Multi-Contextual Segregation and Environmental Justice Research: Toward Fine-Scale Spatiotemporal Approaches
Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Natural History Building, MC-150, 1301 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14(10), 1205; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101205
Received: 30 August 2017 / Revised: 28 September 2017 / Accepted: 4 October 2017 / Published: 10 October 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Justice Research: Contemporary Issues and Emerging Topics)
Many environmental justice studies have sought to examine the effect of residential segregation on unequal exposure to environmental factors among different social groups, but little is known about how segregation in non-residential contexts affects such disparity. Based on a review of the relevant literature, this paper discusses the limitations of traditional residence-based approaches in examining the association between socioeconomic or racial/ethnic segregation and unequal environmental exposure in environmental justice research. It emphasizes that future research needs to go beyond residential segregation by considering the full spectrum of segregation experienced by people in various geographic and temporal contexts of everyday life. Along with this comprehensive understanding of segregation, the paper also highlights the importance of assessing environmental exposure at a high spatiotemporal resolution in environmental justice research. The successful integration of a comprehensive concept of segregation, high-resolution data and fine-grained spatiotemporal approaches to assessing segregation and environmental exposure would provide more nuanced and robust findings on the associations between segregation and disparities in environmental exposure and their health impacts. Moreover, it would also contribute to significantly expanding the scope of environmental justice research.
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Keywords:
multi-contextual segregation; environmental justice; uncertain geographic context problem; fine-scale spatiotemporal approaches; Big Data; environmental exposure; environmental health hazards; health disparities; human mobility; time geography
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MDPI and ACS Style
Park, Y.M.; Kwan, M.-P. Multi-Contextual Segregation and Environmental Justice Research: Toward Fine-Scale Spatiotemporal Approaches. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 1205. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101205
AMA Style
Park YM, Kwan M-P. Multi-Contextual Segregation and Environmental Justice Research: Toward Fine-Scale Spatiotemporal Approaches. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017; 14(10):1205. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101205
Chicago/Turabian StylePark, Yoo M.; Kwan, Mei-Po. 2017. "Multi-Contextual Segregation and Environmental Justice Research: Toward Fine-Scale Spatiotemporal Approaches" Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 14, no. 10: 1205. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101205
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