognized as effective strategies in creating healthy and sustainable compact cities [ 35 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 ].

3.1.4. Digitalization

In addition to these facets of infrastructure issues, the most recent aspect is that of digitalization and its potentials and risks for public health and sustainable cities. A lot of potential is seen with regard to health care and the field of eHealth, e.g., smart hospital or an electronic patient record [ 85 ]. Digitalization can support the transition from cure to prevention, patients’ empowerment, or healthcare efficiency [ 86 ]. The smart city research offers possible synergies with Urban Public Health: sharing economy, electrification and automation, digitalization of different infrastructures can create co-benefits for public health in the form of reduced CO 2 emissions, new uses for freed-up space, increased traffic space [ 87 , 88 ]. However, technical or even economic barriers to access must be considered as potential disadvantages for more health equity [ 89 ]. The question arises about the effects associated with digitalization processes in regard to urban spaces and possible rebound or even negative effects, which must be taken into account. In particular, answering questions about equity, access, (resource-related) sustainability, and the benefits for society will fail without an interdisciplinary approach. Urban Public Health is therefore confronted with the large topic of digitalization as science as a whole. As a phenomenon of societal scale, digitalization is one of the megatrends of the 21st century and potentially generates a great need for research in almost all settings, urban spaces and areas of life.

3.1.5. Climate Change

The discourse around sustainability and the increasing pressure on cities to act, both as a main driver of climate change and as the main addressees for implementing counter-measures, are closely related to the health of the population. Starting with the first United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Rio de Janeiro back in 1992, following the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, and the Paris Agreement of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—cities have become major players in a large-scale socio-ecological transformation.

In the 1990s and early 2000s considerable evidence was generated on the urban environment and the negative health effects of air, water, and soil pollution, noise, exposure to bacteria, viruses, pesticides, and toxins [ 90 , 91 , 92 ]. Today, this research is integrated into the broader debate on climate change and ecological crisis, that is largely framed around the issues of mobility, resource, and energy transition [ 49 , 93 ]. Climate change favors the mitigation of invasive and potentially health-threatening species, such as Ambrosia in Central Europe or other potentially allergenic plants. Additionally, the predicted increase in vector-based diseases and zoonosis (malaria, dengue fever, rabies, coronaviruses, etc.) are threats to human health [ 94 ]. Both increasing urbanization and climate change will further intensify these risks [ 95 ]. The appropriate response to these problems raises questions regarding effective interventions: integrated vector management that likewise promotes environmental management, education and awareness, and inter-sectoral collaboration is considered effective and sustainable [ 96 , 97 , 98 ]. The systematic and regular monitoring of interventions, strategies with more political commitment and social mobilization, exchange of experience and data, pooling of resources, and cooperation would be crucial approaches [ 99 ]. Overall, research addressing the health-promoting components of (urban) nature increased, especially in the context of climate mitigation and adaptation measures.

3.1.6. Urban Nature and Ecosystems

Green and blue infrastructures and nature-based solutions offer great potential to be beneficial in three ways: in terms of ecological sustainability, as a health resource, and for greater health equity [ 49 , 100 ]. The health promoting effects of nature and ecosystem services are broadly positioned, e.g., stress-reducing effects, increased physical activity, reducing effects on cardiovascular diseases, and improved mental health [ 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 ]. The so-called view that greenery has a relaxing and stress-reducing effect [ 105 , 106 , 107 ]. Further potential ecosystem services are: food; air quality regulation; climate regulation; water treatment; moderation of disturbance events; erosion prevention; maintenance of soil fertility; maintenance of life cycles and genetic diversity; but also inspiration for culture, art and design; information for cognitive development [ 103 ]. Availability, accessibility, but also aesthetics are relevant factors for the active use of urban green areas [ 108 , 109 ]. These findings are worth paying much more attention to the synergies and co-benefits of climate research and health research. Future intervention efforts should focus on these benefits. Or in other words: “It seems reasonable to invest in urban natural environments as a general public health intervention” [ 101 ] (p. 381). Urban Public Health could make an important research contribution here, e.g., on questions of the specific design of green spaces, taking into account aspects of access, safety, and quality; or also on questions of the relationship between the degree of biodiversity and human health. In addition, ecological inequalities and environmental justice have received insufficient attention in green space management and urban planning and there is minor attention regarding the links between availability, accessibility, and quality of urban green and socioeconomic inequalities [ 110 ] as well as green gentrification.

3.2. Social Environment

3.2.1. overarching issues.

The question of the role of social factors in public health is not new and the associations between poverty, inequality, and lack of education and health are supported with rich evidence [ 111 ]. In this paper, these aspects are always considered as crosscutting issues in the social, built and natural environments. The genuinely social-spatial perspective of Urban Public Health, which is inextricably linked to social structures, can broaden the field of research on the social determinants of health. In this sense, Urban Public Health asks about the social structures in a city that shapes the lives of the population, combined with physical structures and their evolution through urbanization itself. In this respects, the socio-spatial and physical structures, as well as urban transformation itself, are investigated as linked to each other. Factors such as demography and inequalities are of particular relevance here.

Apparently, different age groups have partly different demands and needs on their physical environments, e.g., on housing conditions, mobility, or access to public space [ 112 ]. Further studies are needed to achieve evidence-based health promotion recommendations that address these needs while tackling inequities [ 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 ].

Tailoring health programs to meet specific needs of population groups (e.g., ethnic, age, gender, minorities) is a recognized key principle of health promotion [ 119 ]. Nevertheless, it remains a challenge to ensure barrier- and discrimination-free access to health resources for all population groups [ 119 ]. Analyzing health disparities along different indicators is thus an important research focus. In that sense, classical demographic indicators, as well as socioeconomic and socio-cultural indicators and their interconnections with structural factors and the physical environment can help to deconstruct identified disparities and inequalities in urban spaces [ 120 ].

3.2.2. Segregation and Gentrification

Socioeconomic disparities and sociocultural differences can be translated in spatial differences [ 57 , 58 , 121 ]. The connection of social, built, and natural environments is well visible when looking at processes of segregation and gentrification. In the United States, there exists a long-standing research tradition that focuses on aspects of segregation, persistent disadvantage of low-income minority neighborhoods, and racism [ 122 , 123 ]. Racism and discrimination and their manifestation in social structures, condition a range of health consequences and inequalities on at least three levels: “institutionalized policies and practices that maintain racial disadvantage, individual racial discrimination and biased treatment, and internalized cognitive processes” [ 124 ] (p. 1140). Systematic housing discrimination and racialized policies that inhibit homeownership for certain population groups have left many neighborhoods in U.S. cities isolated and revealed a geographic pattern of residential segregation [ 125 ]. In order to mitigate social and economic adversity, alternative networks or informal structures are often formed in affected neighborhoods to secure the material resources for these disadvantaged population groups. Although segregated, these neighborhoods can show strong internal integration since the homogenous milieu offers social embedding [ 126 ]. The centrality of urban land use policies and urban planning for urban public health is visible in such segregation processes and effects [ 34 ]. Political decisions about urban planning and development can counteract such processes, or it can stimulate them even further.

Programs and interventions that attempt to break up such structures try to create mixed-income communities, and revitalize disadvantaged urban areas through targeted reinvestment. However, these interventions are often accompanied by adverse effects such as the displacement of low-income urban residents who can no longer afford the rent in revitalized neighborhoods [ 127 ]. In such cases, the health of the domestic population will not improve; in fact, it causes stress and illness due to gentrification effects. As a result, the problem is not solved but rather shifted to other neighborhoods. The health equity perspective is often neglected in urban and housing policies, and the importance of the structural context that had led to segregated neighborhoods is often obscured in public discourse [ 127 ]. Tulier et al. [ 122 ] explored this problem and identified four relevant aspects: (1) neighborhood attributes (infrastructure, economic opportunities/development, social cohesion); (2) individual mechanisms of change (individual health protective resources within a neighborhood experiencing gentrification); (3) neighborhood and individual level mechanisms (economic opportunities and growth, financial status); (4) the role of political and economic institutions (shaping the relationship between gentrification and health).

Gentrification and urban or regional transitions require a deeper understanding of complex macrosocial phenomena and their influence on public health. Studies from the U.S. show that gentrification and displacement are among the most important neighborhood challenges and most common structural psychosocial stressors [ 125 ]. Moreover, gentrification and displacement often reinforce and perpetuate existing power structures and asymmetries [ 123 ]. For this reason, more attention is necessary on the mediating factors of neighborhood change and health, both those that hinder and those that promote health equity.

3.2.3. Social Cohesion and Networks

Community characteristics of neighborhoods, their importance for physical and mental health of the inhabitants, and the creation of mixed communities are among the approaches to health-promoting urban development [ 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 ]. In neighborhoods with weak social cohesion, high levels of violence, and lack of safety, residents are more likely to experience health risks such as sleep deprivation, depression, lack of physical activity, or use of addictive substances [ 132 , 133 , 134 , 135 , 136 ]. Social cohesion thus represents a relevant attribute for health-promoting neighborhoods [ 135 ]. Approaches to strengthening social networks and social connectivity is thus increasingly attracting the attention of Urban Public Health [ 134 ]. Social cohesion in neighborhoods is closely linked to the built environment and to issues such as mobility and infrastructure as connecting or dividing elements (e.g., intimidating spaces: poorly planned and abandoned places, underpasses, heavily travelled roads). However, associations between social cohesion, health, and urban environments deserve more interdisciplinary research attention [ 136 ].

3.2.4. Economic Opportunities and Working Conditions

The urban form, as well as urbanization and urban transformation are largely driven and influenced by economic structures. Urban Public Health has so far paid little attention to these structures, although economic deprivation is recognized as a key driver for health inequalities. The strong correlation between income and health status is transmitted through employment status and contextualized by factors such as gender identity, ethnicity, immigration status, and social class [ 137 , 138 ]. Employment can provide financial security, strengthened social relationships, and increased social status, while precarious employment can also negatively affect all these factors [ 137 , 138 ].

Martins [ 139 ] sees the issue of work and employment as relevant to the development of healthy cities in three ways: (i) Urban Economies , (ii) Place(s) of Work , and (iii) Work/Economy on Place . (i) Urban Economies describe the respective degree of diversity of the economic urban system and the mix of production activities of the existing economic sectors, and the extent to which this results in employment opportunities. For example, topics such as local economic development and alternative economies, how it is discussed from the scientific community on sustainable transformation. In addition, processes of structural change in coal regions has implications for health, as well as the future of work in the face of advancing digitalization. (ii) Place(s) of Work describe the analyses of location and spatial distribution of work, related to work routes and movement spaces, and the quality of workspace. This includes new forms of workspaces or alternative/multiple use possibilities, e.g., due digitalization processes. This is followed by the dimension of (iii) Work/Economy in Place, which deals with the shaping of cities or neighborhoods by economy. Retail, which established itself in the city center and thereby promotes social activities and vivid urban life, is related to different consequences when these structures disappear.

Although there is ample evidence of the health effects of economic factors, including employment, an interdisciplinary research approach is needed to generate more knowledge on the links between the economy and health-promoting urban development. In particular, the multi-layered relations between space, employment, urban economy, and health are not limited to the local level of a city or a neighborhood, but are rather integrated in different spatial scales. Furthermore, integrated approaches need to study different economic sectors, and their structures of production and consumption, taking into account aspects of availability and access [ 140 , 141 ].

3.3. Governance and Urban Development

Urban governance and development policies shape urban environments and thus effect health. The importance of health policies action that improves urban public health, particularly aiming to reduce inequalities, is emphasized [ 142 ]. Data-based information assessed, e.g., by monitoring, surveillance, or health impact assessments are basic tools for an evidence based policy [ 10 ]. Analyses of the WHO’s Healthy Cities Network shows that cooperation between cities as well as between the various sectors within the city is a key element to tackle inequalities and promote good governance and leadership for health and wellbeing [ 143 , 144 , 145 , 146 ]. The benefits and positive contribution of such cooperation networks through mutual knowledge exchange and testing of municipal strategies and interventions have become visible [ 147 , 148 ]. The network has also brought much greater focus to the close linkages between urban development and health, effectively contributing to the dissemination of good practice [ 149 ].

Nevertheless, there remains an implementation gap between internationally formulated goals and the actual transformation of our cities. Despite positive developments, this implementation gap, and the successful setting of a strategic and holistic approach in the sense of Health in All Policies remains a demanding field of health research. Internal institutional barriers, competing interests, hegemonic values, norms, and processing practices block the path to the policy agenda [ 149 , 150 , 151 , 152 ]. Against this background, Urban Public Health has increasingly turned to questions of governance and participation to elevate the potential of broadly involving relevant stakeholders and strengthening participatory processes as effective levers for transforming urban structures and spaces. While citizen participation in designing and implementing health resources, considered a recognized feature of best practice, rarely extends beyond the planning stage [ 153 ]. Better understanding of existing governance structures requires more analyses “of the historical, social, and economic processes that have characterized social relations and citizenship in specific local, national, and global contexts” [ 151 ] (p. 897), to make the production and reproduction of (power) structures recognizable [ 151 ].

