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Dr. Marco Helbich
Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands

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0 GIS Modeling
0 Real Estate Economics
0 Health geography
0 Spatial and spatiotemporal analyses

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Spatial and spatiotemporal analyses
Built and natural environment

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Journal article
Published: 06 July 2021 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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Greenness in the urban living environment is inconsistently associated with mental health. Satellite-derived measures of greenness may inadequately characterize how people encounter greenness visually on site, but systematic comparisons are lacking. We aimed 1) to compare associations between remotely sensed and street view (SV) greenness, and 2) to examine whether these greenness metrics are differently associated with mental health outcomes. We used cross-sectional depressive and anxiety symptoms data on adults in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We employed a convolutional neural network to segment greenness in SV panoramas. Greenness was measured top-down by normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI) from 1 m resolution orthophotos (OP) and 30 m resolution Landsat-8 (LS) imagery per postal code, and 100 and 300 m concentric and street-network buffers at the home address. Correlation analyses assessed associations across greenness measures. Covariate-adjusted regressions (e.g., noise, air pollution, deprivation) were conducted to assess associations between each greenness metric and mental health outcomes. Correlations between greenness metrics were significantly positive and moderately high. SV greenness was less sensitive across scales and residential contexts than OP and LS greenness. There was no statistically significant evidence that people with less urban residential greenness had higher depression or anxiety scores than those exposed to higher levels. Nor did different greenness measures, scales, or residential context definitions alter our null associations. This suggests that even though SV and remotely sensed measures capture different aspects of greenness, these differences across exposure metrics did not translate into an association with mental health outcomes.

ACS Style

Marco Helbich; Ronald Poppe; Daniel Oberski; Maarten Zeylmans van Emmichoven; Raoul Schram. Can’t see the wood for the trees? An assessment of street view- and satellite-derived greenness measures in relation to mental health. Landscape and Urban Planning 2021, 214, 104181 .

AMA Style

Marco Helbich, Ronald Poppe, Daniel Oberski, Maarten Zeylmans van Emmichoven, Raoul Schram. Can’t see the wood for the trees? An assessment of street view- and satellite-derived greenness measures in relation to mental health. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2021; 214 ():104181.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marco Helbich; Ronald Poppe; Daniel Oberski; Maarten Zeylmans van Emmichoven; Raoul Schram. 2021. "Can’t see the wood for the trees? An assessment of street view- and satellite-derived greenness measures in relation to mental health." Landscape and Urban Planning 214, no. : 104181.

Journal article
Published: 28 June 2021 in BMC Public Health
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Background Migrants experience substantial changes in their neighborhood physical and social environments along their migration journeys, but little is known about how perceived changes in their neighborhood environment pre- and post-migration correlate with their mental health. Our aim was to examine the associations between recalled changes in the perceived neighborhood physical and social environments and migrants’ mental health in the host city. Methods We used cross-sectional data on 591 migrants in Shenzhen, China. We assessed their risk of mental illness using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Neighborhood perceptions were collected retrospectively pre- and post-migration. We used random forests to analyze possibly non-linear associations between GHQ scores and changes in the neighborhood environment, variable importance, and for exploratory analysis of variable interactions. Results Perceived changes in neighborhood aesthetics, safety, and green space were non-linearly associated with migrants’ mental health: A decline in these characteristics was associated with poor mental health, while improvements in them were unrelated to mental health benefits. Variable importance showed that change in safety was the most influential neighborhood characteristic, although individual-level characteristics—such as self-reported physical health, personal income, and hukou (i.e., the Chinese household registration system)—appeared to be more important to explain GHQ scores and also strongly interacted with other variables. For physical health, we found different associations between changes in the neighborhood provoked by migration and mental health. Conclusion Our findings suggest that perceived degradations in the physical environment are related to poorer post-migration mental health. In addition, it seems that perceived changes in the neighborhood environment play a minor role compared to individual-level characteristics, in particular migrants’ physical health condition. Replication of our findings in longitudinal settings is needed to exclude reverse causality.

ACS Style

Min Yang; Julian Hagenauer; Martin Dijst; Marco Helbich. Assessing the perceived changes in neighborhood physical and social environments and how they are associated with Chinese internal migrants’ mental health. BMC Public Health 2021, 21, 1 -13.

