Michael Buzzelli

Spatiotemporal Perspectives on Air Pollution and Environmental Justice in Hamilton, Canada, 1985–1996

Abstract This article addresses two questions: (1) How do spatiotemporal changes in air pollution levels—specifically, total suspended particulates (TSP)—rise or fall with socioeconomic status? (2) A critical equity interpretation of environmental policy then motivates this question: does the pursuit of average regional reductions in pollution benefit those who need improvements least, benefit those who need improvements most, or maintain the status quo? TSP data are drawn from networks of monitoring stations operated in 1985, 1990, and 1995. The monitoring data are interpolated with a kriging algorithm to produce estimates of likely pollution distribution throughout Hamilton. Exposure is related to socioeconomic status (SES) variables at the census tract level for corresponding years—1986, 1991, and 1996—and associations are tested with ordinary least squares (OLS) and spatial regression models. The results show that whether TSP rises or falls, injustice persists but becomes less pronounced over time. Among all SES indicators, dwelling value consistently predicts TSP levels for all years, suggestive of a land-rent/spatial-externalities dynamic. As we move forward in time, it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate air-pollution exposure among Hamilton neighborhoods, as industrial TSP sources become more dispersed in the region and transportation pollution becomes relatively more important. We conjecture that more equitable distributions of air pollution have resulted more from post-Fordist industrial and spatial restructuring than from environmental policy intervention. Injustice in Hamilton and its apparent relationship with changing industrial structure appear similar to results in the United States and speak to a continental, intraurban environmental-justice experience.

Racial gradients of ambient air pollution exposure in Hamilton, Canada

Environmental justice research in the United States has coalesced around the notion that visible-minority status, along with socioeconomic position (SEP), conditions exposure to environmental health hazards. In the context of long-standing debates over Canada–USA urban differences, we address the question of whether racial gradients exist in air pollution across Hamilton, Canada. Monitored air quality data are spatially interpolated with a kriging algorithm. These interpolated exposures are statistically correlated with 1996 data at the census tract scale, with the aid of multivariate and spatial techniques. The proportion of Latin-Americans in a census tract is positively associated with pollution exposure, even after control for many SEP variables. In contrast, Asian-Canadians are negatively associated with air pollution, and Black-Canadians show no clear correlation at all. Thus, the faces of environmental racism in Canada seem more varied and nuanced than in the USA. Given the immigrant basis of visible minorities in Canada, we argue that Hamilton (and the Canadian city generally) may represent new dimensions of environmental racism driven by economic status at time of entry. In drawing on similar findings in the USA and the United Kingdom, the authors conclude that environmental racism appears present in all jurisdictions, but that the nature and extent of disproportionate exposure differ between countries.

Intercity transferability of land use regression models for estimating ambient concentrations of nitrogen dioxide

Land use regression (LUR) is a method for predicting the spatial distribution of traffic-related air pollution. To facilitate risk and exposure assessment, and the design of future monitoring networks and sampling campaigns, we sought to determine the extent to which LUR can be used to predict spatial patterns in air pollution in the absence of dedicated measurements. We evaluate the transferability of one LUR model to two other geographically comparable areas with similar climates and pollution types. The source model, developed in 2003 to estimate ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations in Vancouver (BC, Canada) was applied to Victoria (BC, Canada) and Seattle (WA, USA). Model estimates were compared with measurements made with Ogawa® passive samplers in both cities. As part of this study, 42 locations were sampled in Victoria for a 2-week period in June 2006. Data obtained for Seattle were collected for a different project at 26 locations in March 2005. We used simple linear regression to evaluate the fit of the source model under three scenarios: (1) using the same variables and coefficients as the source model; (2) using the same variables as the source model, but calculating new coefficients for local calibration; and (3) developing site-specific equations with new variables and coefficients. In Scenario 1, we found that the source model had a better fit in Victoria (R2=0.51) than in Seattle (R2=0.33). Scenario 2 produced improved R2-values in both cities (Victoria=0.58, Seattle=0.65), with further improvement achieved under Scenario 3 (Victoria=0.61, Seattle=0.72). Although it is possible to transfer LUR models between geographically similar cities, success may depend on the between-city consistency of the input data. Modest field sampling campaigns for location-specific model calibration can help to produce transfer models that are equally as predictive as their sources.

Spatial modeling for air pollution monitoring network design: example of residential woodsmoke.

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how to develop an air pollution monitoring network to characterize small-area spatial contrasts in ambient air pollution concentrations. Using residential woodburning emissions as our case study, this paper reports on the first three stages of a four-stage protocol to measure, estimate, and validate ambient residential woodsmoke emissions in Vancouver, British Columbia. The first step is to develop an initial winter nighttime woodsmoke emissions surface using inverse-distance weighting of emissions information from consumer woodburning surveys and property assessment data. Second, fireplace density and a compound topo-graphic index based on hydrological flow regimes are used to enhance the emissions surface. Third, the spatial variation of the surface is used in a location-allocation algorithm to design a network of samplers for the woodsmoke tracer compound levoglucosan and fine particulate matter. Measurements at these network sites are then used in the fourth stage of the protocol (not presented here): a mobile sampling campaign aimed at developing a high-resolution surface of woodsmoke concentrations for exposure assignment in health effects studies. Overall the results show that relatively simple data inputs and spatial analysis can be effective in capturing the spatial variability of ambient air pollution emissions and concentrations.