4. Discussion

The aim of this paper was to compile current evidence regarding the spatial component of health and disease in urban structures and to identify research issues, which are addressing Urban Public Health. Our approach was expanded through a structural lens to the living conditions in urban environments beyond individual health behaviors. Based on an ex-ante developed conceptual approach, we defined selected categories of Urban Public Health to be used for synthesis of the literature. According to these categories, our review emphasizes both the positive and negative impacts of urban structures on health and linkages between urban structures.

With regard to the selected research issues and urban environments, a wide range of further research needs become visible:

• A need for more research on the political structures that impact public health, urban spaces, and the underlying (power) structures.
• With respect to the built and natural environment, there is a need for epidemiological and public health research to link dimensions of the social environment with different spatial scales.
• The housing issue is still predominantly focused on individual behavior instead of exploring socioeconomic structures. Especially the growing pressure on the housing market, cannot be handled by individuals, but must be answered structurally.
• Digitalization processes and concepts such as smart cities need to be critically questioned and studied for their potential as health resources.
• More evidence is required regarding the needs for, quality of, and access to urban nature for all population groups.
• Place-based interventions, which promote and maintain health need to be developed, monitored and evaluated to obtain evidence on health impacts on different population groups in a city.
• Aspects of segregation and gentrification as well as the role of social networks and social cohesion require further evidence on health impacts. Special attention is necessary on the mediating factors of neighborhood change and health.
• It is crucial to take into account both negative and positive factors for health promotion and equity.
• The identification and assessment of dynamic relationships and complex causal processes that shape urban environments [ 125 ].
• Urban production and consumption structures, transformation processes of economic structures, economic opportunities in cities and neighborhoods, and their implications for health is a further identified research strand for Urban Public Health.

From a more overarching point of view and the perspective of health promotion, it is essential to include interventions that change urban structures, complementary to the ones that change individual behavior. In addition to analyzing risk factors, it is necessary to analyze urban structures in order to identify deep-seated causes of health and disease [ 154 ]. This includes the question of whether and to what extent certain urban systems are health maintaining and/or promoting in their current constitution or what is necessary to bring forth health-promoting potential. Moreover, since urban development is impacted at different scales—from local to global—further phenomena such as globalized markets and resource flows, digitalization and mechanization, migration movements, and climate change need to be examined in terms of Urban Public Health. Especially major issues of this century—urbanization, climate change, and digitalization—have so far been considered from a health perspective only to a limited extent. In particular, the climate crisis is addressed by public health, mainly in terms of risks caused by extreme weather events or invasive species causing (new) infectious diseases. It is essential, however, that Urban Public Health plays a stronger role in shaping climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Its expertise can and must contribute to urban transformation pathways in terms of social, health, and environmental sustainability. In particular, it must bring in the perspective that urban structures serve also as health resources. In this sense, Urban Public Health has to deal with the challenges of urbanization and the complexity of urban structures.

Another challenge is the categorization of the different environments, as carried out by existing conceptual approaches. Categorization is helpful for systematization and greater clarity. However, it can lead to a pillarization of research with partly disciplinary hegemonies, although there are examples that demonstrated the connections and constitutive relationship between urban environments. A systemic approach is necessary to dissolve this pillar structure, address the complexity of urban structures and to advance public health. We argue that Urban Public Health should take this systemic approach and broaden the existing approaches of public health. Because although public health is already an interdisciplinary field of research, it lacks a broader view with regard to the city and urban environments that the spatial perspective can provide. Existing evidence has provided insights into the different dimensions of health and disease and their distribution in different settings. Now, the task of Urban Public Health is to increasingly contextualize and link these findings. Linking findings, also from different disciplines, and developing spatial thinking can overcome existing single evidence and make other correlations visible, which can then also enable new approaches for interventions. Based on this, Urban Public Health should intensify its research regarding the identification of the causes of health and disease through production and appropriation of space, resulting health outcomes, and their distribution. This research perspective could make a helpful contribution and address Urban Public Health understandings that are still missing or only partly explored. This includes, first, the approach of making health resources of urban structures an explicit research issue, in addition to health risks. Second, it includes research approaches that address urban living conditions and contexts, paying particular attention to spatial relationships, rather than individual health behavior. Third, and here we come more to a conceptual understanding of Urban Public Health, there is a need to develop conceptual approaches to link the public health perspective with spatial perspectives from other scientific disciplines.

5. Conclusions

Health takes place within and between urban structures. This makes Urban Public Health a complex and hard-to-grasp field of research. Research to date has already brought much to light in the issues of health risks, but still shows potential in exploring the issues of health resources. This requires interdisciplinary cooperation between public health and various other disciplines, and the development of a common spatial perspective in order to be able to specifically analyze spatial components of health and disease in urban structures. A systemic approach is necessary to develop an understanding of urban development challenges and address complex urban structures that influence health. Urban Public Health, as an interdisciplinary field, can enable different disciplines to incorporate in their approaches an understanding of public health and especially its broadened understanding of health as resource.

This is a perspective that should also be increasingly taken into account in (urban) politics and policy making. A modified understanding of health and the idea of health resources can be made fruitful for cities and urban development. In particular, concepts such as sustainability strategies, climate protection and climate adaptation plans should integrate such a health perspective across all fields of action—in line with the WHO’s Health in All Policies approach.

Focus on health resources and the transformation of urban structures rather than behavior, opens up remarkable potential for an overall societal change. Urban Public Health should contribute to urban environments, which maintain and promote health and make the city a healthy, just, and sustainable place. A perspective of Urban Public Health, as presented in this paper, means to give the inhabitants of a city the opportunity to shape their living environment in a self-determined and healthy way. Moreover, it would enable structural alternatives to the dominant pathogenic understanding of health and the health care system. This implies nothing less than raising and advancing the emancipatory potential for free and equal urban inhabitants [ 20 ].

Main Literature for analysis.

Funding Statement

This research received no external funding.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, resources, data curation, and writing—original draft preparation, J.S. (Judith Schröder); conceptualization, writing—review and editing, supervision, S.M. and J.S. (Julita Skodra). All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Related Topics in Urban Studies

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Best Topics for Research in Urban Design and Planning

• May 27, 2022
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Research in urban and regional planning has grown tremendously in the recent decade. T his section contains the best and most relevant topics related to research in Urban design and regional planning.

Areas of Study

Mediated city.

This theme builds on work done by Kevin Lynch in the early years of the program and focuses on how form and meaning are perceived and communicated in the current city. At issue are the effects of advanced information technology on contemporary culture, as well as the increasing importance of narrative on the form and design of cities. Our work around this theme seeks to understand how urban experience is shaped by the preservation of culture, history and memory, by the development of new kinds of “mediated” places and activities in the public realm. We are also interested in the tools and technologies by which changes in urban form and landscape can be visualized and understood.

Urban Transformation

This theme is concerned with the future of cities and regions of the 20th century. Industrial land, infrastructure, warehouses, housing, ports and waterfronts, rail-lines and depots, mines and oil fields, are among an inventory of abandonment, all seeking temporary and permanent re-use. Our inquiries around this theme hope to clarify new design approaches to urban and regional transformation, involving elements such as education, ecology, retrofitting and cultural development as well as new forms of housing and transportation.

Urban Performance

The quality of urban life and work is currently being challenged and shaped by many forces such as demographic patterns (aging and disability, for example), international economics (globalization and the demise of distance), and environmental pressures (sustainability, resource conservation, energy). Our inquiries around this theme ask how cities can be reshaped in the face of these forces; how design and construction standards affect livability and energy consumption; what role citizens should play in determining urban quality in a contemporary democracy; and how one understands the form of the vast, poor urban areas of the world and the enormous discrepancy between them and places of wealth.

Design Paradigms

With the re-evaluation/repudiation of modernism as the dominant perspective on design, this theme takes to task the development of design paradigms appropriate to contemporary urban circumstances both in the United States and other parts of the globe. Our inquiries around this theme center on the making of good public places, the expression of private and public environments in the city, the aesthetics of popular demand, the reshaping of the form of low-density cities and public housing, and the role that design can play in the changing peripheries of cities.

Managing and financing urban infrastructure

As cities expand and incomes increase, finding innovative solutions for sustainable mobility becomes increasingly important. This specialisation seeks to provide hands-on knowledge and expertise on how local governments can most efficiently manage, finance and operate municipal infrastructure to deliver desired levels of service.

This specialisation is connected to IHS’ Green City work field in which providing resilient, energy efficient and smart infrastructure play a prominent role in helping cities to become more sustainable and green. The primary focus is on developing countries and countries in transition.

Urban housing, equity and social Justice

Housing should be understood as ‘more than houses’. Researchers active within this strand of research strive to link housing issues with the livelihoods strategies of the urban poor. In addition, livelihood assets are analysed in view of their vulnerability and institutional context.

This translates into the importance of looking at the housing problem from a holistic standpoint. Physical, political, social, economic and environmental issues interrelate with each other. The objective is to produce urban environments that should ultimately reduce poverty, and increase quality of life. Both housing and social policies, strategies and instruments need to be designed with a clear understanding of these aspects if they are ever to efficiently address the problem of urbanisation of poverty.

Urban Environment, sustainability and climate Change

Cities all over the world experience severe environmental and climate change related problems. This research theme addresses new approaches for urban environment and climate change management.

UECC is one of IHS’ largest research teams that works towards understanding the impact and use of urban environmental policies and instruments including urban climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Urban strategies and planning

Around the world, urban professionals increasingly face challenges such as accelerated urbanisation, an increase in informal housing, and climate change. In order to deal with these challenges urban planning has moved away from comprehensive master plans to more flexible strategic plans. Contemporary strategic planning integrates more social and economic considerations into the physical and spatial dimensions of planning.

Researcher within this specialisation seeks to offer creative and innovative solutions to better understand the needs of different social and economic interests within urban planning management. Different from the classical study of urban planning, this strand focusses on the combination of urban planning policies, city development strategies and public-private partnerships.

Urban competitiveness and resilience

Cities cannot be understood as autonomous entities. There are affected by complex processes on the local, regional and global scale. Given the increasing dependency of cities on global economic networks, it is crucial to find the balance between social wellbeing, local economic development and global strategies that can ensure resilience to socioeconomic shocks and fluctuations.

This research theme investigates how globalisation processes, local economic development, and urban conditions can enable cities to successfully compete or collaborate with other cities on various scales. This is done by analysing and comparing urban networks, economic geography, foreign direct investments and local economic development as well as city marketing and branding.

Urban Conservation

Urban conservation is concerned with those parts of the built environment that are of architectural or historic significance. This includes buildings (individually or in groups), localities (streets, blocks, environments or precincts), special gardens or landscapes, and other structures.

Researchers, advocates and policymakers have proposed urban conservation as an emerging, integrative discipline that can contribute to sustainable cities by delivering co-benefits to human and non-human components of biodiversity

Research Topics:

Spatial planning.