AMA Style

Min Yang, Julian Hagenauer, Martin Dijst, Marco Helbich. Assessing the perceived changes in neighborhood physical and social environments and how they are associated with Chinese internal migrants’ mental health. BMC Public Health. 2021; 21 (1):1-13.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Min Yang; Julian Hagenauer; Martin Dijst; Marco Helbich. 2021. "Assessing the perceived changes in neighborhood physical and social environments and how they are associated with Chinese internal migrants’ mental health." BMC Public Health 21, no. 1: 1-13.

Journal article
Published: 27 April 2021 in Computers, Environment and Urban Systems
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Portable sensing, in which lightweight mobile sensors are used to measure stimuli, events, and human behavior, is a new and disruptive data collection paradigm. It has several methodological advantages compared to traditional methods and is suitable for investigating the dynamism of increasingly mobile and urban societies. In this article, we discuss the motivations behind the use of portable sensing and reflect upon the advances, limitations, and future of the field. Although portable sensing is still in its infancy, we foresee that its utilization will grow in the coming years. For portable sensing to become a prevalent and legitimate methodological approach, it is essential to have conceptually strong study designs that are grounded in suitable ethical procedures and comply with data protection regulations.

ACS Style

Amit Birenboim; Marco Helbich; Mei-Po Kwan. Advances in portable sensing for urban environments: Understanding cities from a mobility perspective. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 2021, 88, 101650 .

AMA Style

Amit Birenboim, Marco Helbich, Mei-Po Kwan. Advances in portable sensing for urban environments: Understanding cities from a mobility perspective. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems. 2021; 88 ():101650.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Amit Birenboim; Marco Helbich; Mei-Po Kwan. 2021. "Advances in portable sensing for urban environments: Understanding cities from a mobility perspective." Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 88, no. : 101650.

Preprint content
Published: 21 April 2021
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Portable sensing, in which lightweight mobile sensors are used to measure stimuli, events, and human behavior, is a new and disruptive data collection paradigm. It has several methodological advantages compared to traditional methods and is suitable for investigating the dynamism of increasingly mobile and urban societies. In this article, we discuss the motivations behind the use of portable sensing and reflect upon the advances, limitations, and future of the field. Although portable sensing is still in its infancy, we foresee that its utilization will grow in the coming years. For portable sensing to become a prevalent and legitimate methodological approach, it is essential to have conceptually strong study designs that are grounded in suitable ethical procedures and comply with data protection regulations.

ACS Style

Amit Birenboim; Marco Helbich; Mei-Po Kwan. Advances in portable sensing for urban environments: Understanding cities from a mobility perspective. 2021, 1 .

AMA Style

Amit Birenboim, Marco Helbich, Mei-Po Kwan. Advances in portable sensing for urban environments: Understanding cities from a mobility perspective. . 2021; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Amit Birenboim; Marco Helbich; Mei-Po Kwan. 2021. "Advances in portable sensing for urban environments: Understanding cities from a mobility perspective." , no. : 1.

Preprint content
Published: 20 April 2021
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Few studies go beyond the residential environment in assessments of the environment-mental health association, despite multiple environments being encountered in daily life. This study investigated 1) the associations between multiple environmental exposures and depressive symptoms, both in the residential environment and along the daily mobility path, 2) examined differences in the strength of associations between residential- and mobility-based models, and 3) explored sex as a moderator.Depressive symptoms of 393 randomly sampled adults aged 18-65 were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Respondents were tracked via global positioning systems- (GPS) enabled smartphones for up to 7 days. Exposure to green space (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)), blue space, noise (Lden) and air pollution (particulate matter (PM2.5)) within 50m and 100m of each residential address and GPS point was computed. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted separately for the residential- and mobility-based exposures. Wald tests were used to assess if the coefficients differed across models. Interaction terms were entered in fully adjusted models to determine if associations varied by sex.A significant negative relationship between green space and depressive symptoms was found in the fully adjusted residential- and mobility-based models using the 50m buffer. No significant differences were observed in coefficients across models. None of the interaction terms were significant.Our results suggest that exposure to green space in the immediate environment, both at home and along the daily mobility path, is associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms. Further research is required to establish the utility of dynamic approaches to exposure assessment in studies on the environment and mental health.

