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11.188: Urban Planning and Social Science
Laboratory |
| Name | Title | Abstract | |
| 1 | Adriana G Ramirez | Understanding Surgical Service Readiness and Availability in Malawi: a Spatial Analysis of Country-Level Coverage Rates | 125 million more
surgical procedures are needed annually worldwide. However,
surgical services in low- and middle-income countries continue to
struggle to be integrated fully into a horizontally oriented
health system. A significant barrier is collection of surgical
care measures in existing population-based surveys. Given
available data, a composite measure of key inputs was developed to
estimate a facility’s surgical readiness and likelihood of
offering surgical services. Using this methodology, it is possible
to further examine the distribution and coverage of surgical
provision and accessibility among hospitals in Malawi. The intended outcome is percentage of population with access to surgical care, adjusted for differing distances from the nearest hospital and based on a weighted composite score. Data sources include the DHS Service Provision Assessment (SPA), a facility-based survey completed in 2013-2014 in Malawi containing geocoded data on all health facilities in the country, gadm.org for country and subnational districts administrative boundaries, and WorldPoP population density. Data layers were downloaded into ArcGIS (Version 10.5, ESRI). The composite score was merged with SPA facility-level attributes to dichotomize hospitals based on an a priori cutoff point. To mitigate road variability, analyses modeled distance around each hospital at 10, 20, 30, and 50 kilometers for all hospitals and repeated for surgically available hospitals. The projected 2015 Malawi population was obtained. Buffer zones around each hospital with intersecting Thiessen polygons, effectively distributed the population within the encatchment boundaries based on nearest hospital. Population served per encatchment area was calculated using zonal statistics as table from the population density raster. A similar analysis was following selection of five additional hospitals based on greatest potential population served. Preliminary results show 61 of 116 hospitals have surgical capability. Current coverage estimates range from 31.7% to 79.4% depending on distance. Increasing coverage to all hospitals would increase estimates to between 46.4% and 94.5%, respectively. Regardless of distance traveled, an additional five-hospital gain targeted at greatest population served increases overall coverage between 3.5-5%. Maps and summary tables of each of the analyses will be provided. |
| 2 | Katia Samanamud | Identifying Hot Spots of Business Growth in Lima, Peru | By some
definitions, Peru is one of the most entrepreneurial countries in
the world, with 40.2% of its employed labor force working as
employers or independent workers (INEI, 2012). Almost half of all
the formal firms in Peru – 504,000 businesses – are located in the
region of Lima. From an economic development perspective, the
value of entrepreneurship lies in its ability to generate economic
growth and employment. Where are high growth firms located? Can
spatial features help explain growth trends? From a policymaker standpoint this is relevant for several reasons. First, to understand what spatial features are more favorable to growth. Some possibilities include access to major roads, proximity to markets, or business clustering itself. Second, to assess the extent to which current entrepreneurship promotion, industrial and urban planning policies are promoting business growth. Third, in the context of business development policies, to identify the most suitable location of business development centers. The criteria to determine location suitability would include the number of firms, the industry in which they operate (this will have implications for the type of services that should be provided), their size, their growth (measured in number of employees), among others. |
| 1 | Yazmin Guzman | Exploring Crime in Chicago | Chicago is often reported on the news for having increasing crime rates in a time where crime in the US is decreasing. However, with any issue in a city, various factors can affect where crimes occur and their outcomes on the neighborhood. Furthermore, Chicago is one of the few cities that make publically available all of its crimes by block since 2001. Using Data from the City of Chicago Data Portal and the 2010 US Census Data, I will explore the socioeconomic dynamics in the crimes. Research Question: Where do different types of crimes occur and what affect do they have on the neighborhood? (1) Studies have shown that violent crime affects property values more so than property crime. Using a rater analysis on the number of crimes committed by density, I will compare the density to the median property value in a census tract. Since people do not only worry about the crimes in the neighborhood, but also around it, I decided to rasterize the crimes. (2) Given the rasterization of the different types of crimes, I will overlay the poverty rate by looking at the density of the