Examining the neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP) in people’s exposure to mobility-dependent environmental factors: A spatiotemporal modeling approach

The neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP) is a major methodological problem that might affect the accuracy of assessments of individual exposure to mobility-dependent environmental factors, such as air/noise pollution, traffic congestion, green/blue spaces, healthy food environments, ethnic exposures, and deprived/disadvantaged neighborhoods. Systematic investigations of the NEAP have been urgently needed to advance and enrich our fundamental understanding of the role of human daily mobility in studies on neighborhood effects. To fill these significant gaps, this doctoral dissertation provides an in-depth examination of how the NEAP operates when assessing individuals’ exposure to mobility-dependent environmental factors, such as air pollution and traffic congestion. It also investigates the effects of the NEAP on the evaluation of sociodemographic disparities in people’s exposures. To achieve the research goals, I employ advanced GIScience methods and individual-level activity-travel diary data of about 4000 participants living in Los Angeles, California. First, the results indicate that the NEAP exists when assessing individual exposures in the study area. Specifically, individuals’ mobility-based exposures tend toward the mean level of the participants or population of a study area when compared to their residence-based exposures. Second, high-income, younger, male, and working participants are associated with higher levels of neighborhood effect averaging because of their higher levels of daily mobility. Third, the results indicate that assessments of sociodemographic disparities in people’s exposures to mobility-dependent environmental factors might be erroneous when people’s daily mobility is ignored because of the different manifestations of neighborhood effect averaging for different social and racial groups. Lastly, the results reveal that non-workers are doubly disadvantaged in air pollution exposures: They have significantly lower odds of experiencing downward averaging that could have attenuated their high exposures experienced in their residential neighborhoods while traveling to other non-residential neighborhoods. The results of my doctoral dissertation significantly contribute to the literature on the neighborhood effect as well as provide important implications for public policy and planning formulations.LimitedAuthor requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD syste