• Growth Effects of Urban-Rural and Intra-Regional Linkages on Non-Metropolitan Counties and Communities
• Spatial Distribution of Best Management Practices for Stormwater Management
• The application of computer-based information systems to urban planning and public policy making
• How are the urban poor involved in the design and implementation of neighbourhood development programmes?
• What is the impact of neighbourhood development programmes on the local initiatives and livelihoods of the urban poor?
• Urbanization As An Important Determinant In Spatial Organization
• Effects Of Rural-Urban Migration On Public Utilities 
• Assessing The Spatial Distribution And Locational Impact Of Petrol Service Stations 
• Appraisal Of The Urban Management Challenge Of Informal Land Delivery

Urban Housing

• Relationships and Support: A Qualitative Study of Homeless Families 
• Comparative analysis of rent differential in selected residential areas 
• The Role Of Co-Operative Societies Towards Development Of Rural Communities  
• Cluster Planning and Cluster Strategy in Regional Economic Development Organizations
• The Broader Social Network of Community Planning: A Diagnostic Tool for Communities to Assess Their Planning Capacity
• Sustainable Urban Housing Development through Planning Mechanism
• Migration Patterns and Its Impact On Urbanization And Urban Housing
• Housing transformation, rent gap and gentrification
• Impact Of Slum On Value Of Residential Properties
• Social housing in low and middle-income countries (incl. public housing, government-built housing, subsidized housing programmes, low-income housing, affordable housing)
• Infrastructural Development, Real Estate Agency Rebranding And Review Of National Housing Policy
• The Impact Of Industrialization On Rural Development
• The Role Of Private Partnership In Housing Finance, Delivery And Maintenance 

Urban Public Spaces

• Multifunctional public open spaces for sustainable cities
• Immigrations in the public space: understanding urban cultural landscapes
• Urban Public Space as Social Interaction Space
• Modeling, analyzing, and visualizing human space appropriation
• Smart engagement for smart cities: Design patterns for digitally augmented, situated community engagement
• Evaluating publicness of public spaces
• Informal public places and its transforming patterns in the city
• Urban public realm : a spatial manifest of culture
• City planning strategies for women’s safety in public spaces

Urban Transportation

• The implementation of an integrated transportation planning model with GIS and expert systems for interactive transportation planning 
• Increasing freight transport efficiency using intermodal transport.
• Epidemic and mobility. A New Paradigm for mobility plans after the Covid-19 crisis
• Alternatives Selection for Sustainable Transportation System.
• Sustainable management of public transportation system
• Environmental impacts of everyday mobility
• Environmental assessment of public bus transportation systems
• Minimization of Fuel Consumption in City Bus Transportation
• Proposed framework for sustainability screening of urban transport projects in developing countries
• Effects of speed management and roadway parameters on traffic flow along arterials
• Sustainability and business management in transportation companies
• Factors that contribute to unsafe behavior and leads to an unsustainable urban transport
• Safety and security of women and girls in public transport
• Inclusive public transportation for differently abled people 
• Challenges in provision of universally accessible tansport facilities
• Assessment Of Urban Bus Service
• Analysis Of Intra Urban Traffic Problems In Rivers State
• Urban Futures: Transportation in an Era of Fuel Shortages

Environmental Issues

• Sustainable and green energy
• Impact Of Environmental Planning On Rural Development
• An Assessment Of Cross Ventilation In Public Buildings
• Flood Generating Structures In Kubwa Urban Landscape
• Assessment Of Impact Of Urbanization 
• Causes Of Excess Flood
• Impact Of Environmental Problems
• Consequences Of Incompatible Land Uses On The Environment
• The role of urban spatial structure in reducing VMT and GHG emissions 
• Impact of climate change on the ecological state of earth natural resources.
• Impact of climate change on agricultural activities across the globe.
• Solutions to the current climate change crisis.
• Future implications of climate change with the current trends
• Urban governance arrangements for climate change adaptation

Heritage Conservation

• The Urban Conservation Approach
• The Role of Public-Private Partnerships and the Third Sector in Conserving Heritage Buildings, Sites, and Historic Urban Areas
• Urban Conservation and Regeneration
• Managing change in the historical city
• A framework for adapting urban forests to climate change
• Equity in Heritage Conservation
• The Role of Traditional Neighborhood Centers in Procreating Sense of Place in the Modern Cities
• Heritage place inventory: A tool for establishing the significance of places
• Building Conservation and Urban Regeneration
• Historic Preservation as Urban Regeneration 
• The creative response to ruins following the conservation principle
• Historic Cinemas Conservation: The Difficulty of Re-Development Proposals
• A Study of Heritage Authenticity in the Context of Heritage Tourism
• Historic Cinemas Conservation
• Revitalisation of urban areas with heritage value – towards a heritage precinct conservation and improvement plan
• Repair techniques for conservation of heritage structures
• Planning urban heritage through stakeholder participation 
• Rethinking adaptive reuse
• Heritage conservation and cultural continuity
• Landscape management of a heritage site
• Landscape management and conservation of biodiversity 
• Industrial heritage 

GIS, Space syntax and Bigdata

• Geospatial data for energy, environmental science, climate change, and geology-related research
• Geospatial data and maps for research on humanitarian topics. Includes data on armed conflict, agriculture & food security, refugees, and links to multidisciplinary humanitarian data repositories.
• Crowd Simulation – Mastering the collective dynamics of interacting objects in urban phenomena at the scale of individual households, people, and units of real estate and at time scales approaching “real-time”
• City Engine – Assessing feasibility and plan implementation using Esri’s City Engine improving urban planning, architecture, and overall design
• Integration of GIS and BIM – Operating a facility with BIM (building information modeling) because of its ability to analyze information and integrate data from different systems. 
• Urban Model Development Feasibility – Evaluating multiple land use scenarios; testing and refining transportation plans; producing small-area concept plans, and modeling complex regional issues with Envision Tomorrow
•  Building Footprints – Crowd-sourcing digital mapping
• Land Use Policy – Reproducing individual behavior with agent-based modeling to simulate their behaviors and outcomes having a direct impact on the surrounding landscape.
• Space Syntax Models – Gaining a better understanding of human behavior and connectivity through a graphic representation of space configuration in urban structures
• Future Development Patterns – Locating future growth and evaluating scenarios such as loss of prime agricultural land.
• Land Use – Generating polygons and classification with the multi-resolution segmentation algorithm
• Homeless Shelters – Analyzing urban inequalities and homelessness to allocate homeless shelters appropriately.
• Web-Based GIS for Collaborative Planning and Public Participation: An Application to The Strategic Planning
• Web Based Geo-Information Services for Land Use Planning.
• Water Balance of a Catchment: A Remote Sensing and GIS Approach.
• Visualizing The Application of GIS in Transformation Towards a Sustainable Development and A Low Carbon Society.
• Using GIS to Study Lusters of Urban Crime and Safety in Transport Nodes.
• Using GIS for Developing Sustainable Urban Growth.
• Use of GIS in City Planning Development Enforcement and EIA
• Use of GIS as A Tool to Improvement of Solid Waste Management 
• Urban Land Use Land Cover Classification Performance of Machine Learning (ML) Algorithms and Change Detection.

Other Topics related to other urban design and planning:

• Managing urban infrastructure and building projects
• Water, Sanitation and The Modern City
• From Mosques and Coffeehouses to Squares and Cafes: The Production and Transformation of Political Public Spaces and Social Life
• Contested Politics and the Production of Urban Space 
• Foreign Investments and City Making
• Urban Development and Quality of Life of the Elderly
• Moving towards disaster: examining the changing patterns of social vulnerability in a multi-hazard urban environment
• Sustainable drink water sanitation
• What type of initiatives do the urban poor (low-income families, slum dwellers) take, individually or collectively, to improve the liveability of their settlement?
• The relationship between different urban designs and environmental impacts
• Multi-level and multi-actor governance
• Climate change and environmental decision making and finance
• How are cities planned?
• What visions does urban planning follow and whose vision is it?
• What are the underlying features of urban development and what is the role of self-organisation?
• How do micro-interventions (such as placemaking and streetscaping) connect with planning and implementation on the municipal and national levels?
• What factors determines a city’s global competitiveness?
• What urban characteristics are attract foreign direct investments?
• How to develop more resilient cities with healthy relationships between local, regional and global interests?
• Which economic sectors should be promoted in order to boost sustainable local economic development and social wellbeing?
• How does global economic unevenness affect economic inequality in African countries and cities?
• Evaluation Of Cost Recovery For Water Supply
• An Assessment Of Tourism Potentials
• Analysis Of The Effects Of Socio-Economic Characteristics On Tourism Habits Among Residents
• Analysis Of The Patronage Characteristics Of Tourism Destinations
• Analysis Of Women’S Participation And Incorporation In Waste Picking And Solid Waste Management
• Appraisal Of Tourism Habits Of Academic Staff
• Assessment Of Residents’Attitudes Towards Recreation 
• Appraisal Of Sanitary Facilities In Public Areas
• Agricultural Information Sources And The Production Capacity Of Cassava Farmers In Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District
• Self-Help Programmes And Rural Development In Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area
• Tenement Housing And Induced Domestic Conflict
• Waste Generation And Management Strategies
• Impact Of Public Pit Toilet System And Its Associated Problems
• Problems And Prospects Of Land Registration 
• Causes Of Construction Project Failures And Abandonment
• The Impact of Urban Relocation: A Follow-Up Study

What other topics should be added in the list?—Leave a comment below.

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94 Urban Planning Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best urban planning topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 most interesting urban planning topics to write about, 👍 good research topics about urban planning, ❓ urban planning research questions.

• Ethics of Data Misuse in Urban Planning Every member of the AICP is responsible to the people who give their data and are the actual consumers of the projects that the planners initiate.
• Urban Planning Problems in New Delhi The growth of urban centers is usually a sign of economic stability and the political maturity of a country. The size of the population in Delhi is the driver behind its environmental problems. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Gentrification: Urban Planning in Canada It is important to find a way of addressing the concerns that stakeholders have to eliminate the current controversies in the new approach to urban planning.
• Urban Planning and Redevelopment Urban planning is a discipline that explores aspects of the built and environment of communities and municipalities. The Harrapan civilizations, the Mesopotamia, Ur, and cities of the Indus valley in India are among the earliest […]
• Urban Planning and Zoning Categories The goal of zoning is to ensure that the different types of land use are separated and that the uses are compatible with one another. Zoning categories are very important because they regulate the use […]
• Issues Affecting Urban Planning in “City of God” Film The author of the movie draws the reader’s attention to some of the factors that affect urban planning. Therefore, this call for a combined effort to see that each issues is addressed fully in order […]
• Professional Urban Planning and Practices Reviewing the knowledge, skills, and components of the curriculum to ensure that they address the planning needs of the evolving world is a great example of an approach that focuses on the future of professional […]
• Development and Theories in Urban Planning Mainly, conceptual planning and the rational-comprehensive planning theories are frameworks builders should adopt to cater to diverse issues and fulfil their responsibility to the earth as stipulated in the bible.
• Urban Planning Code of Ethics Ethics can help planners foster an integral, moral, and trustworthy environment in the planning process and make socially acceptable approaches/ For instance, explaining to stakeholders existing and anticipated social problems that may occur in the […]
• Governmental Relations in Urban Planning This verse highlights the importance of having a clear and meaningful vision for the future, which is reflected in the city’s approach to planning.
• Urban Planning Development and Theories For example, during the period of city creation in the 17th century in Europe, urban planning, the creation of architectural ensembles and public spaces, and the design of local facilities have long been actively used.
• The Impact of the Urban Planning Housing, neighborhoods, and real estate markets are primarily determined by urban planning, policies, and practices, the failures of which are the causes for the existing housing problems, but a healthy neighborhoods approach can be a […]
• Internet, Architecture, and Urban Planning: William J. Mitchell’s “City of Bits” Professor William Mitchell, a professor of ‘Architecture and Media Arts and Science in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’, has written the book called “City of Bits”, which deals with the relationship among internet, architecture and […]
• The City Beautiful Movement and Urban Planning This quickly led to conflict with public interest and led to the formation of city planning commissions, intended to account for public input in city planning.
• Michael Apted’s “Thunderheart”: Urban Planning His role was to investigate the circumstances that led to the murder of a Native American who was a follower of the American Indian Movement.
• Urban Planning Optimization and Homelessness Therefore, the urban planning should be revised regarding those private providers’ interests: the risk of failure for future city development would strongly increase in the areas of possible economic concern.
• Optimizing Urban Planning to Address Homelessness Researchers use sensitivity analysis to assess the contribution of single preference parameters to the uncertainty of the ranking of alternatives. In the same manner, authorities can create a database consisting of all the shelters for […]
• Internet of Things in a Work of an Urban Planning Specialist Due to the fact that urban planning ultimately targets the experiences of urban dwellers, the internet of things and is vital to consider for a city designer.
• Urban Planning: City Summary Grayslake, IL It is located to the north of Chicago’s downtown approximately 64km away, and the west of Lake Michigan approximately 23km away, and to the south of Wisconsin border approximately 24km away.
• Urban Planning: Transit-Oriented Development Lynch defines efficiency in terms of cost: the less costly the creation and the maintenance of a system is, the more efficient it can be considered.
• Urban Planning: “The Great Good Place” by Ray Oldenburg The author wrote the book in 1999 in an attempt to show the significance of casual and open gathering places, which he referred to as “third places”.
• Sustainable Urban Planning in West Loop Area Due to the global and ubiquitous nature of environmental challenges and the adverse effects of the pollution of the atmosphere and oceans, deforestation, and the destruction of sea beds and ecosystems, the need for sustainable […]
• Urban Planning and Growing Population Through the use of urban planning, it is possible to design, control, and manage the layout of the urban and suburban areas.
• Urban Planning Issues in the “Boyz n the Hood” Film Boyz n the Hood reveals the problem of the suburbanization of the society and non-functional urban environment, which is typical of the areas similar to the one shown in the movie.
• Green Communities in Urban Planning Under such circumstances, much attention is paid to green communities as the most appropriate form of living in balance with nature one of the examples of such a green community in Copenhagen.
• Urban Planning Issues About the Movie “City of God” This is where he also discovers corruption and collaboration in between the Kenyan government, the pharmaceutical corporation, and his fellow British colleagues. The main cause for lack of social mobility is limited of education.
• Urban Planning Issues About the Movie “Julie and Julia” Paris is portrayed as superior to the New York City and Julia’s recipes seem to influence the way the residents of Paris as well as the New Yorkers eat.
• “Gone Baby Gone” Movie: Urban Planning Issues The residents of the area are also suspicious that the police are not honest in their dealings and this makes it difficult for the two detectives to resolve Amanda’s abduction.
• Urban Planning Aspects: “Before Sunset” Urban planning is defined as the process of controlling the utilization of design and land of an urban development, with the aim of ensuring that communities and settlements in the urban areas are orderly developed.
• Canadian Urban Planning, Housing, and Women
• When Urban Planning Doctrine Meets Low Density Countryside
• Urban Planning, Modern and Postmodern Design
• Project and Urban Planning at the University of California
• European Urban Planning Systems: Diversity and Convergence
• Smart Methods for Environmental Externalities: Urban Planning, Environmental Health and Hygiene in the Netherlands
• Geographic Information System and Its Application in Urban Planning and Environment
• Environmental Management and Urban Planning Practices
• Urban Planning and Information and Communication Technology: Ideas and Facts
• Ecological Urban Planning and Design: A Systematic Literature Review
• The City Beautiful Movement: The Urban Planning Practices
• Urban Planning Management System in Los Angeles: An Overview
• Urban Planning and the Geographic Information System
• Kevin Lynch and His Contribution to the Urban Planning Theory
• Urban Planning: The History of Cycling Infrastructure
• Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design
• Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure in Urban Planning
• Women, Housing and Urban Planning in Canada
• Urban Planning Community and Economic Development
• Multitype Green-Space Modeling for Urban Planning Using GA and GIS
• Social Mix and the City: Challenging the Mixed Communities Consensus in Housing and Urban Planning Policies
• Urban Planning and Its Role of the Public
• Urban Planning Critical Issues on Urban Development
• Environmental Holism and the Biophilic Hypothesis in Urban Planning
• The Similarities and Differences in Urban Planning in Italy and The Netherlands
• Classifying and Valuing Ecosystem Services for Urban Planning
• Urban Planning and Development Theories of Paul Peterson
• How The Urban Planning and Development of Jane Jacobs
• Urban Planning and Railway Corridors: Resolving Regulatory Dysfunction in Australia
• Urban Heat Island Adaptation Through Urban Planning and Design: The Struggle of the City of Los Angeles
• Urban Planning and the Location of Environmental Amenities
• Urban Planning with the Aid of Factor Analysis Approach: The Case of Isfahan Municipality
• Urban Planning, Architecture, and the Contributions of Rome
• Washington, D.C.: The First Example of Urban Planning
• Urban Planning Policy for Realizing Public Objectives Through Private Development in Seoul
• Urban Planning for the New Buildings
• Scientific Reasoning and Methods in Urban Planning
• Risk, Uncertainty, and Spatial Distinction: A Study of Urban Planning in Stockholm
• Paris and London: Late 19th Century Urban Planning
• Overcrowding and Urban Planning in Victorian London
• What Does an Urban Planning Do?
• Why Urban Planning Is Important?
• What Does Urban Planning Focus On?
• What Are the Goals of Urban Planning?
• What Is Urban Planning in Simple Words?
• What Are the Types of Urban Planning?
• How Does Urban Planning Affect the Environment?
• Which City Has the Best Urban Planning?
• Is Urban Planning Similar to Civil Engineering?
• What Is the Difference Between Urban Design and Urban Planning?
• What Is an Example of Urban Planning?
• What Are the Factors of Urban Planning?
• How Can Urban Planning Be Improved?
• Which Software Is Used for Urban Planning?
• Is Urban Planning and Architecture Same?
• What Are the Challenges of Urban Planning?
• How Urban Planning Affects Economy?
• What Is the Most Important Issue in Urban Planning?
• How Does Urban Planning Affect Quality of Life?
• How Is Urban Planning Sustainable?
• What Influences Urban Planning?
• How Does Urban Planning Relate to Architecture?
• What Are the Reasons for Urban Planning Failure?
• What Is Level of Urban Planning?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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The application of resilience theory in urban development: a literature review

