Jamie Spinney

An Exploration of the Relationship between Socioeconomic and Well‐Being Variables and Household Greenhouse Gas Emissions

This research reports on a multivariate analysis that examined the relationship between direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and socioeconomic and well‐being variables for 1,920 respondents living in Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada, using results from the Halifax Space‐Time Activity Research Project. The unique data set allows us to estimate direct GHG emissions with an unprecedented level of specificity based on household energy use survey data and geographic positioning system–verified personal travel data. Of the variables analyzed, household size, income, community zone, age, and marital status are all statistically significant predictors of direct GHG emissions. Birthplace, ethnicity, educational attainment, perceptions of health, life satisfaction, job satisfaction, happiness, volunteering, or community belonging did not seem to matter. In addition, we examined whether those reporting energy‐efficient behaviors had lower GHG emissions. No significant differences were discovered among the groups analyzed, supporting a growing body of research indicating a disconnect between environmental attitudes and behaviors and environmental impact. Among the predictor variables, those reporting to be married, young, low income, and living in households with more people have correspondingly lower direct GHG emissions than other categories in respective groupings. Our finding that respondents with lifestyles that generate higher GHG emissions did not report to be healthier, happier, or more connected to their communities suggest that individuals can experience similar degrees of well‐being regardless of the amount of GHG emissions associated with his or her respective lifestyle.

Investigating Travel Thresholds for Sports and Recreation Activities

Central to the practice of urban planning is the provision of services, which has potential public health and social welfare implications. However, service area analysis, typically, employs arbitrary travel-distance thresholds. Through this study we provide an empirical investigation into the durations and distances that respondents are willing to travel in order to engage in various sports and recreation activities. This research uses time-diary data, augmented with global positioning system information, to investigate individually based and objectively measured travel thresholds (which define travelsheds) for various sports and recreation activities in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Results accord with national time-diary data, and indicate that duration-based and distance-based travelsheds are generally in the order of 15–30 minutes and 4–20 km, respectively. Georeferenced time-diary data provide unique insights into travel thresholds, which may be used to help improve accessibility and thereby increase the frequency and duration of physical activity engagement.

Aerobic Activity Preferences among Older Canadians: A Time Use Perspective

Une population physiquement active jouit de nombreux avantages pour la santé. Cette étude visait à découvrir les préférences de l’activité aérobie chez les Canadiens âgés. Quatre cycles de données indiquant l’usage national représentatif de temps ont été fusionnées avec des informations sur la dépense d’énergie pour déterminer les taux de participation et le temps consacré en dix activités aérobiques les plus fréquemment rapportées. Les activités préférés sont dominées par les tâches ménagères (15% à 30%, la participation d’environ deux heures par jour), la marche de loisirs (15% a 30%, la parti-cipation d’environ une heure par jour), et le transport actif (généralement moins de 5% de participation pendant moins de trente minutes par jour). Bien que plusieurs modications ont été révelées dans les préferences de Canadiens plus âgés pour les activités aérobiques au cours des trois dernières décennies, la prévalence de tâches domestiques vise à l’importance des politiques qui soutiennent que les Canadiens plus âgés resteront dans leurs maisons, alors que la popularité de la marche suggère que le potentiel de rester « piétonnier » doit être pris en compte dans la conception des quartiers.

Aggregation and spatial analysis of walking activity in an urban area: results from the Halifax space-time activity survey

This study examines neighborhood characteristics affecting the incidence of walking trips in urban and suburban areas of Halifax, Canada. We employ data from the Space-Time Activity Research (STAR) survey, conducted in 2007-8. Primary respondents completed a two- day time-diary survey, and their movements were tracked using a GPS data logger. Primary respondents logged a total of 5,005 walking trips, specified by 781,205 individual GPS points. Redundant and erroneous points, such as those with zero or excessive speed, were removed. Data points were then imported into ArcGIS, converted from points to linear features, visually inspected for data quality, and cleaned appropriately. From mapped walking tracks we developed hypotheses regarding variations in walking density. To test these, walking distances were aggregated by census tracts (CTs), and expressed as walking densities (per resident, per metre of road, and per developed area). We employed multivariate regression to examine which neighborhood (CT) variables are most useful as estimators of walking densities. Contrary to much of the planning literature, built-environment measures of road connectivity and dwelling density were found to have little estimating power. Office and institutional land uses are more useful estimators, as are the income and age characteristics of the resident population.