Effects of living near a new urban motorway on the travel behaviour of local residents in deprived areas: Evidence from a natural experimental study

Socioeconomic and gendered inequities in travel behaviour in Africa: Mixed-method systematic review and meta-ethnography

Travel has individual, societal and planetary health implications. We explored socioeconomic and gendered differences in travel behaviour in Africa, to develop an understanding of travel-related inequity. We conducted a mixed-methods systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42019124802). In 2019, we searched MEDLINE, TRID, SCOPUS, Web of Science, LILACS, SciELO, Global Health, Africa Index Medicus, CINAHL and MediCarib for studies examining travel behaviour by socioeconomic status and gender in Africa. We appraised study quality using Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklists. We synthesised qualitative data using meta-ethnography, followed by a narrative synthesis of quantitative data, and integrated qualitative and quantitative strands using pattern matching principles. We retrieved 103 studies (20 qualitative, 24 mixed-methods, 59 quantitative). From the meta-ethnography, we observed that travel is: intertwined with social mobility; necessary to access resources; associated with cost and safety barriers; typified by long distances and slow modes; and dictated by gendered social expectations. We also observed that: motorised transport is needed in cities; walking is an unsafe, 'captive' mode; and urban and transport planning are uncoordinated. From these observations, we derived hypothesised patterns that were tested using the quantitative data, and found support for these overall. In lower socioeconomic individuals, travel inequity entailed reliance on walking and paratransit (informal public transport), being unable to afford travel, travelling less overall, and travelling long distances in hazardous conditions. In women and girls, travel inequity entailed reliance on walking and lack of access to private vehicles, risk of personal violence, societally-imposed travel constraints, and household duties shaping travel. Limitations included lack of analytical rigour in qualitative studies and a preponderance of cross-sectional quantitative studies (offering a static view of an evolving process). Overall, we found that travel inequity in Africa perpetuates socioeconomic and gendered disadvantage. Proposed solutions focus on improving the safety, efficiency and affordability of public transport and walking.

Local walking and cycling by residents living near urban motorways: cross-sectional analysis

Background

Everyday activities, such as walking or cycling, may be a feasible and practical way to integrate physical activity into everyday life. Walking and cycling for transport or recreation in the area local to a person’s home may have additional benefits. However, urban planning tends to prioritise car use over active modes. We explored the cross-sectional association between living near an urban motorway and local walking and cycling.

Methods

In 2013, residents living in an area (a) near a new urban motorway (M74), (b) near a longstanding urban motorway (M8), or (c) without a motorway, in Glasgow, Scotland, were invited to complete postal surveys assessing local walking and cycling journeys and socio-demographic characteristics. Using adjusted regression models, we assessed the association between motorway proximity and self-reported local walking and cycling, as well as the count of types of destination accessed. We stratified our analyses according to study area.

Results

One thousand three hundred forty-three residents (57% female; mean age: 54 years; SD: 16 years) returned questionnaires. There was no overall association between living near an urban motorway and the likelihood of local walking or cycling, or the number of types of local destination accessed by foot or bicycle.

In stratified analyses, for those living in the area around the new M74 motorway, increasing residential proximity to the motorway was associated with lower likelihood of local recreational walking and cycling (OR 0.63, 95% CI: 0.39 to 1.00) a pattern not found in the area with the longstanding M8 motorway. In the area near the M8 motorway residential proximity was statistically significantly (p = 0.014) associated with a 12% decrease in the number of types of destination accessed, a pattern not found in the M74 study area.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that associations between living near a motorway and local walking and cycling behaviour may vary by the characteristics of the motorway, and by whether the behaviour is for travel or recreation. The lack of associations seen in the study area with no motorway suggests a threshold effect whereby beyond a certain distance from a motorway, additional distance makes no difference.

Community perceptions of the implementation and impact of an intervention to improve the neighbourhood physical environment to promote walking for transport: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Using community engagement approaches to develop and deliver interventions targeting small-scale physical environmental improvements in neighbourhoods is a potential strategy for increasing walking for transport. This study aimed to qualitatively assess community perceptions of the implementation and impact of the Fitter for Walking (FFW) intervention, which encouraged communities to work together to improve the street environment on local routes and promote walking for transport.

METHODS

From 155 FFW community projects, nineteen were selected to take part in a focus group/interview using specified criteria: geographical area; level of community involvement; intervention activities; and project progress. Participants were invited to take part via the project coordinator or lead member of the community group. A written guide was used to initiate and direct discussions through key topics. Deductive and inductive approaches were used to analyse the data and identify key themes relating to the barriers and facilitators for implementation and the perceived impact of the intervention.

RESULTS

Fourteen focus groups and five interviews were conducted with 86 community members. Themes were identified in relation to barriers (poor area reputation and regeneration areas; engaging the local community; and working with local authorities) and facilitators (provision of a coordinator/facilitator; strong local partnerships; and using a range of communication and engagement activities) for programme implementation. Participants perceived the main impacts to be improved physical and social environments. Increases in walking for transport were rarely specifically commented on, but participants did report increased street use.

