Article
Transportation
Xavier Delclos-Alio, Daniel A. Rodriguez, Catalina Medina, J. Jaime Miranda, Ione Avila-Palencia, Felipe Targa, Mika R. Moran, Olga Lucia Sarmiento, D. Alex Quistberg
Summary: Walking is a common mode of transportation in Latin American cities, contributing significantly to physical activity levels. The study shows that approximately 30% of trips in the analyzed cities are completed solely by walking, but this pedestrian dimension of mobility is often underestimated without considering walking incidental to other transportation modes. Promoting public transportation can help certain population groups achieve daily recommended levels of physical activity.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Christian Brand, Thomas Gotschi, Evi Dons, Regne Gerike, Esther Anaya-Boig, Ione Avila-Palencia, Audrey de Nazelle, Mireia Gascon, Mailin Gaupp-Berghausen, Francesco Iacorossi, Sonja Kahlmeier, Luc Int Panis, Francesca Racioppi, David Rojas-Rueda, Arnout Standaert, Erik Stigell, Simona Sulikova, Sandra Wegener, Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen
Summary: The study highlights the importance of promoting active travel to reduce carbon emissions, particularly in urban areas. Shifting towards more sustainable modes of transport can have significant impacts on mitigating climate change.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS
(2021)
Article
Urban Studies
Jack S. Benton, Gail Jennings, Jim Walker, James Evans
Summary: Walking is the primary mode of transport in African cities, but walking infrastructure is lacking. The study explores the political and decision-making processes in African transport authorities and finds that walking receives marginal resource allocation due to undervaluation and limited capacity. The bias towards large infrastructure schemes rather than funding availability is a major constraint for African city authorities to support walking. The study emphasizes the importance of redefining a successful mobility system to value walking in African cities.
Article
Economics
H. Charreire, C. Roda, T. Feuillet, A. Piombini, H. Bardos, H. Rutter, S. Compernolle, J. D. Mackenbach, J. Lakerveld, J. M. Oppert
Summary: This study investigated the influence of individual (age, gender, education) and contextual (residential neighborhood characteristics) on the choice of active and public transport modes for commuting and non-commuting purposes in residents of five European urban regions. Results showed that both individual and contextual characteristics played a role in determining the main transport mode for different journey purposes, with factors such as gender, age, and neighborhood features affecting the probability of using active or public transport.
JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT GEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Urban Studies
Xavier Delclos-Alio, Daniel A. Rodriguez, Nancy Lopez Olmedo, Carolina Perez Ferrer, Kari Moore, Dalia Stern, Mariana Carvalho de Menezes, Leticia de Oliveira Cardoso, Xize Wang, Joanna M. N. Guimaraes, J. Jaime Miranda, Olga L. Sarmiento
Summary: There is growing evidence that longer travel time by private car poses physical and mental risks. However, in Latin American cities, the relationship between peak hour travel time by car and obesity and diabetes is more complex than in other settings.
Article
Psychology, Applied
Simona Sulikova, Christian Brand
Summary: This research demonstrates that psychosocial constructs play a significant role in influencing the decision to cycle or walk in European cities, more so than built environment variables. Additionally, trip purpose and the meso level also impact the importance of built environment and attitudinal variables in explaining active travel. The study supports the use of multi-faceted interventions rather than focusing solely on single policies to increase walking and cycling in urban areas.
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART F-TRAFFIC PSYCHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR
(2021)
Article
Environmental Studies
Yuting Hou, Adithi Moogoor, Anna Dieterich, Siqi Song, Belinda Yuen
Summary: By analyzing lifelogging images from 30 older adults in Singapore, this study found that on average they take about 4 walking trips per day, with public open spaces, senior activity centers, and food courts being the most visited destinations. Urban design features like covered walkways, tree shades, and street furniture are commonly encountered during walking trips.
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART D-TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Economics
Lambed Tatah, Louise Foley, Tolu Oni, Matthew Pearce, Charles Lwanga, Vincent Were, Felix Assah, Yves Wasnyo, Ebele Mogo, Gabriel Okello, Stephen Mogere, Charles Obonyo, James Woodcock
Summary: Understanding urban travel behaviour is crucial for planning healthy and sustainable cities, especially in fast urbanizing regions like Africa. However, limited data and literature exist on urban travel behaviour in African cities. This study aimed to describe and compare travel behaviour and its correlates in two Kenyan cities. The results showed marked differences in travel behaviour characteristics and correlates within the same country, indicating setting-dependent influences on travel behaviour. More data collection and harmonisation are needed to better understand patterns and drivers of travel behaviour in African cities.
JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT GEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dany Doiron, Eleanor M. Setton, Jeffrey R. Brook, Yan Kestens, Gavin R. McCormack, Meghan Winters, Mahdi Shooshtari, Sajjad Azami, Daniel Fuller
Summary: New 'big data' streams, such as street-level imagery, offer unprecedented possibilities for developing health-relevant data on the urban environment. This study used Google Street View images and computer vision methods to extract urban features and found that these features are better able to predict the percentage of people walking to work compared to traditional walkability metrics.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Urban Studies
Athul Padmakumar, Gopal R. Patil
Summary: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the transportation sector and changed people's travel behavior. This study proposes the integration of freely accessible aggregate mobility datasets published by Apple and Google to analyze the usage of different mobility modes during lockdown and unlock policy periods in six Indian cities. The study identifies income, vehicle registrations, and employment rates as significant factors impacting community mobility trends.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Tim De Ceunynck, Gert Jan Wijlhuizen, Aslak Fyhri, Regine Gerike, Dagmar Kohler, Alice Ciccone, Atze Dijkstra, Emmanuelle Dupont, Mario Cools
Summary: In order to make cities more livable, a shift from car use to sustainable modes of transport, such as walking and cycling, is necessary. To understand the factors influencing people's willingness to switch to active transport modes, a survey was conducted among over 2000 respondents in nine European cities. Two groups of respondents were identified with common determinants for their intentions to shift to active transport modes - a pro-cycling cluster (55.6% of respondents) and a non-pro-cycling cluster (44.4%). The findings emphasize the importance of distinguishing walking and cycling policies and highlight perceived traffic safety and travel time as main obstacles to increase cycling and walking respectively.
Article
Environmental Studies
Tongbin Qu, Timothy J. Gates, Chang Xu, Dan Seguin, Jonathan Kay
Summary: This study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on active transportation behaviors and found disparities among different sociodemographic groups. The survey results showed that individuals who frequently engaged in walking and biking for recreation prior to the pandemic maintained or increased their activities during the pandemic. However, those from underprivileged sociodemographic groups, such as older adults, individuals with lower education or income levels, or minority populations, were less active in general before the pandemic, and the gaps in walking and biking behaviors were further exacerbated during the pandemic. The negative impacts on these sociodemographic groups are expected to persist in the future.
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART D-TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Marta Alos Orti, Joan Casanelles-Abella, Francois Chiron, Nicolas Deguines, Tiit Hallikma, Piia Jaksi, Patrycja K. Kwiatkowska, Marco Moretti, Babette Muyshondt, Ulo Niinemets, Pedro Pinho, Manuel Joao Pinto, Peedu Saar, Roeland Samson, Piotr Tryjanowski, Anskje Van Mensel, Lauri Laanisto
Summary: This study provides a detailed description of taxonomic and structural diversity of woody vegetation in urban green spaces across seven European cities. The results show weak positive correlations between the size of green spaces and woody species richness, but strong negative correlations with woody species density. Alien woody species were found in abundance in all cities, while native tree species varied with different climates. These findings contribute to future urban ecology studies and support effective urban planning and management practices.
URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Daniel Moran, Peter-Paul Pichler, Heran Zheng, Helene Muri, Jan Klenner, Diogo Kramel, Johannes Toebben, Helga Weisz, Thomas Wiedmann, Annemie Wyckmans, Anders Hammer Stromman, Kevin R. Gurney
Summary: City-level CO2 emissions inventories are crucial for achieving the EU's decarbonization goals and assessing the impacts of decarbonization transition. This study presents a new CO2 emissions inventory that covers 116,572 municipal and local-government units in Europe, providing emissions data at different administrative levels.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2022)
Article
Transportation
Anna-Lena Van der Vlugt, Angela Curl, Joachim Scheiner
Summary: This paper utilizes structural equation modeling to explore the complex relationships between travel attitudes, socio-demographic factors, objective accessibility, perceived accessibility, and actual behavior. The results show that travel attitudes significantly impact perceived accessibility and walking behavior, with perceived accessibility directly influencing the likelihood of walking.
TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR AND SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Tim De Ceunynck, Gert Jan Wijlhuizen, Aslak Fyhri, Regine Gerike, Dagmar Kohler, Alice Ciccone, Atze Dijkstra, Emmanuelle Dupont, Mario Cools
Summary: In order to make cities more livable, a shift from car use to sustainable modes of transport, such as walking and cycling, is necessary. To understand the factors influencing people's willingness to switch to active transport modes, a survey was conducted among over 2000 respondents in nine European cities. Two groups of respondents were identified with common determinants for their intentions to shift to active transport modes - a pro-cycling cluster (55.6% of respondents) and a non-pro-cycling cluster (44.4%). The findings emphasize the importance of distinguishing walking and cycling policies and highlight perceived traffic safety and travel time as main obstacles to increase cycling and walking respectively.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Xavier Bach, Carme Miralles-Guasch, Oriol Marquet
Summary: This study examines the determinants of spatial coverage of four moped-style scooter sharing services in Barcelona and finds that centrality, household disposable income, and topography are the main factors influencing the coverage. The results highlight the importance of public sector involvement in designing the spatial coverage areas to ensure equity and transportation justice and avoid exclusion of less attractive areas by private sector designs.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Oriol Marquet, Jose Tello-Barsocchini, Daniel Couto-Trigo, Irene Gomez-Varo, Monika Maciejewska
Summary: GPS technology and tracking study designs are increasingly used to overcome the limitations of static exposure assessments based on residence. Our study aims to determine when researchers need to use GPS-based methods to ensure accurate exposure assessment. Comparing static and dynamic exposure assessment techniques for 113 seniors in Barcelona, our results suggest that static assessments based on residence are accurate enough for multiple exposures, except for smaller particulate matter and noise levels. Considering both mobility patterns and the built environment context is crucial when deciding between static or dynamic exposure assessment measures.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH GEOGRAPHICS
(2023)
Article
Economics
Jeronia Cubells, Carme Miralles-Guasch, Oriol Marquet
Summary: This study analyzes GPS data from 911 tracked trips of bike-share cyclists and e-scooter riders to examine the travel behavior of micromobility users. It finds that young men are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, particularly among e-scooter riders. The study also suggests that the design of urban environments and targeted policies can have different effects on different micromobility users.
JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT GEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Transportation
Marianne Ryghaug, Ivana Suboticki, Emilia Smeds, Timo von Wirth, Aline Scherrer, Chris Foulds, Rosie Robison, Luca Bertolini, Eda Beyazit Ince, Ralf Brand, Galit Cohen-Blankshtain, Marc Dijk, Marlene Freudendal Pedersen, Stephan Gossling, Robert Guzik, Paula Kivimaa, Christian Klockner, Hristina Lazarova Nikolova, Aleksandra Lis, Oriol Marquet, Dimitris Milakis, Milos Mladenovic, Gijs Mom, Caroline Mullen, Nathalie Ortar, Pucci Paola, Catarina Sales Oliveira, Tim Schwanen, Tauri Tuvikene, Alexander Wentland
Summary: Transport and mobility systems need to be transformed to meet climate change goals and reduce negative environmental and social effects. Effective change requires fresh perspectives from social sciences and humanities, and the integration of knowledge. A research agenda consisting of 8 themes and 100 research questions is presented to contribute to achieving environmentally sustainable mobility transitions within Europe.
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Alexandra Velasco Arevalo, Regine Gerike
Summary: The study aims to provide an overview of existing frameworks for evaluating the sustainability of public transport (PT) systems, with a focus on Latin America. The results reveal that existing frameworks do not sufficiently consider the characteristics of the Latin American context, indicating the need for further research to develop comprehensive and systematic frameworks that consider all sustainability dimensions for this specific region.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Chiara Moccia, Costanza Pizzi, Giovenale Moirano, Maja Popovic, Daniela Zugna, Antonio 'Errico, Elena Isaevska, Serena Fossati, Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen, Piero Fariselli, Tiziana Sanavia, Lorenzo Richiardi, Milena Maule
Summary: This study investigated the impact of socioeconomic position (SEP) on the early-life exposome in Turin children. The results showed that children with lower SEP are less exposed to urbanization factors and more likely to have unhealthy lifestyles and diets compared to those with higher SEP.