Small is Transient: Housebuilding Firms in Ontario, Canada 1978-98

The North American housebuilding industry has been neglected in urban and housing studies. Its firm size structure and instability have long been cause for concern, but have rarely been given more than anecdotal treatment. This paper examines the transience of housebuilders in Ontario from 1978 to 1998. Using a census of builders provided by the Ontario New Home Warranty Program, the industrys firm membership is found to be extremely transient. Most transience comes by way of new firm formation and permanent firm exits from the market, while a small cohort of builders withdraw from and re-enter the market on a regular basis. The business cycle speeds and slows these processes but flux is due primarily to the annual turnover of small builders. To reduce transience, policy makers must decide between slowing entry and perhaps raising industry concentration or allowing continued firm entry and probably transience.

Models of Exposure for Use in Epidemiological Studies of Air Pollution Health Impacts

Observational epidemiological studies have had an important role in understanding the public health impacts of air pollution. In such studies, accurate assessment of exposure remains a major challenges, especially in studies involving large populations. Here we review state-of-the-art approaches to assessment of population exposure in epidemiological studies with a focus on approaches applied in the Border Air Quality Study (www.cher.ubc.ca⋏qs.htm). The strengths and limitations of these methods are discussed and future research needs identified.

House Building in the Machine Age, 1920s-1970s: Realities and Perceptions of Modernisation in North America and Australia

During the 1930s and 1940s, the editors of Fortune ran a series of articles on the subject of the building industry, publishing an early collection as a book and a later group as a special issue in 1946. The following year they summarised their point of view in a catchphrase that caught the temper of the time. House building, they argued, was incidentally corrupt and inherently inefficient. Hidebound by tradition, a legacy of feudal craft in the modern manufacturing era, it was the industry that capitalism had somehow forgotten. Although members of the industry challenged the claim, Fortune’s phrase was echoed in the popular press, in Congressional reports and, such was its resonance, in Canada and the Antipodes. Indeed, it echoed down the years. Four decades later, in a selective review of changes that had occurred in the interim, Tom Schlesinger and Mark Erlich claimed that the building industry had finally entered the corporate era and threw Fortune’s phrase back in its face. This narrative, which speaks of stubborn traditions displaced by rapid modernisation, downplays continuity and is intellectually unsatisfying. In 1947 the building industry contained innumerable businesses. It was ruthlessly competitive; how could anyone claim that it was untouched by capitalism? It consisted of all sorts of enterprises, of all sizes, operating methods, and degrees of vertical integration. In a competitive environment peopled with entrepreneurial diversity, how could grossly inefficient methods possibly have survived? An obvious answer was that they had not, and that the industry was well adapted to its business environment. Visitors to the United States were unanimously convinced that this was the case. A few defenders of the domestic industry also suggested this possibility but, as we show later, they were not taken seriously. Obsessed, from the 1920s, by an ideal of mass production that seemed to be embodied in the manufacture of automobiles, contemporaries wrung their hands. They puzzled over why the industry did not fit the model, and lauded the innovations and entrepreneurs that promised to take it in a modern direction. Routinely blinded by preconceptions, and sometimes also by selfinterest, their perceptions bore only a weak resemblance to the realities of the building trade. In Britain, the building industry has received a good deal of attention, in particular from economic historians. It has been the subject of both serious studies and systematic surveys. The same is not true, however, in North America or Australia. More than a FBSH470104 (NT)

Wind energy development in Ontario: a process/product paradox

The Province of Ontario is aggressively pursuing renewable energy development, but not without significant turbulence. Ontarios Green Energy Act (2009) reflects this aggressive pursuit, and is aimed at making the province a global leader in renewable energy development. Wind energy is an integral but controversial part of these commitments. While several installations have been built or announced, conflicts surrounding the development of the technology continue to grow. This article documents, analyses and interprets media coverage in order to understand public discourse potentially driving support for and resistance to wind energy development (WED) in Ontario. Contrary to numerous studies which have elucidated public attitudes towards WED, the media discourse analysed suggests that roadblocks to public acceptance of the technology are more rooted in the development process (renewable energy policies and their implementation) rather than the products of WED (wind turbines). The study highlights the need for increased procedural justice to ameliorate feelings of unfairness which play a key role in fuelling resistance to the technology.

What explains firm transience in house-building? A regional analysis of Ontario, Canada, 1991 and 1996

Buzzelli M. (2005) What explains firm transience in house‐building? A regional analysis of Ontario, Canada, 1991 and 1996, Regional Studies 39 , 699–712. This paper presents cross‐sectional analyses of firm exit (1991) and entry (1996) in house‐building using a geographic information system of firms in Ontarios 48 counties (regions). Ordinary least‐squares and logit regressions of entry and exit rates reveal several regional determinants, some specific to the housing market (prior construction) and others usually found in regional studies of firm dynamics (population density, market growth, incomes, immigration, unemployment and home ownership). The results suggest that housing policy may be best administered at the regional scale – the scale at which builders typically operate in North America.

Environmental Equity Research: Review With Focus on Outdoor Air Pollution Research Methods and Analytic Tools

The objective of this study was to review environmental equity research on outdoor air pollution and, specifically, methods and tools used in research, published in English, with the aim of recommending the best methods and analytic tools. English language publications from 2000 to 2012 were identified in Google Scholar, Ovid MEDLINE, and PubMed. Research methodologies and results were reviewed and potential deficiencies and knowledge gaps identified. The publications show that exposure to outdoor air pollution differs by social factors, but findings are inconsistent in Canada. In terms of study designs, most were small and ecological and therefore prone to the ecological fallacy. Newer tools such as geographic information systems, modeling, and biomarkers offer improved precision in exposure measurement. Higher-quality research using large, individual-based samples and more precise analytic tools are needed to provide better evidence for policy-making to reduce environmental inequities.