• Review Article
• Published: 23 May 2022
• Volume 29 , pages 49651–49671, ( 2022 )

Cite this article

• Li Kong 1 ,
• Xianzhong Mu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8211-4439 1 ,
• Guangwen Hu 1 &
• Zheng Zhang 1  

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In the complex context of urbanization and climate change, how to improve the resilience of cities to deal with various uncertain and unpredictable threats is a new topic with both theoretical and practical challenges. In this paper, the researches on urban resilience are summarized using the bibliometric analysis combined with the visualization analysis. We provide a systematic and objective review of resilience applied to urban development focusing on its conceptual frameworks, research tendencies, and assessment methods. The analysis results demonstrate that an increasing attention has been given to urban resilience, especially in the field of climate change. The degree of research varies significantly in different countries, with the USA dominating in the number of publications, followed by the UK and China. Scholars’ attention to urban resilience in different periods is closely related to the development background and disasters experienced by their countries, but there are also some commonalities. Meanwhile, the multi-dimensional research on urban resilience has been recognized by many scholars. Quantitative assessment tools such as simulation model and optimization model have been widely used to assess the level of urban resilience. Based on this, we put forward the future research trends in this field and provide a potential guide for future application of urban resilience.

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Introduction

The city is a highly concentrated area of population, industry, and wealth, and it is an important place for people to live and work (Bloom et al. 2008 ). Although cities account for only 2% of the earth’s surface, they consume 75% of the world’s resources (Madlener and Sunak 2011 ). Urbanization is an important phenomenon of urban development, which is related to the concentration of urban population, economic activities, and resource consumption. Given the continuous expansion in size and ongoing increase in complexity of cities, a proportionate increase in the vulnerability of cities to extreme events and disasters can be observed (Ribeiro and Pena Jardim Gonçalves 2019 ). Moreover, public health events could also have a great impact on cities, with the COVID-19 a clear example that trigger health, social, and economic consequences for cities (Wister and Speechley 2020 ). Surveys show that 95% of COVID-19 cases occur in urban settlements, affecting more than 1500 cities around the world (Zhu et al. 2020 ; Acuto et al. 2020 ).

Based on this premise, how to resist these potential hazards is a hot topic in the field of urban planning.

With the acceleration of urbanization, resilience, as an important frontier theory in the field of public security, provides a systematic framework for solving urban security risks and enhancing urban disaster resistance. Therefore, enhancing urban resilience has become a key link to achieve sustainable development under the increasing urban pressure, and resilience theory has been gradually applied in urban management. As a new research perspective, resilience has become an important field of urban research and a priority goal of urban construction.

In the 1990s, the concept of resilience was first introduced into the field of urban management (Tobin 1999 ). In 2002, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) proposed the topic of “resilient cities,” which was introduced into urban and disaster prevention research, setting off a wave of research on urban resilience (Motesharrei et al. 2016 ). In 2013, the Rockefeller Foundation initiated the 100 Resilient Cities Program, with the goal of assisting cities around the world in becoming more resilient to the social, physical, and economic threats that increasingly affect the twenty-first century (Spaans and Waterhout 2017 ). Subsequently, the construction of resilient cities has been widely discussed and concerned in various cities. In London, The Risk Management and Resilience Program was published in 2011 to improve its ability to respond to extreme weather events and improve the living quality of citizens; New York introduced A Stronger, More Resilient New York plan in 2013, which laid out initiatives to build resilient cities; Tokyo put forward the Regional Plan of Metropolitan Territorial Strength and Resilience in 2016 (Guan and Gao 2021 ); and in China, academics and policymakers have an increasingly profound understanding of the role of resilience in the development and construction of cities, such as the proposal of “Sponge City” and “Park City.” In recent years, the urban master plans of Beijing, Shanghai, and other cities have emphasized “strengthening the ability of cities to cope with disasters and improving the resilience of cities” (Zheng and Lin 2017 ). On the whole, resilience theory expands the connotation and application of urban public safety management system (Shang and Huang 2020 ).

At present, how to effectively enhance urban resilience has emerged as an important research topic. In view of the urgent policy and practice needs of countries, this paper reviews literatures on urban resilience from three aspects: conceptual frameworks, research tendencies, and assessment methods, and summarizes the application of resilience theory in urban development. On the basis of reviewing and analyzing about the urban resilience literature, we put forward views on current trends and propose future research space.

Conceptual framework

Resilience originally meant “bounce back” or “recover and return to the original state,” and the concept was first used in engineering and psychology (Klein et al. 2003 ). Most scholars take Holling’s research (Holling 1973 ) for the beginning of the modern resilience theory. He pointed out the multi-steady-state characteristics of ecosystems and used the concept of resilience to study system problems for the first time (Holling 1996 ). Then, the study of resilience further evolved from an early urban ecosystem to social-ecological systems that integrated social dimension (Folke 2006 ). In the context of social-ecological systems, resilience is related to the system’s ability to self-organize, learn, and adapt (Cumming and Peterson 2017 ; Sterk et al. 2017 ). Since then, resilience has been widely used in scientific fields.

The concept of resilience has developed in three main stages (Li et al. 2019 ): engineering resilience, ecological resilience, and evolutionary resilience. Engineering resilience assumes that the system exists in a single equilibrium state and focuses on the system’s resistance to impact and the speed of recovery to equilibrium state (Pendall et al. 2009 ), which is suitable for the study of physical systems; ecological resilience emphasizes that systems have multiple equilibrium states and reflects the ability of the system to absorb maximum impact before changing its structure and function to another equilibrium state (Reggiani 2013 ), which is mainly applied to the study of ecosystem; and evolutionary resilience is a long-term dynamic process (Hudson 2010 ) and it emphasizes the ability of a system to achieve long-term development by constantly adjusting its economic, social, and political structure to adapt to frequent disturbances, which is applicable to the study of economic systems. Evolutionary resilience concerns the dynamic disequilibrium evolution of the system and emphasizes the adaptability cycle of innovation and learning. Therefore, it is widely recognized and provides a profound theoretical foundation for the application and practice of resilience theory.

With the further expansion of research range, scholars and policymakers have paid more attention to the concept of resilience and put forward some general definitions. For example, Haimes ( 2009 ) pointed out “resilience refers to the ability of a system to withstand significant damage under unacceptable degradation parameters and recover at an appropriate time and reasonable costs and risks.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) described the resilience as “a system’s ability to anticipate, absorb, accommodate, or recover from the impact of a hazardous event” (Rana 2020 ). Cinner and Barnes ( 2019 ) pointed out “resilience is commonly defined as the ability to cope with changing social or environmental conditions while maintaining main structural, functional, and identity elements.” Convertino and Valverde ( 2019 ) put forward “resilience can be seen as the response of a system to the observations or predictions of one or more definable risks.”

Bruce et al. ( 2020 ) defined resilience as “the ability of a system to persist, adapt and transform when conditions require it.” In addition, some scholars argued that “as a concept, resilience is both appealing and intimidating because it necessitates a coherent and multidisciplinary explanation” (Barrett et al. 2021 ). Although there is no consensus on defining resilience, some similarities can be observed in these definitions, which are based on the accepted characteristics of resilience: robustness, recoverability, redundancy, intelligence and adaptability etc.

In recent years, resilience has become a visible term and has been used to different fields of knowledge. Many other disciplines have started using the terminology, such as agriculture (Bahta and Myeki 2021 ; Córdoba Vargas et al. 2020 ), environment (Manyena et al. 2019 ), energy (He et al. 2017 ; Maryono et al. 2016 ), climate change (Heinzlef et al. 2020 ; Keshavarz and Moqadas 2021 ) and transportation (Leobons et al. 2019 ; Wang et al. 2020 ) etc. For the sake of study, the performance of resilience has aroused scholars’ discussion. Some scholars believe that resilience is reflected as a process of the system (Sherrieb et al. 2010 ), while others believe that it is a result and state that reflects the system capability (Kahan et al. 2009 ). Furthermore, some scholars believe that, ideally, resilience should be a combination of process and outcome states (Cox and Hamlen 2015 ; Cutter et al. 2008 ). The performance of resilience varies in different research fields slightly. Specifically, it is mainly manifested as resist, coping force, recover, and adapt in the field of infrastructure (Hosseini et al. 2016 ; Wu and Chen 2021 ); as the availability, accessibility, affordability, and acceptability of energy supply, transportation, and distribution in the field of energy (Sharifi and Yamagata 2016 ); and as community’s resources, ability to adapt and absorb disturbances in the field of society (Rapaport et al. 2018 ).

Urban resilience

The expansion of large cities and the increase of urban diseases are the problems facing the society today. In response to threats to urban survival and sustainable development, urban resilience has emerged. Compared with previous studies on urban risk, urban disaster, and urban vulnerability, urban resilience tends to mean how much risk a city can withstand and how long it can recover after a disaster. It is a comprehensive performance of improving urban risk resistance ability, reducing urban vulnerability, and reducing urban loss after disaster. By contrast, urban resilience is more strategic, global, and perspective (Zheng et al. 2018 ). A diagram of the related concepts is shown in Fig.  1 . Since 2019, the impact of COVID-19 on urban areas has increased the focus on urban resilience (Kapucu et al. 2021 ).