households that live in poverty in a given census tract. I will use the segregation index on ArcGIS to measure the segregation in a given area and compare it to the amount and type of crimes that are prevalent in that area. Finally, I will look at Foreclosures and vacancies see if areas with a larger foreclosures and vacancies also have higher crime rates. This will be interesting because the theory is very debatable. The socioeconomic factors listed above are along with the same line with differences in order to see how each factor could affect the amount of crime in a given area. If time permits, I also have data from the National Neighborhood Crime Study (2000) and could compare the change in crime for different tracts for the socioeconomic factors listed above. Ultimately the project aims to see if there are any significant spatial correlations between the factors listed and how they might be affecting people’s living situation. |
| 2 | Ben Rosen-Filardo | Is transit where it should be? A comparison between
transit need and service in Massachusetts |
The transportation
needs and habits of Massachusetts residents vary greatly across
the state, as does access to transit. My project aims to examine
demographics and other geographic data that influence the
usefulness of transit and to measure, on a Census block group
level, the suitability of areas for transit service. These
measures of suitability will be compared with the existence and
use of transit infrastructure to determine both how well matched
communities in Massachusetts are with transit service and how
heavily this service is utilized. Results may identify potential
areas for transit improvement and provide examples of transit use
patterns in a variety of communities. Data used will include US
Census results and MassGIS shapefiles. |
| 3 | Ayna Delivrans Verella | Understanding vulnerability to seismic risk in Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien, Haiti | This project will use spatial analysis to understand population vulnerability to seismic risk in two high-density cities in Haiti both affected by major earthquakes, Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitian. My research interests are twofold: risk perception and temporary settlements. For my thesis, I would like to understand how risk perception shapes the decision making process whether institutionally or at the household level in disaster prone areas. This preliminary spatial analysis will allow us to determine population development patterns around areas with high seismic risk and answer the question: What are population growth patterns in high seismic risk areas in Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitian? To conduct this analysis, the project will focus on Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitian and use population density data, built environment (post and pre earthquake) geographic data and compare it to the fault zone, landslide hazard zone and topography. After understanding vulnerability, we will broaden the analysis to see the different public utility services offered in those high-risk areas (schools and medical facility locations) and answer the question: How exposed to risk are schools and medical facilities in high seismic risk areas? |
| 4 | Jordan A Browne | The Potential Impact of Solar Farms on Electricity Bills of Government-Owned Buildings in Cambridge | The roofs of government-owned buildings are ideal locations for solar farms. The peak energy production of a solar panel is during the day at the same time the buildings experience their peak demand. This matchup in peak production and peak demand means that government buildings wouldn’t have to rely on expensive batteries to store the electricity being produced. In this paper, we will explore the potential savings of different government buildings throughout Cambridge if they were to build a solar farm on the roof. We will analyze the electricity bills for the buildings of interest and utilize maps estimating the potential solar energy production of each roof in Cambridge. Buildings that will be studied are schools, libraries, administrative buildings, a fire station, and a police station. |
| 5 | Milani Chatterji-Len | Boston area wetland siting analysis | Urban constructed wetlands can be used to partially treat stormwater runoff before it enters larger bodies of water, with additional social and economic benefits. The Smelt Brook drainage area in Boston contains densely packed neighborhoods with little green space, so little water is absorbed or filtered before it enters the Charles River. This is an issue because high levels of nutrients and particulates in the river cause toxic algal blooms and reduce the health of the river, diminishing its biodiversity and potential for recreation. Through a comprehensive siting analysis, I will determine areas near the Smelt Brook drainage area that would be good potential sites for a constructed wetland. This involves choosing factors to consider and overlaying their results to get a general sense of the best siting areas, through use of tools like buffer, clip, intersect, and dissolve. It is difficult to find a space to incorporate a wetland into the existing dense Boston area infrastructure, but a few sites in the area would be appropriate to construct a wetland. The costs of its construction, if the correct site is chosen, can be outweighed by its net environmental, social and economic benefit. |