ACS Style

Hannah Roberts; Marco Helbich. Multiple environmental exposures along daily mobility paths and depressive symptoms: a smartphone-based tracking study. 2021, 1 .

AMA Style

Hannah Roberts, Marco Helbich. Multiple environmental exposures along daily mobility paths and depressive symptoms: a smartphone-based tracking study. . 2021; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hannah Roberts; Marco Helbich. 2021. "Multiple environmental exposures along daily mobility paths and depressive symptoms: a smartphone-based tracking study." , no. : 1.

Research article
Published: 07 January 2021 in PLoS ONE
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Background University students are increasingly recognized as a vulnerable population, suffering from higher levels of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and disordered eating compared to the general population. Therefore, when the nature of their educational experience radically changes—such as sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic—the burden on the mental health of this vulnerable population is amplified. The objectives of this study are to 1) identify the array of psychological impacts COVID-19 has on students, 2) develop profiles to characterize students' anticipated levels of psychological impact during the pandemic, and 3) evaluate potential sociodemographic, lifestyle-related, and awareness of people infected with COVID-19 risk factors that could make students more likely to experience these impacts. Methods Cross-sectional data were collected through web-based questionnaires from seven U.S. universities. Representative and convenience sampling was used to invite students to complete the questionnaires in mid-March to early-May 2020, when most coronavirus-related sheltering in place orders were in effect. We received 2,534 completed responses, of which 61% were from women, 79% from non-Hispanic Whites, and 20% from graduate students. Results Exploratory factor analysis on close-ended responses resulted in two latent constructs, which we used to identify profiles of students with latent profile analysis, including high (45% of sample), moderate (40%), and low (14%) levels of psychological impact. Bivariate associations showed students who were women, were non-Hispanic Asian, in fair/poor health, of below-average relative family income, or who knew someone infected with COVID-19 experienced higher levels of psychological impact. Students who were non-Hispanic White, above-average social class, spent at least two hours outside, or less than eight hours on electronic screens were likely to experience lower levels of psychological impact. Multivariate modeling (mixed-effects logistic regression) showed that being a woman, having fair/poor general health status, being 18 to 24 years old, spending 8 or more hours on screens daily, and knowing someone infected predicted higher levels of psychological impact when risk factors were considered simultaneously. Conclusion Inadequate efforts to recognize and address college students’ mental health challenges, especially during a pandemic, could have long-term consequences on their health and education.

ACS Style

Matthew H. E. M. Browning; Lincoln R. Larson; Iryna Sharaievska; Alessandro Rigolon; Olivia McAnirlin; Lauren Mullenbach; Scott Cloutier; Tue M. Vu; Jennifer Thomsen; Nathan Reigner; Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf; Ashley D'Antonio; Marco Helbich; Gregory N. Bratman; Hector Olvera Alvarez. Psychological impacts from COVID-19 among university students: Risk factors across seven states in the United States. PLoS ONE 2021, 16, e0245327 .

AMA Style

Matthew H. E. M. Browning, Lincoln R. Larson, Iryna Sharaievska, Alessandro Rigolon, Olivia McAnirlin, Lauren Mullenbach, Scott Cloutier, Tue M. Vu, Jennifer Thomsen, Nathan Reigner, Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf, Ashley D'Antonio, Marco Helbich, Gregory N. Bratman, Hector Olvera Alvarez. Psychological impacts from COVID-19 among university students: Risk factors across seven states in the United States. PLoS ONE. 2021; 16 (1):e0245327.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Matthew H. E. M. Browning; Lincoln R. Larson; Iryna Sharaievska; Alessandro Rigolon; Olivia McAnirlin; Lauren Mullenbach; Scott Cloutier; Tue M. Vu; Jennifer Thomsen; Nathan Reigner; Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf; Ashley D'Antonio; Marco Helbich; Gregory N. Bratman; Hector Olvera Alvarez. 2021. "Psychological impacts from COVID-19 among university students: Risk factors across seven states in the United States." PLoS ONE 16, no. 1: e0245327.