The relationship between major concepts

The urban system consists of many interdependent and interactive networks containing different physical and social elements. The vulnerability of cities exists everywhere, from infrastructure to transport, energy and resource supply etc. Godschalk ( 2003 ) proposed that resilient cities are sustainable networks of physical system and human community which can manage extreme events and it must be able to survive and operate in the face of disaster. That is, urban resilience is a comprehensive concept that includes both “hard indicators” (infrastructure, transportation, etc.) and “soft indicators” (economic, social, etc.). Therefore, in the early years, urban resilience theory was applied in physical and socio-economic fields. Where, physical resilience mainly refers to the resilience of infrastructure (Dhar and Khirfan 2017 ; Spaans and Waterhout 2017 ), economic resilience mainly involves the healthy level of economic development (Klein et al. 2017 ), and social resilience refers to the recovery capacity of communities and people (Friend and Moench 2013 ).

With the emergence and prominence of many urban problems, the main concern of urban resilience research is to improve the capacity of cities to cope with various natural disasters and socio-economic risks under the background of climate change, globalization, and urbanization. These capabilities include the ability of cities to take measures before, during, and after destructive events to limit their negative impacts (Heinzlef et al. 2020 ) and also include the ability of cities to keep or restore to their intended functions in the face of disturbance on temporal and spatial scale (Meerow et al. 2016 ). Overall, urban resilience appears to be an appropriate response to the increased risk in urban areas.

The concept of “urban resilience” has developed from the technological sciences (Pimm 1988 ; Hollnagel and Woods 2006 ) and environmental and biosciences (Holling 1973 , 1996 ; Adger et al. 2011 ). With the deepening of scholars’ understanding, resilience theory has been widely used in many fields of urban development. In different research fields, researchers have different priorities on urban resilience and have proposed different definitions, as shown in Table 1 .

Combined with the literature review and Table 1 , we can see that the definition of urban resilience is mainly proposed from two perspectives essentially. On the one hand, it is proposed in the wake of threats to the city, and on the other hand, it is proposed under the requirements of urban sustainability, aiming to improve the capacity of system services. Therefore, although there is some heterogeneity in definitions, there are correlations and similarities between them, and they are generally dynamic, malleable, and unbalanced (Li et al. 2021 ). However, it is worth noting that the dynamic and fuzzy definition of urban resilience also challenges the transformation of resilience from a theoretical concept into practical urban intervention measures (Brand and Jax 2007 ; Wardekker et al. 2020 ), which determines the difficulty of applying resilience into practice to some extent.

Visualized analysis on urban resilience

This paper analyzes the trends and characteristics of the research on urban resilience through bibliometric analysis combined with visualization analysis. The research tool in this part is Citespace software, which is one of the most popular knowledge mapping tools created by Chen in 2004 (Chen 2004 ; Ji and Pei 2019 ). Specifically, in the retrieval process, “ urban resilience ” or “the resilience of city” or “resilient city” or “urban risk and recovery capability” or “urban disaster and recovery capability” are selected as the searching keywords from “Web of Science” and “Scopus” databases. Then, subjects with more than 100 literatures are selected as the search scope, then the first 3000 literatures in the two databases are selected according to the correlation ranking. On this basis, we use the “Remove Duplicates” function in Citespace to remove duplicate documents from the two databases, and use the remaining documents as samples for bibliometric analysis in our research. This section is carried out mainly from two aspects: publication outputs analysis and research countries analysis, so as to clarify the research status and main research topics of urban resilience deeply.

Analysis of publication outputs

Quantitative analysis of the publications.

With the development of urban resilience theory, a substantial body of research has been published on urban resilience. In order to intuitively analyze the publication quantity of urban resilience in different periods, we display the annual publication trend of sample literatures in Fig.  2 .

Number of publications in the field of urban resilience from 1990 to 2021

As illustrated in Fig.  2 , the number of urban resilience publications increased in most years. In the last decade, the academic research on urban resilience had exploded, which is related to the accelerated development of urbanization (Wang and Xue 2019 ). On the whole, the research progress of urban resilience can be divided into three phases. The first phase is from 1990 to 2002, and the research on urban resilience is in the preliminary exploratory stage. In this period, the number of annual publications was almost constant, accounting for only 1.1% of the total output. The second phase is from 2003 to 2013. In this period, with the proposal of “Resilient City” in 2002, scholars began to pay attention to urban resilience and the number of published papers increased to a certain extent, accounting for 14.5% of the total output. The third phase is from 2014 to 2020. With the launch of the Global 100 Resilient Cities program, the number of publications has increased significantly, accounting for 84.4% of the total output. In general, there is an increasing trend in urban resilience field between 1990 and 2021, which indicates that more and more scholars have paid attention to the research on urban resilience.

Research topics analysis

Based on an overview of the definitions and theories of urban resilience, we find that the research on urban resilience is not limited to the original ecosystem, but across many fields, to the environment, resources, engineering, economy, management, and others. Therefore, in order to clear the main research topics and research tendency of scholars in the field of urban resilience, we made statistics on sample literatures based on keywords and selected the keywords with more than 10 occurrences for statistical analysis. The result is shown in Fig.  3 .

Visualization network map of the document keywords analysis

In Fig.  3 , each node represents a keyword and the node size indicates the number of occurrences of the corresponding keyword, connecting line between the nodes indicates that the linked keywords appear in the same literature, and the color of nodes and lines represents the year of research.

We can see from Fig.  3 that studies on urban resilience mainly focus on risk and disaster control in the fields of climate change, resource management, economic and social growth, environmental management, transport policy, infrastructure construction, urban planning, etc. Meanwhile, similar to the increase trend of publications in the “ Quantitative analysis of the publications ” section, the use of most keywords has increased significantly over the past decade.

Among the main fields, there are many studies on urban resilience taking climate change into account, and the related research appears earlier. Over the last decade, the extreme events associated with climate change have increased in frequency and intensity. Cities are important areas for population aggregation and industrial development, and they are greatly affected by extreme high temperature. Meanwhile, urbanization itself will cause “urban heat island” effect, so the influence of climate change on cities has always been a focus of attention. Therefore, more and more cities are adapting to climate risks, and building resilience is considered a critical response to climate change (Jacobson 2020 ; Adger 2000 ; Leykin et al. 2016 ). Subsequently, the study of urban climate change resilience has become a hot topic.

Scholars have studied how to improve urban climate resilience from many aspects. For example, secure and efficient storm water drainage is a significant challenge for cities in the context of climate change (Jiang et al. 2018 ; Kammen and Sunter 2016 ). Some scholars have applied the concept of resilience to the management of urban flooding in response to the vulnerability of society to flooding and climate change (de Koning et al. 2019 ; Djordjević et al. 2011 ; Wang et al. 2019 ). In addition, peri-urban areas are also typically very susceptible to climate impacts, resulting in vulnerable socio-ecological conditions that pose challenges to public health (Heyd 2021 ; Horton and Horton 2020 ). Some scholars have proposed the importance of improving urban climate resilience from the perspective of infectious diseases (Matthew et al. 2022 ; Semenza 2021 ). A review of relevant literature shows that the growth of cities and their surrounding areas is not only a result of climate change, but also a cause of climate change. At present, carbon neutrality is raising profound technical and economic transition globally. Hence, under the goal of achieving carbon neutrality, improving urban climate resilience is still one of the key directions of future research.

At the same time, some other fields have also attracted the attention of scholars. As for urban social resilience, since the vulnerability and risk diversity of urban society is obvious and worthy of attention (de Ruiter et al. 2020 ; Tilloy et al. 2019 ), the number of publications is also at a high level. In specific studies, it is critical to understand what kinds of civic organizations and activities can improve social resilience (Cutter 2015 ). Bixler et al. ( 2021 ) put forward that when city program staff and nonprofits join together, they gain a more holistic perspective on understanding vulnerability and strategies to enhance community resilience; as for urban infrastructure resilience, the concept of resilience has been applied to infrastructure systems widely. At present, green infrastructure is widely recognized as an important strategy for sustainable urban management, which aims to reduce flooding risk, improve water quality, and harvest rainwater (Meerow and Newell 2017 ; Simić et al. 2017 ; Fu et al. 2021 ). Relevant studies mainly include the contribution evaluation of green infrastructure (Zuniga-Teran et al. 2020 ) and its function improvement strategies (Zhang et al. 2020b ); as for urban economic resilience, the spread of the COVID-19 had a dramatic impact on the global economy, which highlighted the importance of improving economic resilience in the face of major shocks. Scholars mainly focused on the study of influencing factors (Tan et al. 2020 ) and promotion mechanism (Li and Zhang 2020 ; Wang et al. 2021a ) of urban economic resilience; as for urban resource resilience, it is an emerging topic and existing researches focus on water management (Bruce et al. 2020 ; Boltz et al. 2019 ), energy policy (Maryono et al. 2016 ; Charani Shandiz et al. 2020 ), and land management (Du et al. 2020 ). Scholars have thoroughly investigated the features of human, society, and governance capacity required for urban resource resilience (Bruce et al. 2020 ; Esfandi et al. 2022 ; Sharifi and Yamagata 2016 ), which can promote the research in the later period; as for urban transportation resilience, the resilience evaluation of urban rail transit networks has become more and more popular in the past decades (Jin et al. 2014 ; Lu 2018 ; Zhang et al. 2018 ). Transportation infrastructure is critical in emergency management when disasters occur. Meanwhile, the resilience of the transportation system will have a key impact on the resilience of other urban systems and leads to changes in the overall resilience and stability of the city (Serdar et al. 2022 ). Therefore, improving transportation resilience plays an important role in achieving healthy urban development; Finally, resilience is considered the key to maintaining the sustainability of an ecosystem and urban ecological resilience is an important research field of early resilience theory (Colding 2007 ). With the deepening of research, the study of urban ecological resilience is not limited to a single field, but focuses on the combination of other fields. For example, some scholars have developed studies on the resilience of social-ecological systems (SES) (Botequilha-Leitão and Díaz-Varela 2020 ; Folke 2006 ; Sterk et al. 2017 ) and social-economic-ecological systems (SEES) (Wang et al. 2018 ).

Analysis of countries

Quantitative comparison of publications in different countries.

The research of urban resilience in various countries is depicted based on Citespace software, as shown in Fig.  4 .

Visualization network map of the document countries analysis

In Fig.  4 , each node represents a country and the node size indicates the quantity of published papers from that country, connecting line between the nodes indicates that there is cooperation between connected countries, and the color of nodes and lines represents the year of research. Among them, the node with purple circle outside means its betweenness centrality is not less than 0.1, which is a key node in the network and represents that such countries are acting as a junction. The wider the purple circle, the greater the centralities of the country.

It can be seen that previous researches mainly focus on the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, among which the USA dominate the number of publications (535 publications), followed by UK (285 publications) and China (278 publications). The top 10 countries contribute to 62.3% of the total number of publications, and the degree of research varies significantly in different countries. Furthermore, the center color of the node where the USA is located is darker, indicating that the study of urban resilience in this country started earlier. Subsequently, the UK, Germany, and other European countries also gradually began related research. It is worth mentioning that the research of Chinese scholars on urban resilience started relatively late, but ranked third in total publications, indicating that China is developing rapidly in this field.

Further, we can see that there has been extensive collaborative relationships between countries, especially the France, Sweden, USA, Germany, and Italy, which act as a junction. As more attention to urban resilience and increasing awareness of building resilient cities around the world, scholars from all over the world have carried out different degrees of cooperation. But, measures to improve resilience are different for particular countries facing different institutional environments and emergent risks (Coaffee 2013 ). Therefore, it is necessary for countries to mutually promote and learn among countries; at the same time, appropriate resilience indicators and coping strategies also should be developed for the specific conditions of different cities and regions to adapt to their long-term development.

Evolution analysis of research topics in different countries

In order to better understand the evolution trend of urban resilience and compare the differences among countries, considering that the use of keywords is closely related to the development of academic fields, we selected the countries with the top three publications (USA, UK, and China) and calculated the data of keywords with more than 10 occurrences into the timezone view. The results are shown in Fig.  5 .

Timezone view of keywords for USA ( a ), UK ( b ), and China ( c )

In Fig.  5 , the meanings of node and connection lines are the same as in Fig.  3 , and the year on the horizontal axis corresponding to each keyword node represents the year in which the keyword first appeared in sample literatures. In general, among the three countries, the USA started the research on urban resilience earliest, and China started the research last, which is consistent with the results in Fig.  4 . Then, we analyze the evolution of research topics deeply in the three countries based on their policy and development background.

