Geographical Sciences Committee

Meeting

Opportunities and Consequences of Using Sensors to Capture Human Geographical Behaviors

May 15, 2018

1:00 PM - 5:15 PM (ET)

Past

Materials

About

The Geographical Sciences Committee held their Spring 2018 meeting on the topic of Opportunities and Consequences of Using Sensors to Capture Human Geographical Behaviors. Available materials are listed below.

Video Recordings

The Promise and Ethical Concerns of Using Geotagged Social Media Data in Spatial Research
Matthew Zook, University of Kentucky

Build it! Hack it! Share it!: Using Big Data for Policy Change
Sarah Williams, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Using Sensors to Assess Environmental Exposures
Michael Jerrett, University of California, Los Angeles

Group Discussion

Contact

Kara Laney

(202) 334-1954
klaney@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Lecture

2017 Gilbert F. White Lecture

October 5, 2017

5:30 PM - 6:30 PM (ET)

Past

About

Urban Trifecta: Green Infrastructure, Public Health, and Social Justice

Parks and open space systems are urban green infrastructures that support public health. Proximity to parks stimulates physical activity, helping to protect residents from chronic health challenges, especially diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer. Spending time in natural open space is also critical to the emotional health of people throughout the life course and for child development, including mental, emotional, and cognition well-being. Research on unequal access to parks and open space reveals that in many cities, low-income residents and communities of color have disproportionately poor access to these environmental assets, intensifying health inequities that are already stark. Together, findings from public health and environmental justice research argue for city planning strategies that ensure adequate and fair access to parks and opportunities for physical activity and to natural open spaces where children can engage in unstructured play, explore their environs, and learn about and from nature.

At the same time, efforts to build more environmentally sustainable and resilient cities call for natural or green infrastructure (such as bioswales, horizontal levees, and stormwater parks), along with restoration of riparian corridors or wetlands, enlarged urban forests, and additional green cover. If implemented, such green infrastructure could provide much-needed park and open space resources. Parks and green infrastructure strategies may also encourage local and migratory animals to come into the city, presenting expanded opportunities to interact with nature.

However, natural, green infrastructure—whether through efforts to increase access to parks or sustainability/resilience planning strategies—may also make neighborhoods more attractive, triggering gentrification, displacement, and other regressive impacts. Planners and policy makers need to grapple with this set of complex social, economic, and environmental issues. Cities must aggressively fight to protect housing affordability—through construction, preservation, novel forms of tenancy, and innovative financing strategies—while designing parks and green infrastructures in poor neighborhoods and communities of color that are ‘just green enough’ to protect public health, enhance quality of life, and protect vulnerable residents from sea level rise.

Speaker

Dr. Jennifer Wolch is William W. Wurster Dean and Professor of City & Regional Planning in the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously the director of the Center for Sustainable Cities at the University of Southern California (USC), she also served as Dean of Graduate Programs in the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, Chair of the USC Department of Geography, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the USC School of Urban & Regional Planning. Her past research focused on homeless and poverty in American cities, geographies of human service delivery, state–nonprofit sector relations, and animal geographies. Dr. Wolch’s most recent research focuses on sustainable urbanism, parks, public health and environmental justice, and animals in design and planning. She has published over 140 scholarly articles and book chapters. Her books (sole authored, co-authored, and co-edited) include Landscapes of Despair: From Deinstitutionalization to Homelessness (1987); The Power of Geography: How Territory Shapes Social Life (1989); The Shadow State: Government and Voluntary Sector in Transition (1990); Malign Neglect: Homelessness in an American City (1994); Animal Geographies: Place, Politics and Identity in the Nature-Culture Borderlands (1998); and Up Against the Sprawl: Public Policy and the Making of Los Angeles (2004). She has also worked as a planning consultant and expert witness and has served on a variety of public and nonprofit boards. For her research, Dr. Wolch received an Association of American Geographers Distinguished Scholarship Award, Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences Fellowship, and Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Conference and Study Center Fellowship, among other awards for excellence in planning practice.

Contact

Kara Laney

(202) 334-1954
klaney@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting

Equity in Access and Health Effects of Exposure to Nature

October 5, 2017

12:45 PM - 4:30 PM (ET)

Past

Agenda

Download the Agenda

About

This was the Fall 2017 meeting of the Geographical Sciences Committee. The meeting focused on the topic "Equity in Access and Health Effects of Exposure to Nature". Presentations were provided by Harvard University, University of Western Ontario, Clark University, and representatives from federal agencies, nonprofits, and city peer-to-peer networks.

Contact

Kara Laney

(202) 334-1954
klaney@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Urban Green Spaces and Health

September 14, 2017

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (ET)

Past

Materials

Presentation - Matilda van den Bosch, The University of British Columbia

About

An increasing amount of research has come to demonstrate that trees and green spaces are corner stones for a healthy urban environment. Green spaces support stress relief and recovery from mental fatigue, which contributes substantially to health and well-being.

Other pathways between urban green and health are increased physical activity and social cohesion as well as various ecosystem services. Interestingly, exposure to nature reduces the prevalence of many disorders associated with these health and risk factors, such as obesity, heart failure, and depression. Vulnerable populations, like children and underprivileged groups, seem to benefit more from urban green spaces. Health inequalities are, for example, less pronounced in green areas.

