Neighborhood Abandonment and Quality of life: A Comparison of Neighborhood Satisfaction and Housing Value Measures

Neighborhood abandonment and quality of life: A comparison of neighborhood satisfaction and housing value measures

A new study led by Dr. Lee has been published in Cities. This study explores the relationship between neighborhood abandonment and quality of life and emphasizes the importance of community resilience to urban decline.

The neighborhood environment plays a significant role in shaping neighborhood perceptions and, as a result, on quality of life. Little research, however, has been conducted on the role of neighborhood environment when neighborhood disorders, such as structural abandonment, exist. Using the American Housing Survey data, this research explores the relationship between neighborhood abandonment and quality of life using two measures – neighborhood satisfaction and housing values. The results indicate that the presence of neighborhood abandonment is negatively associated with neighborhood satisfaction while housing values are more sensitive to both the presence and severity of abandonment. We suggest that socially vulnerable communities with high tolerance but low resilience to abandonment require more attention, especially toward improving the social environment.

  • Free access to the article until May 2024: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1iuwgy5jOuvtH
  • Permanent link to the article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2024.105011

Who Plants Trees? A Geospatial Analysis of the EquiTree Program in San Antonio, Texas

The EquiTree Program is a free tree giveaway initiative managed by the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department in an effort to enhance green infrastructure in socially vulnerable communities within the city. This initiative falls in line with previous research that has identified equity concerns with respect to access to green infrastructure. This study seeks to identify the geospatial patterns of the EquiTree participants in order to increase future participation and benefit all communities.

As a part of the research project funded by the City of San Antonio, Sam Rueda, a master’s student in urban and regional planning, led the poster presentation under the supervision of Dr. Ryun Jung Lee at the annual Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning conference in Chicago, Illinois on October 19, 2023. This poster highlights the comparison between EquiTree participants and non-participants on the property and neighborhood characteristics.  

The poster also won the best poster award. Congratulations!

https://www.acsp.org/page/BestPosterAward

2023 ACSP best poster award
Source: ACSP conference album
Source: ACSP conference album