First, American scholars had conducted studies on urban resilience before 1990. During the sample period, researches with “human” as the keyword appeared earlier and were widely studied. Early studies mainly focused on the mental resilience of urban children (Parker et al. 1990 ; Wyman et al. 1991 ), adolescents (Luthar 1991 ; Luthar et al. 1993 ; Reynolds 1998 ), and some disease survivors (Rabkin et al. 1993 ; Siegel and Meyer 1999 ) in the face of different pressures. After 2000, the research on urban resilience gradually increased, and the growth tendency became more obvious after 2010. During this period, due to the adverse impact of climate change and some natural disasters, such as Hurricane Sandy, the USA began to consider disaster management and long-term response in the context of climate change risk from mechanism design. Then, many cities responded accordingly. In 2008, Chicago launched the Chicago Climate Action Plan to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change; in 2013, New York introduced A Stronger, More Resilient New York plan, which directed scholars to study the recovery from Hurricane Sandy (Rosenzweig and Solecki 2014 ; Graham et al. 2016 ). Meanwhile, under the guidance of relevant policies, American scholars have conducted more extensive research on urban resilience, involving urban disasters such as hurricane and flood (Vugrin et al. 2011 ; Cutter 2015 ; Khazai et al. 2018 ; Deatrick 2015 ), urban resources such as water and energy (Milman and Short 2008 ; McPhearson et al. 2015 ; Raub et al. 2021 ; Buckley et al. 2021 ), urban ecology (Pickett et al. 2004 ; Menconi et al. 2020 ), urban society (McMillen et al. 2016 ), etc. Recently, the research on urban resilience in the context of COVID-19 also has attracted the attention of scholars (Schenk et al. 2021 ; Pietrzak et al. 2021 ). It is worth mentioning that the concern about climate change is obvious in various fields, and improving climate resilience has become a consensus among American scholars.

Second, British scholars began to carry out systematic research on urban resilience around 1998, but there were few studies before the twenty-first century. The fourth Assessment Report of IPCC, published in 2007, marked that the theme of “ resilience ” has become one of the core elements of urban planning in UK. Subsequently, researchers also recognized the importance of building resilience in urban development (Crichton 2007 ; Coaffee 2008 ). In earlier studies, the resilience theory was applied in urban flood management (McFadden et al. 2009 ; Djordjević et al. 2011 ), environmental management (Coaffee 2008 ), and water management (Brown et al. 2011 ; Yazdani et al. 2011 ) to some extent. At the same time, considerations of climate change were also beginning to appear in research (Charlesworth 2010 ; Djordjević et al. 2011 ). After 2012, the research of British scholars on urban resilience increased and the research field became more extensive, including the research on resilience in infrastructure (Blockley et al. 2012 ; Rogers et al. 2012 ), transport (Pregnolato et al. 2017 ) and ecology (Cavallaro et al. 2014 ; Dennis and James 2016 ), etc. Further, researches on urban resilience in the context of COVID-19 also have received attention from British academics after 2019 (Pelling et al. 2021 ; De Kock et al. 2021 ).

Third, Chinese scholars began to carry out systematic research on urban resilience around 2005. Similar to the USA and UK, the researches with “human” as the keyword appeared earlier and were widely studied during the sample period, among which the research on psychology was more prominent. More often than not, the outbreak of some disasters has intensified scholars’ concern on the resilience of human psychology. For example, Chen et al. ( 2008 ) conducted a preliminary study on the psychological resilience of survivors after catastrophe; Bonanno et al. ( 2008 ) studied the mental resilience and dysfunction of SARS survivors in Hong Kong; and Hou et al. ( 2021 ) used a population-based study to research the probable anxiety and components of psychological resilience amid COVID-19. Otherwise, continuous industrialization and rapid urbanization have led to the rapid development of Chinese cities, but they are also facing the chronic pressure from “big-city diseases” such as resource shortage, environment deterioration, and traffic congestion. The Chinese government has proposed measures such as pilot projects to build “Sponge City” and “Park City” to improve urban resilience. Accordingly, researches on urban resilience of Chinese scholars have increased significantly, extending to many fields such as economy, ecology, and environment, among which climate change has attracted more attention. Relevant researches have involved many cities such as Beijing (Yan and Xu 2010 ; Li et al. 2020 ), Nanjing (Wang et al. 2021b ), Kunming (Wang et al. 2021a ), etc.

On the whole, based on different national development backgrounds, scholars of the three countries attach great importance to the research of urban resilience and consider how to improve it to better cope with emergencies. Studies with “human” as the keyword appeared earlier in the three countries and there were many studies in the later period, which illustrated the important position of population factors in urban security. After 2012, with the rise of the topic of “resilient cities,” the research on urban resilience in all three countries has increased significantly in both the research field and research quantity, especially in the urban drainage system renovation, ecological environment management and water resource security, etc. At the same time, in the process of globalization and urbanization, researches on building resilient city to cope with climate change and achieve sustainable development have received increasing attention from the academic community. In addition, since 2019, with the outbreak of COVID-19, scholars from all three countries have applied the resilience theory to urban design and planning in the context of COVID-19.

Urban resilience assessment

Urban resilience assessment is the foundation of systematically understanding the concept of resilience and effectively promoting harmonization between theory and practice (Brown et al. 2018 ; Sun et al. 2021 ). The main step in improving urban resilience is to assess the current level of resilience. At present, since the vagueness and openness of the concept of urban resilience, the evaluation of urban resilience is still under development. This paper analyzes the situation of urban resilience assessment from three aspects of assessment dimensions, assessment indicators, and assessment methods.

Assessment dimensions

Before evaluating the resilience of a city, it is necessary to clarify the dimensions of assessment.

The research dimensions of urban resilience can be divided into single-dimension and multi-dimension. Due to the complexity of urban system, multi-dimensional evaluation system has been recognized by many scholars. UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) put forward two dimensions to build urban resilience: physical and environmental side and institutional side. Rockefeller Foundation proposed that the resilient city includes four dimensions: economy and society, health and well-being, infrastructure and eco-systems, and leadership and strategy (McGill 2020 ). In the study of urban resilience, scholars choose the research dimensions based on their own research objectives and emphases, which are summarized in Table 2 .

As we can see from Table 2 , scholars mainly choose various subsystems within urban system as the main dimension of resilience research and establish a multidimensional evaluation framework, in which social, economic, ecological, and environmental dimensions account for the majority. Future studies on urban resilience should still be guided by systematic principles and appropriate dimensions should be selected according to the purpose of evaluation.

Assessment indicators

In order to turn the resilient city, an abstract and complex system, into a measurable term, scholars attempt to develop resilience indicators. Before the selection of indicators, it is crucial to determine the evaluation criteria of urban resilience, which can provide a yardstick to judge whether a city is resilient. Previously, some scholars put forward some evaluation criteria for urban resilience. Ahern ( 2011 ) proposed five urban planning and design strategies for building urban resilience, including multifunctionality, redundancy and modularization, (bio and social) diversity, multi-scale networks and connectivity, and adaptive planning and design; Carlos and Eduarda ( 2013 ) found that urban system resilience needs to be assessed against the criteria of multifunctionality, self-sufficiency, modularity, diversity, and flexibility related to learning and adaptability (past and present); Suárez et al. ( 2016 ) put forward the key factors for maintaining resilience in urban systems, including diversity, modularity, tightness of feedbacks, social cohesion, and innovation; and Zhang et al. ( 2020a ) selected the assessment indicators of urban ecological resilience based on the resilience principles of diversity, slow variables, openness, social capital, and ecosystem services.

This paper mainly selects the general criteria of diversity, flexibility, modularity and redundancy, robustness, tight feedbacks, and innovation, and then summarizes their descriptive indicators. The results are shown in Table 3 .

As can be seen from Table 3 , scholars have proposed multiple indicators under different evaluation criteria and these indicators involve a wide range of issues. Evaluating the urban resilience through these indicators qualitatively or quantitatively would assist planners and policymakers in making an informed judgment about the current state of the city. The induction of the above indicators in this paper is of guiding significance to the establishment of the comprehensive evaluation framework of urban resilience.

In the process of study, it is critical to clear how each indicator promotes or hinders urban resilience. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that these indicators do not exist in isolation; thus, their interconnections and how they reinforce one another should also be investigated. Based on different research needs, the importance of each indicator is different. In many researches, a methodology is usually chosen to quantify the relative weightings of indicators which include subjective and objective methods. The methods mainly focus on Delphi method, literature review, interview, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy method etc. Chen et al. ( 2016 ) constructed the evaluation index system of urban resilience using Delphi and AHP methods. Huang et al. ( 2021 ) used the literature review and Delphi method to identify the main influencing factors of urban resilience. Wang et al. ( 2021a ) and Osman ( 2021 ) combined the literature research with interviews to determine the major indicators of urban resilience. Leobons et al. ( 2019 ) conducted a systematic literature review to identify the major indicators of resilience in transportation. Bai et al. ( 2019 ) established the comprehensive evaluation index system of urban resilience using entropy method. Moghadas et al. ( 2019 ) used a combination of the AHP and TOPSIS to get 15 Tehran’s urban districts ranked according to their resilience levels. Zhu et al. ( 2021 ) proposed a comprehensive evaluation framework of urban flood resilience by using VIKOR and gray relational analysis.

Assessment methods

Various mature methods for assessing urban resilience have appeared in different fields (Quinlan et al. 2016 ). The majority of evaluations of urban resilience are conducted from qualitative and quantitative aspects, including the assessment in a single field and the city as a whole.

Qualitative resilience assessment

In view of the openness and complexity of the concept of urban resilience, some scholars have adopted qualitative research. Hockings et al. ( 2009 ) proposed that qualitative assessments are appropriate when available data, resources, scope, scale, and time are limited and risks associated with follow-up activities are low. Generally, the level of veracity of qualitative assessments is considered sufficient for decision-making (Jacobson et al. 2011 ).

On the one hand, some qualitative assessments are adopted for feature analysis to explore the elements constituting urban resilience through questionnaires and interviews and assess the level of resilience development. Jozaei and Mitchell ( 2018 ) assessed the resilience of Tasmanian coastal governance through expert judgment on the important attributes identified in an online survey. Ling and Chiang ( 2018 ) assessed the main capabilities gained from climate change scenarios and flooding through the semi-structured interviews with 15 key retailers, focusing on the driver, pressure, state, impact, and response framework. Grefalda et al. ( 2020 ) evaluated the institutional resilience of local government units in Aurora in climate and disaster management based on a survey to 87 members of the technical working group from eight municipalities and provincial government.

On the other hand, some qualitative assessments are used by designing an acceptable assessment framework to evaluate urban resilience. Saja et al. ( 2018 ) proposed the “5S” model of social resilience which is a development of existing framework of social resilience in previous literature. Scholars can use the framework to measure social resilience by selecting relevant characteristics. Wardekker et al. ( 2020 ) described a diagnostic tool, a three-step approach, which was intended specifically to support the process that policymakers and operators go through while assessing the resilience of their particular case. Roach and Al-Saidi ( 2021 ) used a holistic assessment framework of micro-level vulnerability and macro-level resilience to highlight main areas for improving resilience in urban water and energy supply conflicts in the Middle East and South Sudan.

In general, the advantage of qualitative methods is to make use of expert knowledge to the utmost extent, which can provide a comprehensive and systemic understanding of urban resilience. However, relying more on personal subjective information and judgment may also be the weakness of qualitative research.

Quantitative resilience assessment

Quantitative assessment is a numerical measure of the level of resilience. In the early years, some scholars used a definition-driven approach (Bruneau et al. 2003 ; Chang et al. 2004 ; Henry and Emmanuel Ramirez-Marquez 2012 ; Mugume et al. 2015 ) to the assessment of urban resilience when the theoretical system and conceptual framework of resilience were initially mature. Later, with the diversification of research fields, the assessment methods of urban resilience gradually diversified, including simulation model, optimization model, network analysis and spatial analysis, etc.

System dynamics (SD) is a kind of simulation model that can reveal the complex system’s internal motivation and structure, which has been applied in many research fields (Forrester 1987 ). In the field of resilience, SD model is used in the quantitative evaluation of urban resilience because it can clarify the causal relationships within urban system (Li et al. 2020 ). Datola et al. ( 2019 ) used the SD model to assess the impact of different resilience scenarios on urban systems. Li et al. ( 2020 ) established a SD model to clear the causal feedback and interaction mechanism among various components of urban resilience, and conducted an empirical study in Beijing. Li et al. ( 2021 ) developed a SD model of urban resilience that pay more attention to the multidimensional and evolutionary characteristics, which provided a supplement for the quantitative assessment of urban resilience. Mou et al. ( 2021 ) used the SD model to explore the internal mechanism of urban development, which promoted the construction of sustainable and resilient city.