Article
Published: 23 November 2020 in Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy
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Regional integration is increasingly used as a policy strategy to accelerate urban development and regional cooperation. This research assesses the effects of regional integration on housing prices to evaluate policy effectiveness for small and medium-sized cities on the peripheries of core cities. Taking as a case study the Chinese city of Kaifeng—a contiguous city in the Zhengzhou megaregion—we utilized hedonic house price modelling and spatial econometrics to investigate the effect of Kaifeng’s integration with the core city on the dynamics and determinants of housing prices between 2001 and 2016. The results show that housing prices in Kaifeng increased significantly after the city’s integration with Zhengzhou in 2005. Further, the results confirm that the regional integration had a significantly positive effect on housing prices, especially in border areas. Moreover, the new time-saving cross-border light rail system had more influence on the prices of nearby housing than the new expressway, and new urban districts with high-quality amenities led to a sharp rise in housing prices in Kaifeng. Our findings offer policymakers some guidance concerning regional cooperation and urban development.

ACS Style

Yuanyuan Cai; Yingming Zhu; Feng Yuan; Jinlong Gao; Marco Helbich. Urban Housing Prices and Regional Integration: A Spatial Analysis in the City of Kaifeng, China. Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy 2020, 1 -24.

AMA Style

Yuanyuan Cai, Yingming Zhu, Feng Yuan, Jinlong Gao, Marco Helbich. Urban Housing Prices and Regional Integration: A Spatial Analysis in the City of Kaifeng, China. Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy. 2020; ():1-24.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yuanyuan Cai; Yingming Zhu; Feng Yuan; Jinlong Gao; Marco Helbich. 2020. "Urban Housing Prices and Regional Integration: A Spatial Analysis in the City of Kaifeng, China." Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy , no. : 1-24.

Journal article
Published: 18 November 2020 in Social Science & Medicine
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Multiple neighbourhood characteristics have been linked to depressive symptoms. However, few studies have simultaneously considered multiple mechanisms that explain this relationship, and how they might interact. Further, most studies regard exposure to the residential environment as constant, and therefore disregard variation in exposure by individual factors. This study investigates whether and to what extent stress and physical activity mediate the association between neighbourhood characteristics and depression, and also to what extent employment status moderates this relationship. A population-representative survey of n = 11,505 people in the Netherlands was conducted. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Neighbourhood characteristics were perceived green and blue space, pleasantness, environmental disturbance, social cohesion and safety. Employment status was combined with place of work to establish two groups: those who were non-working or who worked from home (‘at home’), and those who worked somewhere outside of the home (‘working’). Multi-group structural equation modelling was employed to understand the theorised relationships for both groups. Perceived environmental disturbance, social cohesion and safety were significantly indirectly related to depressive symptoms via stress, with larger effect sizes in the ‘at home’ group. Pleasantness was also significantly indirectly related to depressive symptoms via stress, in the ‘at home’ group only. There was no evidence for physical activity as a mediator. Our findings suggest that neighbourhood social characteristics may have a greater influence on depressive symptoms than physical characteristics. Stress appears to be a key mediator of this relationship. In addition, the neighbourhood appears to exert a greater influence on those who spend more time in their neighbourhood. Interventions to promote mental health should focus on the social environment, and in particular pay attention to those who are spatially confined in poorer quality neighbourhoods.

ACS Style

Hannah Roberts; Caspar van Lissa; Marco Helbich. Perceived neighbourhood characteristics and depressive symptoms: Potential mediators and the moderating role of employment status. Social Science & Medicine 2020, 268, 113533 .

AMA Style

Hannah Roberts, Caspar van Lissa, Marco Helbich. Perceived neighbourhood characteristics and depressive symptoms: Potential mediators and the moderating role of employment status. Social Science & Medicine. 2020; 268 ():113533.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hannah Roberts; Caspar van Lissa; Marco Helbich. 2020. "Perceived neighbourhood characteristics and depressive symptoms: Potential mediators and the moderating role of employment status." Social Science & Medicine 268, no. : 113533.

