Abstract
Residents of poor neighborhoods are in worse health' on average' than residents of richer neighborhoods. In order to know whether improving the physical environment in a neighborhood will make people better off' it is first necessary to know whether the relationship between place and outcomes is causal. Residents of poor neighborhoods have many characteristics that are associated with worse health on average' such as lower incomes. And if neighborhoods do literally make people sick' then we need to know which aspects of the neighborhood are at fault. This essay provides a selective overview of the literature on residential location and health' highlighting work that seeks to identify causal relationships. The first section provides a brief framework for thinking about the "production" of health. The remaining sections discuss the possible mechanisms that underlie the relationship between residential location and health. These mechanisms include the disease environment' the relationship between location and socioeconomic status' the effects of pollution' the effects of neighborhoods on obesity' the effects of crime' and the effects of stressful environments.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Neighborhood and Life Chances |
Subtitle of host publication | How Place Matters in Modern America |
Publisher | University of Pennsylvania Press |
Pages | 3-17 |
Number of pages | 15 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780812242584 |
State | Published - 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Social Sciences