In some simulation processes, many scholars evaluate urban resilience by designing different scenarios. Scenario simulation plays an important role in the path selection of improving urban resilience. Dong et al. ( 2017 ) defined a new formula for system behavior simulation to assess the resilience of green and gray infrastructure to future changes under baseline scenario and future scenarios and in each future scenario, green and gray infrastructures with different scales were set up for simulation. Fu and Wang ( 2018 ) developed an integrative urban resilience capacity index (IURCI) to evaluate urban resilience and compared the IURCI values under different scenarios to get a preferred scenario. Chen et al. ( 2020 ) proposed a new model that can simulate the urban resilience under different disaster scenarios and then analyzed the key parameters of the model. Fu et al. ( 2021 ) developed a novel GIUR-PSS (green infrastructure in urban resilience planning support system) framework and designed five scenarios to assess the performance of green infrastructure in building urban resilience.

Optimization models are also a common method in urban resilience assessment. Promoting urban resilience necessitates a multi-criteria approach to achieve optimal solutions that solve the attention of all stakeholders and facilitate decision-making effectively. Therefore, multi-objective optimization model has been recognized by some scholars. As for the resilience evaluation of urban water system, Behzadian et al. ( 2014 ) set three objectives: resilience, reliability, and total cost, and determined optimal solutions by using multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. McClymont et al. ( 2020 ) established a resilience-driven optimization model, taking water quality and quantity as optimization objectives and their spatial distribution level as decision variables to conduct a multi-objective optimization and determine the suitable scheme. Liao et al. ( 2018 ) proposed an optimization model with dual constraints of budget and traverse time to assess and optimize transportation resilience under disaster risk. Bixler et al. ( 2021 ) put forward an approach for assessing multi-hazard risk that took into account exposure to multiple natural hazards as well as social vulnerability based on research and practice in Austin.

In addition, social network analysis (SNA) is a research method based on graph theory, probability theory, and geometry (Zaw and Lim 2017 ), which emplaces stakeholders in a social network composed of formal or informal relationships. This approach can provide communities with a clear roadmap to describe the characteristics and interrelationships of stakeholders in disaster management activities. Some scholars have applied this method to the resilience research of urban communities and organizations. Therrien et al. ( 2019 ) conducted a social network analysis of organizations working on climate change adaptation and resilience in the Montreal area to provide insights into policy implementation in these areas; Guarnacci ( 2016 ) applied SNA to disaster research and investigated community resilience following the December 2004 tsunami and the March 2005 earthquakes in Nias and Aceh, Indonesia; and Cui and Li ( 2020 ) calculated social capital of communities before, during, and after disasters according to SNA to evaluate the level of community resilience in Nanjing, China.

Recently, using spatial data to assess urban resilience is becoming more popular. As we all known, the geographic information system (GIS) enables data recording, analysis, and summarization at various spatial and temporal resolutions, as well as visualization through thematic maps and graphics that can improve policy-making (Malczewski 2006 ; Alberico et al. 2020 ). It mainly applied in the fields of urban planning and infrastructure design. On this basis, it is feasible and meaningful to analyze the spatial composition of risk using GIS. Lhomme et al. ( 2013 ) developed a Web-GIS for exploring the resistance, absorption, and recovery capacities of various technical networks. Li et al. ( 2014 ) assessed the spatial resilience by using an indicator-based system, a multi-criteria evaluation method, and spatial visualization based on GIS. Meerow and Newell ( 2017 ) applied the GISP model to obtain the degree of green infrastructure intervention required in different areas of Detroit.

Moreover, several other assessment methods are applied in various fields of urban resilience, for example, the CGE model for assessing economic resilience (Rose 2004 ), the network model for assessing transportation resilience (Chen et al. 2021 ; Tang et al. 2020 ), and the life cycle model for assessing infrastructure resilience (Liu et al. 2020 ).

At the same time, the mixed assessment combining qualitative and quantitative methods is also been applied by scholars. Zheng et al. ( 2018 ) explored the relationship between resilience and development by combining expert consultation and exploratory factor analysis; Bixler et al. ( 2020 ) linked the metropolitan networks to resilience planning and implementation by combining interviews and social network analysis; and considering that resilience reflects the system’s ability to adapt to the catastrophic shifts or the transitions between equilibrium states, Li et al. ( 2018b ) proposed a new multi-stage framework to evaluate the abrupt change in state of resilience in urban socio-environmental systems based on the calculation of resilience values. Combined with an analysis of the tipping points, this multi-index evaluation method can be used to determine the early warning signal of socio-environmental systems; Sweetapple et al. ( 2019 ) captured a wide range of potential futures and identified of tipping points while illustrating the impact of increased resilience on sustainability in the design and operation of sewage systems.

Through the above review of methods, it can be seen that the assessment methods of urban resilience are mostly focused on a single field. This is because the single disasters or specific field of urban resilience easier to exploit the causal mechanism and put forward the quantitative index. In comparison, the comprehensive resilience involves a wide range and has complex causal chains, making it difficult to conduct quantitative assessment. However, as a complex coupling system, the coordinated development among subsystems is a guarantee of the healthy and sustainable development of the city; thus, the comprehensive evaluation of urban resilience should be strengthened.

Conclusions

This paper conducts a comprehensive and objective review of urban resilience through bibliometric analysis combined with visualization analysis, highlighting its conceptual frameworks, research tendencies, and assessment methods. Some enlightening conclusions for urban resilience development can serve to provide in-depth understanding of the field as follows.

First, with the 100 Resilient Cities Program proposed in 2013, the research of urban resilience has increased significantly in both the research field and research quantity. Relevant research mainly focuses on risk and disaster control in the fields of climate change, resource management, economic and social growth, environmental management, transport policy, infrastructure construction, urban planning, etc. Thereinto, as a means to reduce the adverse effects caused by climate change, climatologists, especially those focusing on urban areas, are increasingly focusing on the study of urban climate resilience. They are trying to make cities more resilient to the shocks and stresses of climate change or other complex challenges.

Second, the degree of research varies significantly in different countries, with the USA dominating in the number of publications, followed by the UK and China. In addition, the research on urban resilience started early in the USA, followed by the UK, Germany, and other European countries. The research from Chinese scholars started late, but developed rapidly by comparison. Meanwhile, extensive cooperation has been carried out among countries on the study of urban resilience and a systematic research system has been established. In terms of the evolution of research topics, scholars’ attention to urban resilience in different periods is closely related to the development background and disasters experienced by their countries, but there are also some commonalities. Studies in three major countries all reflect that the important position of population factors and climate change in urban security. Moreover, since 2019, scholars have applied the resilience theory to urban design and planning in the context of COVID-19.

Third, according to the literature, there is heterogeneity in characteristics and definitions of urban resilience in academic views, but consensus has been basically reached. The depth and breadth of specific research has been expanded and the study of urban resilience has gradually shifted from theoretical exploration to practical application. Specifically, the multi-dimensional study of urban resilience has been recognized by many scholars, and according to different evaluation criteria, indicators covering a wide variety of issues have been proposed. Meanwhile, quantitative assessment tools such as simulation model, optimization model, network analysis, and spatial analysis have been widely used to evaluate the urban resilience.

It is possible to identify future development tendency of urban resilience by analyzing the main strengths and weaknesses of related research. Findings in this study specify the following research trends.

First, with the proposed goal of carbon neutrality, in the future, the study of urban climate resilience will continue to occupy an important place in the field of resilience. In the process of specific study, a standardized evaluation system of urban climate resilience should be developed based on urban risks brought by climate change, such as extreme weather and disease transmission. Meanwhile, the potential impact of climate change on various fields of the city should be considered to make the evaluation system more systematic and comprehensive. In the comprehensive evaluation of urban resilience, the importance of climate factors can be reflected by index weight.

Second, although it is necessary to establish a comprehensive evaluation system of urban resilience, it is difficult due to the complexity and dynamics of urban system and the wide range and complex causal chain of indicators. In future studies, there is a need to integrate knowledge from different fields to produce a clear operational definition and assessment criterion for urban resilience.

Furthermore, subsystems with close causal relationship and mechanism can be incorporated into the same framework, such as the socio-ecological system that have been studied. Then considering the coupling relationship and coordination mechanism among related subsystems of cities, the systematic research on urban resilience can be gradually promoted.

Third, the assessment of urban resilience has been widely discussed and concerned by scholars, which is also the basis for improving urban resilience. In future studies, the effectiveness and efficiency of different resilience enhancement ways can be compared by setting up different resilience improving scenarios, so as to determine the key measures suitable for various types of risks. Meanwhile, considering the dynamic nature of urban development, it is necessary to conduct the dynamic research on urban resilience and monitor the implementation effect of measures in different periods.

Overall, urban resilience has great research value in the present stage and resilience theory also has high application value in urban development. It is of great significance to promote urban sustainable development and improve urban functions and structure. This work will provide a potential guide for future research and application of urban resilience.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China “Total Factor Energy Efficiency Improvement and Policy Simulation for Industrial & Residential Circular-linked System” (72174015); the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation “Simulation and Optimization for Energy output-oriented Cities under the Perspective of Metabolic Evolution” (2021M690273); and the Beijing Postdoctoral Foundation “Simulation and Optimization for Beijing’s green energy system under the Neutral-Carbon target.”

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Kong, L., Mu, X., Hu, G. et al. The application of resilience theory in urban development: a literature review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29 , 49651–49671 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20891-x

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Race Is Central to Identity for Black Americans and Affects How They Connect With Each Other

3. place and community, table of contents.

• The importance of being Black for connections with other Black people
• The importance of Blackness for knowing family history and U.S. Black history
• Younger Black people are less likely to speak to relatives about ancestors
• Black Americans differ by party on measures of identity and connection
• The importance of race, ancestry and place to personal identity
• The importance of gender and sexuality to personal identity
• Black Americans and connectedness to other Black people
• Intra-racial connections locally, nationally and globally
• How Black Americans learn about their family history
• Most Black adults say their ancestors were enslaved, but some are not sure
• Most Black adults are at least somewhat informed about U.S. Black history
• For many Black adults, where they live shapes how they think about themselves
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Black Americans live in different types of communities across the country. For about half of Black adults (52%), the location where they currently live is important to how they think about themselves. But overall, their ratings of the places where they live are mixed. Across communities, the same concerns are cited as the most important to address – violence or crime and economic issues such as poverty and homelessness. When asked who is responsible for addressing these issues, nearly half of Black adults (48%) say local leaders should address them.

About half (52%) of Black adults say the location where they currently live is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves. Roughly three-in-ten (29%) say where they currently live is somewhat important to their personal identity. And about one-in-five Black adults say where they live is a little or not at all important (19%) to how they think of themselves.

There are differences on this issue across some demographic subgroups. Roughly half of non-Hispanic Black adults (52%) say where they currently live is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves – making them more likely to say so than multiracial Black adults (38%). Black immigrants and U.S.-born Black adults are about equally likely to say the place where they currently live is extremely or very important to how they see their personal identity (55% and 51%, respectively).

Among Black adults who say being Black is extremely or very important to their identity, 57% say the place where they live is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves. This is significantly higher than among those who say being Black is less important to them (33%).

There are other demographic differences, too. Black women are more likely than Black men to say where they currently live is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves (56% vs. 46%). When it comes to age, adults 50 and older are more likely than those under 50 to say that where they currently live is extremely or very important to their identity (61% vs. 44%). In addition, Black Democrats and Democratic leaners (53%) are more likely than Black Republicans and Republican leaners (41%) to say the place where they live is extremely or very important to their personal identity.

The general public’s responses differ from the Black population on this measure. While about half (52%) of the Black adult population say that the location where they currently live is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves, 45% of all U.S. adults share the same view. And among the public overall, 31% say that where they currently live is somewhat important to how they think about themselves, while 23% say this is a little or not at all important.

Black adults are more likely to live in urban and suburban areas

The U.S. Black population is dispersed across the country, though over half lives in the nation’s Southern region . And within each region of the United States, the Black population is spread across various types of communities.

Roughly equal shares of Black adults describe the community where they live as urban (41%) or suburban (40%), while almost two-in-ten (18%) describe their community as rural, according to the new Pew Research Center survey.

Though similar shares of the Black population say they live in suburban and urban areas, there are differences in community type among demographic groups. Non-Hispanic Black adults are similar in their distribution to the Black adult population overall: They are about as likely to say they live in suburban (39%) and urban areas (40%), while 19% say they live in rural areas.

But the distribution of community type is different for multiracial Black adults – 45% say they live in suburban communities, while 41% say they live in urban areas and 18% say they live in rural areas. And among Black Hispanics, 52% say they are in suburban places, 40% say they are in urban areas and 14% say they live in rural areas.

A slightly higher share of U.S.-born Black adults say they live in rural areas (19%) than the share of immigrant Black adults (15%) who say the same. Both groups are about as likely to be in urban and suburban areas.

Among Black adults, men are more likely than women to describe the community they live in as urban (46% vs. 37%, respectively), while women (43%) are more likely than men (35%) to live in a suburban community.

There are differences by region as well. Black adults in the South are more likely than those in the Northeast, Midwest and West to live in a community they describe as rural. Accordingly, Black people in the Northeast, Midwest and West are more likely than those in the South to live in communities they describe as urban.