It now seems clear that trees and green spaces do promote health. But why is this so and how do we use this knowledge? This presentation will outline pathways and mechanisms behind the health effects from urban natural environments. It will also present obstacles to policy and practice implementation and suggest possible ways forward.

Speaker

Dr. Matilda van den Bosch is a doctor in medicine as well as in landscape planning and public health. Since July 2016, she is an assistant professor at The University of British Columbia, Canada, where she holds a shared position between the School of Population and Public Health and the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences. Her research focuses on the influence of environmental exposures on human health, for example, how access to natural environments can protect and improve human health and how this displays in various populations across different socioeconomic conditions. Results from her studies may be used for healthier urban planning with improved conditions for both people and natural ecosystems. Dr. van den Bosch works as a consultant for numerous international organizations, such as the World Health Organization, the UN Environmental Program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Climate Change and Innovation Bureau, Health Canada.

Contact

Kara Laney

(202) 334-1954
klaney@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Climate Risk Resiliency in U.S. Cities and Towns

May 25, 2017

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (ET)

Past

Materials

Presentation - William Solecki, CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities

About

Increased climate variability and climate change has encouraged U.S. communities to review and enhance their environmental risk and hazard mitigation strategies. Much of this effort has focused on resiliency efforts, defined as the capacity to withstand or absorb a shock or stress and quickly recover from an extreme event. Cities are developing climate adaptation plans, policies, and other tactics to improve their resiliency to climate risks and have started to implement some of these efforts. The objective of the presentation is to review and assess these city-level activities, define key concerns that city stakeholders and practitioners have regarding climate resiliency, and evaluate significant challenges and opportunities that are faced. Emerging best practices and lessons learned will be reviewed. The role of science-policy linkages, co-production strategies, city-level knowledge networks, and federal-state-municipal connections will be examined. A case study of post-Hurricane Sandy New York and the extended urban Northeast U.S. will be used to illustrate these points.

Speaker

William D. Solecki is a Professor and Director of the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities. His research focuses on urban environmental change, resilience, and environmental transitions. Dr. Solecki has served as leader or co-leader of several climate impacts studies in the greater New York and New Jersey region, including the New York City on Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) and the New York State ClimAID report. He currently serves as the co-PI on the Climate Change Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN) NOAA-funded RISA project, which is designed to promote climate risk information for decision-makers and stakeholders in the urban Northeast. Dr. Solecki is a participant in a recently NSF-funded Urban Resilience and Extreme Events (UrEX) Sustainability Research Network. He currently is a coordinating lead author of the IPCC 1.5°C Special Report and a lead author on the fourth U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA4), Northeast Chapter. He is a co-founder of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) and co-editor of the recent Climate Change and Cities Assessment (ARC3) Report. He also serves as the co-editor of the journals Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability and the Journal of Extreme Events and as a member of the Geographical Sciences Committee at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Solecki received his Ph.D. in geography from Rutgers University.

Video Recording

Watch Webinar

Contact

Kara Laney

(202) 334-1954
klaney@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Using GIS to Make Urban Mobility More Sustainable

March 1, 2017

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (ET)

Past

Materials

Presentation - Harvey Miller, The Ohio State University

About

As people flock toward the opportunities and resources that urban centers provide, cities are dealing more and more with the economic, social and ecological costs that accrue from urban transportation systems. Today, the nation’s cities are not up for the challenges of what has been termed “sustainable mobility.” This session focuses on how geographic information science and technologies offer new possibilities to quantify the health and environmental impacts of transportation to support sustainable mobility planning. Dr. Miller will explore two examples from his research in this webinar:

i) the Moving Across Places Study (MAPS) that measures the impact of public transit and physical activity; and,

ii) the Green Accessibility project that estimates the potential environmental costs of space-time accessibility.

Speaker

Harvey J. Miller, Chair, is the Bob and Mary Reusche Chair in Geographic Information Science, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis, and professor in the Department of Geography, The Ohio State University. He also a courtesy professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning, an affiliated faculty of the Institute for Population Research and the Translational Data Analytics initiative, and a member of the leadership team for the Sustainable and Resilient Economy initiative at Ohio State. Dr. Miller’s research and teaching interests are at the intersection between geographic information science and transportation, in particular, the analysis of human mobility within cities and regions. The main questions driving his research include sustainable transportation, livable cities, and the relationships between human mobility, health and social equity. Dr. Miller’s awards and honors include the Hewings Award for Outstanding Young Scholar from the North American Regional Science Council (1997), the Edward L. Ullman Award for Outstanding Contributions to Transportation Geography from the Association of American Geographers (2009) and the Research Award for scholarly contributions to Geographic Information Science from the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (2015). Dr. Miller received his B.A. and M.A. in geography from Kent State University, and his Ph.D. in geography from Ohio State University.

Video Recording

Watch Webinar

Contact

Kara Laney

(202) 334-1954
klaney@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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My Academies

Geographical Sciences Committee

Opportunities and Consequences of Using Sensors to Capture Human Geographical Behaviors

2017 Gilbert F. White Lecture

Equity in Access and Health Effects of Exposure to Nature

Urban Green Spaces and Health

Climate Risk Resiliency in U.S. Cities and Towns

Using GIS to Make Urban Mobility More Sustainable