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Daniel Parra-Ovalle, Carme Miralles-Guasch, Oriol Marquet
Summary: This study tests the performance of UAV-based observation techniques in measuring pedestrian activity in two comparative settings in Santiago de Chile. The study develops an alternative technique adapting the behavioral mapping methodology that allows acquiring information about the people's activities and the places where they are carried out. The results show high levels of inter-rater reliability in the different categories of recorded data, and the use of GIS in the data coding process is detailed and exemplified using some of its spatial analysis tools.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Alexandra Bretones, Oriol Marquet
Summary: This study aims to explore the association between conventional and electric micromobility modes and daily physical activity levels in an adult population in Barcelona. The results showed that bike users and users of mixed modes reported higher daily time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) compared to other users. Electric scooter users and non-micromobility users had the lowest mean daily levels of MVPA. In terms of light activity levels, users of mixed modes and electric scooters had the highest mean daily levels.
JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT & HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Ione Avila-Palencia, Olga L. Sarmiento, Nelson Gouveia, Alejandra Jauregui, Maria A. Mascolli, Anne D. Slovic, Daniel A. Rodriguez
Summary: This study aimed to investigate utilitarian bicycle use and its association with socio-economic position among adults in 18 large Latin American cities between 2008 and 2018. The study found that individuals with higher education and income levels had lower odds of using a bicycle compared to those with lower education and income levels. However, this association changed over time with bicycle use increasing for all groups, especially among individuals with the highest education and income levels.
FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE CITIES
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Pedro Gullon, Mario Fontan-Vela, Julia Diez, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, David Rojas-Rueda, Francisco Escobar, Manuel Franco
Summary: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between surrounding greenness and the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Madrid, taking into consideration the level of deprivation in different areas. The researchers analyzed healthcare records for almost half a million high CVD-risk individuals over a four-year period. They found that an increase in greenness at a distance of 1000 m was associated with a 16% decrease in CVD risk. However, the protective effect of green spaces varied across different levels of deprivation and genders.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYGIENE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
(2023)
Letter
Pediatrics
Antoni Soriano-Arandes, Andreu Colom-Cadena, Anna Bordas, Fabiana Ganem, Lucia Alonso, Marcos Montoro, Mireia Gascon, Maria Subirana, Ariadna Mas, Jordi Sunyer, Pere Soler-Palacin, Jordi Casabona, Sentinel Sch Network Catalonia
PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
H. Woodward, A. Schroeder, A. de Nazelle, C. C. Pain, M. E. J. Stettler, H. ApSimon, A. Robins, P. F. Linden
Summary: The spatio-temporal variability of exposure to harmful pollutants in roadside areas is often neglected in assessments of pedestrian and cyclist exposures. This study aims to fully describe this variability and evaluate the benefits of high spatio-temporal resolution over high spatial resolution only. The study also compares high resolution vehicle emissions modeling to using a constant volume source. The findings highlight the impact of peak exposures and emphasize the importance of considering high resolution temporal air pollution variability for accurate characterization of pedestrian and cyclist exposures.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Arnau Carreno, Eva Fontdecaba, Angel Izquierdo, Olga Enciso, Pepus Daunis-i-Estadella, Gloria Mateu-Figueras, Javier Palarea-Albaladejo, Mireia Gascon, Cristina Vendrell, Montserrat Lloveras, Joan San, Silvia Gomez, Stefania Minuto, Josep Lloret
Summary: Performing outdoor activities in blue spaces can improve human health and mental well-being by reducing stress and promoting social relationships. This study assessed the effects of different outdoor activities in blue spaces on the physical and mental health of oncology patients. Results showed that exposure to blue spaces contributes to tension and anger reduction, and improves the vigour mood state of oncology patients.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Ruth Fiona Hunter, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Carlo Fabian, Niamh Murphy, Kelly O'Hara, Erja Rappe, James Fleming Sallis, Estelle Victoria Lambert, Olga Lucia Sarmiento Duenas, Takemi Sugiyama, Sonja Kahlmeier
Summary: Urban green and blue spaces (UGBS) have the potential to improve public health and wellbeing, address health inequities, and provide co-benefits for the environment, economy, and society. To achieve these ambitions, researchers should engage with communities, practitioners, and policy makers in a virtuous circle of research, policy, implementation, and active citizenship using the principles of co-design, co-implementation, co-evaluation, and cotranslation.
LANCET PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