Correspondence
Published: 09 October 2020 in Science of The Total Environment
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In this correspondence, we emphasize methodological caveats of ecological studies assessing associations between COVID-19 and its physical and social environmental determinants. First, we stress that inference is error-prone due to the modifiable areal unit problem and the modifiable temporal unit problem. The possibility of confounding from using aggregated data is substantial due to the neglect of person-level factors. Second, studying the viral transmission of COVID-19 solely on people's residential neighborhoods is problematic because people are also exposed to nonhome locations and environments en-route along their daily mobility path. We caution against an uncritical application of aggregated data and reiterate the importance of stronger research designs (e.g., case-control studies) on an individual level. To address environmental contextual uncertainties due to people's day-to-day mobility, we call for people-centered studies with mobile phone data.

ACS Style

Marco Helbich; Matthew H.E. Mute Browning; Mei-Po Kwan. Time to address the spatiotemporal uncertainties in COVID-19 research: Concerns and challenges. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 764, 142866 -142866.

AMA Style

Marco Helbich, Matthew H.E. Mute Browning, Mei-Po Kwan. Time to address the spatiotemporal uncertainties in COVID-19 research: Concerns and challenges. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 764 ():142866-142866.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marco Helbich; Matthew H.E. Mute Browning; Mei-Po Kwan. 2020. "Time to address the spatiotemporal uncertainties in COVID-19 research: Concerns and challenges." Science of The Total Environment 764, no. : 142866-142866.

Journal article
Published: 17 September 2020 in Journal of Transport Geography
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Residential environments are associated with people's walking behavior. Transit-related, non-transit-related, and recreational walking may be differently associated with residential environments on weekdays and weekends, but empirical evidence is scarce. We therefore examined 1) to which extent these types of walking correlated with natural and built environmental characteristics of residential neighborhoods, 2) how these correlations differ for walking on weekdays and weekends, and 3) what substitution and complementarity effects between different types of walking exist. Our sample comprised 92,298 people aged ≥18 years from the pooled Dutch National Travel Survey 2010–2014. Multivariate Tobit regression models were used to assess the associations between the natural and built environment and the three types of walking (in average minutes per day). Our models accounted for cross-correlations between the walking types. Our results showed that denser residential areas encouraged both longer transit-related and non-transit-related transport walking on weekdays and weekends, whereas lower density neighborhoods were positively associated with recreational walking on weekdays. Shorter distances to public transport were only significantly associated with transit-related transport walking on weekdays. Shorter distances to daily facilities were positively associated with non-transit-related transport on weekdays. No significant associations between built environment and recreational walking were found on weekends. Additionally, some compensation effects between different types of walking seem to be at play: during weekends, recreational walking was inversely correlated with transit-related transport walking. Residential environments seem to affect walking types in a different way, suggesting that one size fits all policies might be less effective. Intervention strategies should be tailored for each walking type separately.

ACS Style

Jie Gao; Carlijn B.M. Kamphuis; Marco Helbich; Dick Ettema. What is ‘neighborhood walkability’? How the built environment differently correlates with walking for different purposes and with walking on weekdays and weekends. Journal of Transport Geography 2020, 88, 102860 .

AMA Style

Jie Gao, Carlijn B.M. Kamphuis, Marco Helbich, Dick Ettema. What is ‘neighborhood walkability’? How the built environment differently correlates with walking for different purposes and with walking on weekdays and weekends. Journal of Transport Geography. 2020; 88 ():102860.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jie Gao; Carlijn B.M. Kamphuis; Marco Helbich; Dick Ettema. 2020. "What is ‘neighborhood walkability’? How the built environment differently correlates with walking for different purposes and with walking on weekdays and weekends." Journal of Transport Geography 88, no. : 102860.

Journal article
Published: 15 September 2020 in ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
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Malaria threatens the lives of many people throughout the world. To counteract its spread, knowledge of the prevalence of malaria and the effectiveness of intervention strategies is of great importance. The aim of this study was to assess (1) the spread of malaria by means of a spatial agent-based model (ABM) and (2) the effectiveness of several interventions in controlling the spread of malaria. We focused on Sarbaz county in Iran, a malaria-endemic area where the prevalence rate is high. Our ABM, which was carried out in two steps, considers humans and mosquitoes along with their attributes and behaviors as agents, while the environment is made up of diverse environmental factors, namely air temperature, relative humidity, vegetation, altitude, distance from rivers and reservoirs, and population density, the first three of which change over time. As control interventions, we included long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS). The simulation results showed that applying LLINs and IRS in combination, rather than separately, was most efficient in reducing the number of infected humans. In addition, LLINs and IRS with moderate or high and high coverage rates, respectively, had significant effects on reducing the number of infected humans when applied separately. Our results can assist health policymakers in selecting appropriate intervention strategies in Iran to reduce malaria transmission.