| 6 | Libby P Koolik | Obamacare and the 2016 Election | A current, major policy issue in Congress is the Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or “Obamacare”). The ACA was signed into law in 2010 and provided low-cost insurance to millions of Americans. During the 2016 election, Donald Trump ran and one on a platform of repealing it. This project investigates potential correlations between ACA beneficiaries and voting habit by analyzing county-resolution data on ACA registration and election results. This analysis was performed on the United States, Florida, Nebraska, and Alabama in search of potential trends. Overall, while there were some regions where higher incidence of ACA beneficiaries also showed left-leaning election results, there is no significant correlation at any scale. |
| 1 | Eric Van Dreason | Preserving New York’s Industrial Business Zones: Relocation of Manhattan’s Garment District | Preservation of
manufacturing and industrial jobs within New York City’s IBZs has
been identified as a city priority since replacing In-Place
Industrial Parks (IPIPs) in 2005 to better reflect industrial
districts and incentivize investment. Sixteen IBZs currently exist
within New York, with most relying upon partnerships between CDCs
and businesses seeking guidance with location siting, financing,
and services. The zones have the potential to serve as economic
engines for areas surrounding, but have faced uncertainty as the
city must weigh competing interests, particularly relating to
pressure to develop more housing at lower-income tiers due to an
ever-decreasing supply city-wide. In order to demonstrate the continued efficacy and value of industrial uses, this study presents a site suitability analysis that seeks to replicate the set of parameters applicable to a proposal being considered by the city for the relocation of the Garment District to Sunset Park in Brooklyn. The siting will take into consideration industrial zoning and land use, accessibility of commercial space, questions of ownership and right to land purchase, and the presence of adequate transportation routes, both for freight and for workers / potential consumers. The analysis could potentially include neighborhood change data to preference areas that are at risk of gentrifying, given that potential for the influx of jobs and training to benefit low-income residents. This study could be a first step towards an overall assessment of whether the $51M spent on relocation, workforce development, technology investments and technical assistance benefits residents in strictly economic terms within the area surrounding this capital investment. |
| 2 | Elizabeth Rider | Air Quality Improvements and Population: Calculating Return Levels of Extreme Ozone Events in Illinois | Ground-level ozone concentrations are known to have debilitating effects on humans and the environment. Due to the chemical reactions behind ground-level ozone formation and destruction, ozone concentrations can often be higher in rural areas than in urban areas. The health effects of high ozone concentrations, however are more likely to be noticed in urban areas, where population densities are higher. In Illinois, there are two primary population centers that will be of focus. The areas surrounding Chicago, IL and St. Louis, MI have higher population densities that may be affected by ozone concentrations, while much of central Illinois has lower population densities. The fundamental research question to be address is, are the reductions in ozone concentrations more effective in rural or urban areas? By calculating return levels of extreme ozone events, we can quantify the probability of exceeding the EPA’s ozone standard in the future. Using US Census Data for population as well as air quality data from EPA’s Air Quality System, the relationship between population density and ozone concentrations will be determined. |
| 3 | Joanna Moody | Measuring the Correlation between an Individual’s Car Pride and the Density of Transit Infrastructure in their Home Census Block | This study explores
whether the density of bus, subway, and commuter rail
infrastructure/service within an individual’s home census block
correlates with his/her level of car pride/bus shame. For my
dissertation research, I measured the social status bias in car
vs. bus mode choice for N = 772 individuals in the New York City
Metropolitan Statistical Area (NYC MSA). For each respondent, I
also collected the census block of his/her home. I want to explore
the correlation between the strength and direction of this social
status bias measure and transit infrastructure within the home
census block. Therefore, I collect the locations of bus and rail
stops for each transit provider in New York and New Jersey that
serves the MSA. For buses, I collect data from MTA Bus and NJ
Transit. For subway, I have stops for NYC Transit and NJ Transit.