CONCLUSIONS

Community perspectives provided important insights into the barriers and facilitators for the implementation of the FFW intervention and its' potential impacts. Using community engagement approaches can lead to perceived improvements in the physical and social environment resulting in increased street use, which may lead to increases in walking for transport in the longer-term. Recommendations are provided for researchers, practitioners and policy makers in planning and delivering future interventions. Future research should determine optimal implementation strategies, investigate the relative importance of improving physical environments, social environments and using individual behaviour change strategies, and determine how physical and social environments interact to maximise intervention impact on walking for transport.

Longitudinal association between change in the neighbourhood built environment and the wellbeing of local residents in deprived areas: an observational study

BACKGROUND

Features of the urban neighbourhood influence the physical, social and mental wellbeing of residents and communities. We explored the longitudinal association between change to the neighbourhood built environment and the wellbeing of local residents in deprived areas of Glasgow, Scotland.

METHODS

A cohort of residents (n = 365; mean age 50 years; 44% male; 4.1% of the 9000 mailed surveys at baseline) responded to a postal survey in 2005 and 2013. Wellbeing was assessed with the mental (MCS-8) and physical (PCS-8) components of the SF-8 scale. We developed software to aid identification of visible changes in satellite imagery occurring over time. We then used a Geographical Information System to calculate the percentage change in the built environment occurring within an 800 m buffer of each participant's home.

RESULTS

The median change in the neighbourhood built environment was 3% (interquartile range 6%). In the whole sample, physical wellbeing declined by 1.5 units on average, and mental wellbeing increased by 0.9 units, over time. In multivariable linear regression analyses, participants living in neighbourhoods with a greater amount of change in the built environment (unit change = 1%) experienced significantly reduced physical (PCS-8: -0.13, 95% CI -0.26 to 0.00) and mental (MCS-8: -0.16, 95% CI -0.31 to - 0.02) wellbeing over time compared to those living in neighbourhoods with less change. For mental wellbeing, a significant interaction by baseline perception of financial strain indicated a larger reduction in those experiencing greater financial strain (MCS-8: -0.22, 95% CI -0.39 to - 0.06). However, this relationship was reversed in those experiencing lower financial strain, whereby living in neighbourhoods with a greater amount of change was associated with significantly improved mental wellbeing over time (MCS-8: 0.38, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.72).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, we found some evidence that living in neighbourhoods experiencing higher levels of physical change worsened wellbeing in local residents. However, we found a stronger negative relationship in those with lower financial security and a positive relationship in those with higher financial security. This is one of few studies exploring the longitudinal relationship between the environment and health.

Health impacts of the M74 urban motorway extension: a mixed-method natural experimental study

Background

Making travel easier can improve people’s access to opportunities, but motor transport also incurs substantial undesirable health and social impacts.

Aims

To assess how a new urban motorway affected travel and activity patterns, road accidents and well-being in local communities, and how these impacts were experienced and brought about.

Design

The Traffic and Health in Glasgow study, a mixed-method controlled before-and-after study.

Setting

Glasgow, UK.

Participants

Repeat cross-sectional survey samples of 1345 and 1343 adults, recruited in 2005 and 2013, respectively. Of these, 365 formed a longitudinal cohort, 196 took part in a quantitative substudy using accelerometers and global positioning system receivers and 30, living within 400 m of the new motorway, took part in a qualitative substudy along with 12 other informants. Complementary analyses used police STATS19 road traffic accident data (1997–2014) and Scottish Household Survey travel diaries (2009–13).

Intervention

A new 5-mile, six-lane section of the M74 motorway, opened in 2011 and running through predominantly deprived neighbourhoods in south-east Glasgow, with associated changes to the urban landscape.

Main outcome measures

Differences in self-reported travel behaviour (1-day travel record), physical activity (short International Physical Activity Questionnaire) and well-being [Short Form 8 Health Survey (SF-8) and a short version of the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale], and in the incidence of road traffic accidents.

Methods

A combination of multivariable cohort, cross-sectional, repeat cross-sectional and interrupted time series regression analyses comparing residents of the ‘M74 corridor’ intervention area and two matched control areas, complemented by novel qualitative spatial methods. Graded measures of the proximity of the motorway to each participant’s home served as a further basis for controlled comparisons.

Results

Both benefits and harms were identified. Cohort participants living closer to the new motorway experienced significantly reduced mental well-being (mental component summary of the SF-8 scale) over time compared with those living further away [linear regression coefficient –3.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) –6.6 to –0.7]. In the area surrounding an existing motorway, this association was concentrated among those with chronic conditions. In repeat cross-sectional analyses, participants living closer to a new motorway junction were more likely to report using a car at follow-up than those living further away (odds ratio 3.4, 95% CI 1.1 to 10.7). We found weaker quantitative evidence of a decline in physical activity participation and no quantitative evidence of an overall change in either active travel or accidents associated with motorway exposure. Qualitative evidence suggested that, although the new motorway improved connectivity for those with dispersed social networks and access to motor vehicles, the impacts were more complex for others, some of whom found the motorway to be a cause of severance. Changes in community composition and cohesion, and perceptions of personal safety, were widely perceived as more important to local people.

Limitations

A key limitation of natural experimental studies is that the risk of residual confounding cannot be eliminated.

Conclusions

Overall, these findings highlight the potential for urban infrastructural projects of this kind to add further burdens to already disadvantaged communities, exacerbating inequalities and contributing to poorer health outcomes. The health and social impacts of such initiatives should be more fully taken into account in planning and research.

Funding

The National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research programme.