Around four-in-ten Republican or Republican-leaning and Democratic or Democratic-leaning Black adults (38% and 39%, respectively) describe the community where they live as urban. A similar pattern emerges among Democrats (39%) and Republicans (38%) who describe their community as suburban. Equal shares of Black Democrats and Republicans describe their community as rural (19% each).

There are significant differences in self-described community type by education across the Black population. Adults with a college degree or higher are more likely to live in communities they describe as suburban. Over half (56%) of Black adults with a college degree or higher say they live in a suburban community, while 34% of those who attended some college or less say the same.

There are similar differences by income level as well. Black adults with lower incomes are more likely to live in a self-described urban area than those in with upper incomes (48% vs. 25%). They are also more likely to live in rural communities than those with upper incomes (23% vs. 12%). Black adults with lower incomes are less likely than their those with upper incomes to describe their community as suburban (27% vs. 62%, respectively).

The Black population’s self-described community type differs from that of the general public. Half of U.S. adults overall describe their current community as suburban, while roughly a quarter each of that population describe their current communities as urban (23%) or rural (27%).

Most Black adults rate the quality of their community as good or better

About four-in-ten Black Americans (41%) rate their community as an excellent or very good place to live, according to the new survey. About one-third (34%) rate their community as a good place to live, while about a quarter (24%) rate their community as fair or poor. Within the Black population, community ratings vary by demographic characteristics.

Black Hispanic adults (54%) are significantly more likely than non-Hispanic Black adults (40%) to rate their community as excellent or very good. Some 47% of multiracial Black adults say the same about their community. And while roughly half (52%) of immigrant Black adults say their community is an excellent or very good place to live, four-in-ten U.S.-born Black adults say the same.

Similar shares of Black women, Black men, Black Democrats and Black Republicans rate their communities positively – about four-in-ten for each group rate the communities where they live as excellent or very good.

Community ratings also differ by education and income. Black adults with a college degree or higher are significantly more likely than Black adults without a college degree to rate their community as an excellent or very good place to live, (56% vs. 36%, respectively).

Black adults with higher incomes are 34 points more likely than those who earn lower incomes to say their community is an excellent or very good place to live (64% vs. 30%), while about half (49%) of those who are middle income share the same opinion.

Black adults who live in self-described urban areas are significantly more likely than their suburban and rural counterparts to rate the community where they live as fair or poor (35% vs. 11% and 27%, respectively). Roughly half (53%) of those in suburban communities rate their community as an excellent or very good place to live – significantly higher than the 29% who say the same in urban communities and the 42% in rural communities.

In general, Black adults rate their communities less positively than all U.S. adults. While roughly four-in-ten Black adults (41%) rate their community as excellent or very good, 58% of all U.S. adults say the same. Roughly three-in-ten U.S. adults (29%) rate their community as good, while 13% say their community is fair or poor.

Violence, the economy and housing top the list of important community issues for Black Americans

When asked in an open-ended question to identify the most important issue in the community they live in, the top issue was violence or crime (17%). This includes Black Americans who listed specific issues such as drug activity, shootings, or theft; but also those who simply listed “violence” or “crime” as the most pressing issues in their communities. Another 11% of Black adults said economic issues such homelessness, poverty and taxes were most important.

Other top issues include housing (7%), COVID-19 and public health (6%), infrastructure (5%), neighbors (4%), the availability of public safety and emergency services (3%), differences among neighbors due to racism, diversity or culture (3%), and employment and wages (3%). Some 4% did not name an issue.

The most important local issue named across demographic subgroups of Black Americans does vary. But notably, the same issues are often among the top three local issues mentioned for most groups – violence and crime, economic issues, and housing issues – even if their rankings may not be the same.

Violence or crime is the top issue for both non-Hispanic and Hispanic Black adults, but second for those who identify as multiracial. Meanwhile, multiracial Black adults mention an economy-related concern as the top issue in their community, while this ranks second among non-Hispanic and Hispanic Black adults. Housing was the third-most important community issue named by non-Hispanic and multiracial Black adults, but fifth among the Hispanic Black population.

Both U.S.-born and immigrant Black adults name violence or crime as the most important issue facing their community (17% and 15%, respectively), but the ranking of issues does not significantly differ between these two groups. Besides violence or crime, the other top issues among the U.S.-born Black population are economic issues (10%) and housing (7%). For the Black foreign-born population, the second-most mentioned issue is economic issues (11%), while COVID-19 and public health (7%) is the third-most mentioned issue.

Violence or crime is the most mentioned issue among both those who say being Black is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves (18%) and those who say being Black is not as important to how they think about themselves (13%). Economic issues are the second-most mentioned community issue for those who say being Black is very or extremely important to them (11%), but among those for whom being Black is less important, housing is the second-most mentioned issue (11%) and economic issues rank third (9%).

Views about the most important issue in their community varies by age among Black adults. Economic issues are the most mentioned among Black 18- to 29-year-old adults (15%), with violence or crime (12%) coming in second. However, those ages 18 to 29 (12%) are more likely than those ages 30 to 49 (5%) or 50 to 64 (6%) to say housing is the most important issue facing their community. The top issue for Black adults between the ages of 30 to 49, 50 to 64 and 65 and older is violence or crime (20%, 18% and 16%, respectively).

Black adults vary only slightly on this question by education and income. The top issue named by Black adults with and without a bachelor’s degree is violence or crime (14% and 18% in each respective group name this), while the issue mentioned second-most often by both groups is economic issues (12% and 10%, respectively). Black adults with a college degree or higher are less likely (14%) than those with lower educational attainment (18%) to say violence or crime is the most important issue in their community. Meanwhile, the top community issue mentioned among Black adults with lower or middle incomes is violence or crime (20% among lower income, 16% among middle income). COVID-19 and public health, violence or crime, and economic issues are tied as the issues mentioned most by Black adults with upper incomes (11% each).

There are differences by region as well. The top issue named by Black adults living in the Midwest, Northeast and South is violence or crime (24%, 20% and 15%, respectively), while economic issues and housing are the top two concerns cited by those in the West (20% and 18%, respectively). Black people in the South are also more likely than those in the other three regions to report infrastructure as the most important issue in their community.

The Black population’s rating of the most important issue facing the community they live in is only slightly different from that of the general public. Americans overall name economic issues (15%), violence or crime (12%), and COVID-19 and public health (7%) as the most important issues in their community.

Nearly half of Black Americans who name an issue important to their community say local leaders are most responsible for addressing it

When asked who is most responsible for addressing their community’s most important issue, almost half of Black adults who name such an issue say local community leaders (48%) are most responsible for addressing that issue. Smaller shares say individual people like themselves (17%), the U.S. Congress (12%), someone else (10%) or the U.S. president (5%) are responsible for solving pressing local issues.

Half of non-Hispanic Black adults (49%) point to local community leaders as the most responsible for solving the most important issue facing their community, with multiracial and Black Hispanic adults being about as likely to say the same. And roughly half (49%) of U.S.-born Black adults and four-in-ten Black immigrants who named a local issue say local leaders should be most responsible for addressing the most important issue in their community.

Answers did not vary much, if at all, based on how important Blackness was to each respondent. Of the adults who named a local issue, those who say being Black is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves are about as likely as those who say being Black is less important to how they think about themselves to say local community leaders are most responsible for addressing the most important issue in the community they live in (50% and 44%, respectively).

While four-in-ten or more of both Black Republicans and Republican leaners (40%) and Black Democrats and Democratic leaners (50%) say local community leaders should be most responsible, there are differences by party when it comes to naming civil rights organizations. Black Republicans are significantly more likely than Black Democrats to say civil rights organizations are most responsible for addressing the most important issue in their community (8% vs. 1%).

Somewhat similar shares of Black adults in self-described urban, suburban and rural communities name local community leaders as most responsible (46%, 50% and 52%, respectively). Black adults in rural communities are less likely than those in urban communities to name Congress as most responsible for addressing the most important issue in their community (8% vs. 14%).

Black adults in the South are more likely than those in the Midwest and West to say that local community leaders are most responsible for addressing this community issue (53% vs. 42% and 40%, respectively). Around half (49%) in the Northeast point to community leaders as most responsible as well. Black adults in the West and Northeast (23% and 16%, respectively) are more likely than those in the Midwest (8%) and South (9%) to say Congress is most responsible for addressing the most important issue in their community.

Answers to this question differ by education and income among the Black population. Black adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher are more likely than those without a degree to say local community leaders are most responsible (54% vs. 46%). About half or more of Black adults in middle- and upper-income tiers say local community leaders should be most responsible for addressing this issue (52% and 56%, respectively), significantly more than those in the lower-income tier (44%).

Black Americans who named violence or crime, economic issues, or housing as the most important issue in their neighborhoods are still most likely to say that local leaders should be responsible for addressing those issues. However, among those who name economic issues as most important, almost three-in-ten (29%) say Congress is most responsible. And among those who name housing as the most important issue in their neighborhoods, roughly one-in-five say Congress (21%) should be responsible.

The general public and Black population’s responses to this question are somewhat similar. Half of U.S. adults overall say that local community leaders should be most responsible for addressing the most important issue in their community, while 16% point to individual people, 13% point to Congress and 10% point to someone else as most responsible.

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Community Assessment of Worcester and Springfield

This essay about the community assessment of Worcester and Springfield provides an insightful exploration into the diverse and dynamic nature of these Massachusetts cities. It highlights the rich cultural tapestry, economic challenges, and social infrastructure that shape the lives of residents in both communities. Moreover, the essay underscores the importance of addressing disparities in healthcare access and promoting inclusivity and resilience through community-driven initiatives. Overall, it offers valuable insights into the complexities and opportunities within Worcester and Springfield, emphasizing the need for collaborative efforts to build thriving and equitable communities.

How it works

Exploring the vibrant tapestry of Worcester and Springfield through a community assessment unveils a rich mosaic of culture, challenges, and resilience. These Massachusetts cities, each with its own character and history, offer a fascinating glimpse into the complexities of urban life and community dynamics.

Delving into the demographic makeup of Worcester reveals a diverse blend of cultures and backgrounds that paint the city’s streets with a kaleidoscope of identities. From the vibrant Vietnamese community to the lively Puerto Rican and Brazilian neighborhoods, Worcester is a melting pot of cultures that enriches the fabric of the city.

Similarly, Springfield boasts a tapestry of diversity, with African American and Hispanic communities contributing to its vibrant cultural landscape. Understanding and celebrating this diversity is essential for fostering a sense of belonging and inclusivity within these communities.

Economic factors also shape the landscapes of Worcester and Springfield, with both cities facing unique challenges and opportunities. While Worcester has seen economic growth driven by its healthcare and education sectors, it also grapples with persistent pockets of poverty and unemployment. In contrast, Springfield faces more pronounced economic challenges, with higher rates of poverty and a struggling job market. Addressing these economic disparities requires innovative approaches and community-driven initiatives that empower residents and promote economic resilience.

Moreover, the social infrastructure of Worcester and Springfield is characterized by a network of grassroots organizations and community initiatives that serve as the backbone of civic engagement and social cohesion. From neighborhood associations to youth programs and cultural centers, these organizations play a vital role in connecting residents, fostering a sense of belonging, and addressing community needs. Strengthening and supporting these networks is essential for building resilient communities that can weather challenges and thrive in the face of adversity.

Furthermore, assessing the healthcare landscape of Worcester and Springfield highlights both the strengths and disparities within their healthcare systems. While both cities are home to renowned medical institutions that provide high-quality care, access to healthcare services remains a challenge for many residents, particularly those from underserved communities. Addressing barriers to healthcare access, such as transportation, affordability, and cultural competency, is crucial for promoting health equity and improving outcomes for all residents.

In conclusion, a community assessment of Worcester and Springfield offers a nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing these diverse cities. By celebrating diversity, addressing economic disparities, strengthening social infrastructure, and improving access to healthcare, stakeholders can work together to build inclusive, resilient communities where all residents can thrive.

Cite this page

Community Assessment of Worcester and Springfield. (2024, Apr 29). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/community-assessment-of-worcester-and-springfield/

"Community Assessment of Worcester and Springfield." PapersOwl.com , 29 Apr 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/community-assessment-of-worcester-and-springfield/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Community Assessment of Worcester and Springfield . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/community-assessment-of-worcester-and-springfield/ [Accessed: 30 Apr. 2024]

"Community Assessment of Worcester and Springfield." PapersOwl.com, Apr 29, 2024. Accessed April 30, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/community-assessment-of-worcester-and-springfield/

"Community Assessment of Worcester and Springfield," PapersOwl.com , 29-Apr-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/community-assessment-of-worcester-and-springfield/. [Accessed: 30-Apr-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Community Assessment of Worcester and Springfield . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/community-assessment-of-worcester-and-springfield/ [Accessed: 30-Apr-2024]

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