Browsing by Author "Heinen, Eva"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Exposure, timing, and vulnerability: The role of public transport in inducing gentrification
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2021) Fernando, Malithi; Heinen, Eva; Johnson, Daniel
    Gentrification is an increasingly common phenomenon in many urban neighbourhoods. While cities invest in more sustainable travel options for their residents, there is limited literature on its connection to gentrification of the surrounding areas. Understanding whether these investments induce gentrification is essential to ensure the positive impacts of public transport are not undermined by the displacement it may create. This paper presents a multi-analysis approach to studying gentrification, defined by a bi-axial definition of neighbourhood change which considers the negative components (displacement) and positive components (neighbourhood upgrading) of gentrification. We focus specifically on the extent to which exposure to public transport induces gentrification-like changes in neighbouring communities, the influence of time on the kind and magnitude of changes, and whether disinvested communities are most vulnerable. We analyse neighbourhood changes in Manchester, UK, in response to the introduction of the Metrolink tram network, and conclude that there is evidence of gentrification in areas with access to new light rail. We conclude that the length of exposure has a significant impact on the magnitude and direction of change for certain indicators of gentrification. We find mixed results regarding the susceptibility of disinvested communities to gentrification.
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    Infrastructure is not enough: Interactions between the environment, socioeconomic disadvantage, and cycling participation in England
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2021) Vidal Tortosa, Eugeni; Lovelace, Robin; Heinen, Eva; Mann, Richard P.
    Cycling can be particularly beneficial for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations for two main reasons. First, cycling enables access to opportunities that may be unaffordable by other modes. Second, cycling increases physical activity levels and, consequently, improves health. In this context, we analyze the extent to which socioeconomic disadvantage impacts cycling participation and cycling duration for both leisure and utility cycling. Then, we examine whether socioeconomic inequalities in cycling participation can be explained by the environment in which disadvantaged populations live. The study population includes 167,178 individuals, residing in 2,931 areas, and 326 Local Authorities. Data on individual factors were drawn from the Active Lives Survey and data on environmental factors from several sources. Descriptive statistics and multilevel regression models were estimated. We found that the likelihood of cycling is lower among people living in deprived areas than among people living in non-deprived areas. This difference is significant for leisure, but also for utility cycling when controlling for individual and environmental factors. However, cyclists living in deprived areas are more likely to cycle longer per week than cyclists living in non-deprived areas, particularly for utility cycling. We also found that cycling infrastructure and greater levels of cyclability are higher in deprived areas than in non-deprived areas. This suggests that infrastructure and cyclability are not enough to increase cycling levels among disadvantaged populations. Further research on other barriers to cycling among disadvantaged populations is required.
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    Residential self-selection in quasi-experimental and natural experimental studies: An extended conceptualization of the relationship between the built environment and travel behavior
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2018) Heinen, Eva; van Wee, Bert; Panter, Jenna; Mackett, Roger; Ogilvie, David
    Despite a large body of research suggesting that the built environment influences individual travel behavior, uncertainty remains about the true nature, size, and strength of any causal relationships between the built environment and travel behavior. Residential self-selection, the phenomenon whereby individuals or households select a residential area based on their transport attitudes, is a frequently proposed alternative explanation for the reported associations. To resolve the issue of residential self-selection, longitudinal studies are often recommended. In this paper, we argue that intervention study designs are insufficient to fully resolve the problem and that intervention studies on the built environment and travel behavior may still be biased by residential self-selection. The aim of this paper is to extend existing conceptualizations of the relationships between the built environment, travel behavior, and attitudes and to provide suggestions for how a causal relationship between the built environment and travel behavior may be ascertained with more accurate estimates of effect sizes. We discuss the complexities of determining causal effects in intervention studies with participants who relocate, and the biases that may occur. We illustrate the complexities by presenting extended conceptualizations. Based on these conceptualizations, we provide considerations for future research. We suggest repeating analyses with and without individuals who relocated during the study, and with and without statistical controls for residential relocation. Additional quantitative and qualitative analyses will be necessary to obtain more accurate effect size estimates and a better understanding of the causal relationships.