For commuter rail, I collect data from Long Island Rail Road
(LIRR), Metro North, and PATH. I combine all of the stop data into
a single shapefile for each of bus, subway, and commuter rail. For
each bus, subway, and rail stop, I have the number of routes
served by that location. I want to create a measure of the density of infrastructure/service through the stops in a person’s home census block. To do this, I create a raster of the MSA using 100m grid cells and apply the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) tool using the bus, subway, or rail stops as the input feature and the number of routes served by each stop as the interpolated value. I choose to apply a power of one weighting for a fixed radius representing a reasonable walking distance to access bus or subway stops (expanded to a short driving distance for commuter rail stops): • Radius for bus = 750 m (equivalent to a 9-minute walk based on an average human walking speed of 5 km/hr) • Radius for subway = 1500 m (equivalent to an 18-minute walk) • Radius for commuter rail = 3000 m (equivalent to a 4.5 minute drive at 40 km/hr) – possibly using a 5000m radius with power of two weighting For each census block, I then take the average of the raster cells within the polygon and join these values to the home locations of the survey respondents. I can then estimate a regression model of survey respondents’ car pride (dependent variable) on the characteristics of their home census block (independent variables): density of bus, subway, and commuter rail infrastructure (derived from spatial analysis). |
| 4 | Ru Mehendale | Charter and Public School Performance in Chicago: Confounding Factors | The debate over charter school expansion dominates discourse about education in the U.S. today. The topic has been particularly controversial in Chicago, where the expansion of charter schools has led to a decline in public school enrollment and a consequent decline in revenue for public schools. Proponents maintain that charter schools ultimately improve education because they offer students more innovative approaches to learning. However, school performance is linked to more than teaching methods alone - from the students' perspective, their ability to get to school, the danger they may face in doing so, and the resources available to them after school are all as important. I propose to analyze the performance of public and charter schools with respect to their proximity to transit, crime/safe zones, and learning resources. To analyze the impact of proximity to transit, I will examine performance with respect to rail and bus stops. To analyze the impact of proximity to crime, I will examine incidents and safe passage zones. To analyze the impact of proximity to learning resources, I will examine the locations of libraries and Connect Chicago locations. I hypothesize that those schools (both charter and public) with better accessibility to transit, safe passage, and learning resources will have better performance. I hope to additionally demonstrate a distinction between charter and public school performance when controlling for those variables. |
| 5 | Yanisa Techagumthorn | Environmental Justice in the US: Pollution and Demographics | Pollution is concentrated in certain areas of the United States. This project aims to answer two questions: 1) Which counties in the United States have the highest levels of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5)? And 2) Zooming in on each of these counties, what are the demographic characteristics of the areas with the highest pollution? Using data from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool, I will average PM 2.5 data by county across the US, and map it. Picking several counties with the highest amount of PM 2.5 pollution, I will zoom in and map the pollution at the block group level. Using data from the US Census Bureau, I will create thematic maps of race, age, and income. Comparing these demographic maps with the pollution map will show trends in environmental justice in the US. My hypothesis is that areas with high pollution will correlate to areas with high minority populations, young people, and lower incomes. |
| 6 | Sarah H Edgar | Racial Gerrymandering and Voter Demographics in Virginia’s Congressional Districts | In recent years
there has been much discussion of the merits of the Voting Rights
Act (VRA) and its role in redistricting. Redistricting is
essential to maintaining equal representation as voting districts
are redrawn to reflect changes in population size. However, the
process of gerrymandering endangers this representation. Political
gerrymandering – creating districts to elect a given party – is
not illegal, but racial gerrymandering is prohibited by the VRA
when it is to the detriment of racial minorities. In 2016, the
state of Virginia was faced with a court order to change its 2012
congressional district map. The ruling found that plan had been
gerrymandered for partisan gain by packing black voters into the
third congressional district. The third district had been set
aside as a majority minority district to enable black voters to
elect a representative of choice. This is an important method of
assuring representation, but when such districts are over-packed
with minority voters they begin to dilute representation in other
districts. This project aims to show why and how map makers and
politicians arrived at the 2012 plan as well as its 2016
replacement. It achieves this by comparing the district maps to
demographic data taken from the 2010 U.S. Census. Given the overlap of this issue with the debate over felon disenfranchisement in Virginia, which is also politically motivated and disproportionally affects racial minorities, the project will also attempt to compare these maps to the geographic distribution of the ex-felon population in the state.* *data on this subject has yet to be found, and it may, therefore, be cut from the presentation |
| 7 | Szabolcs Kiss |
Last modified: 9 May 2017 by
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