ACS Style

Navid Gharakhanlou; Navid Hooshangi; Marco Helbich. A Spatial Agent-Based Model to Assess the Spread of Malaria in Relation to Anti-Malaria Interventions in Southeast Iran. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 2020, 9, 549 .

AMA Style

Navid Gharakhanlou, Navid Hooshangi, Marco Helbich. A Spatial Agent-Based Model to Assess the Spread of Malaria in Relation to Anti-Malaria Interventions in Southeast Iran. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 2020; 9 (9):549.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Navid Gharakhanlou; Navid Hooshangi; Marco Helbich. 2020. "A Spatial Agent-Based Model to Assess the Spread of Malaria in Relation to Anti-Malaria Interventions in Southeast Iran." ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 9, no. 9: 549.

Protocol
Published: 24 August 2020 in Systematic Reviews
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Background Mobility, one of the basic daily activities, helps in carrying out routine work, which contributes to people’s well-being. A lack of friendly and accessible infrastructure may act as a barrier, which limits older adults’ contributions and participation in society. Hence, it is important to have an enabling environment for older adults to carry out their activities independently at ease. There is ample research evidence about effective interventions on urban mobility infrastructures, but there is a lack of evidence regarding what works, for whom, and in what circumstances. Hence, there is a need to identify the contextual factors for different regions to design region-specific interventions. The aim of this realist synthesis is to develop an evidence-informed framework for safe and accessible urban mobility infrastructures for older adults in low- and middle-income countries. Methods A realist review will be undertaken using the following process: (1) development of a program theory, (2) search strategy and information sources, (3) study selection and appraisal, (4) data extraction, and (5) data synthesis. In addition to searching grey literature and contacting authors, we will search (since inception) multiple electronic databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. Studies will be included based on their ability to provide data that evaluates some aspect of the program theory. Two independent reviewers will screen and extract data from all relevant sources. A realist logic of analysis will be used to identify all context-mechanism-outcome that explains how safe and accessible urban mobility infrastructures for older adults implemented in low- and middle-income countries translate to better health outcomes. The findings will be reported according to Realist and MEta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards guidelines. Discussion This realist review will help to develop a framework for safe and accessible urban mobility infrastructures for older adults in low- and middle-income countries. The results of this study will support evidence-based decision-making on urban mobility systems and will be of interest to various stakeholders. Dissemination will be done through conference presentations, policy briefs, media, and peer-reviewed journals. Implications for future research will be discussed. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42020168020

ACS Style

Divya Sussana Patil; Uday Narayan Yadav; Sobin George; Marco Helbich; Dick Ettema; Ajay Bailey. Developing an evidence-informed framework for safe and accessible urban mobility infrastructures for older adults in low- and middle-income countries: a protocol for realist synthesis. Systematic Reviews 2020, 9, 1 -6.

AMA Style

Divya Sussana Patil, Uday Narayan Yadav, Sobin George, Marco Helbich, Dick Ettema, Ajay Bailey. Developing an evidence-informed framework for safe and accessible urban mobility infrastructures for older adults in low- and middle-income countries: a protocol for realist synthesis. Systematic Reviews. 2020; 9 (1):1-6.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Divya Sussana Patil; Uday Narayan Yadav; Sobin George; Marco Helbich; Dick Ettema; Ajay Bailey. 2020. "Developing an evidence-informed framework for safe and accessible urban mobility infrastructures for older adults in low- and middle-income countries: a protocol for realist synthesis." Systematic Reviews 9, no. 1: 1-6.

Journal article
Published: 23 July 2020 in Environment International
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Exposure to residential greenery accumulates over people’s lifetimes, and possibly has a protective association with suicide later in life. To examine the associations between suicide mortality and long-term residential greenery exposure in male and female adults. Our population-based nested case-control study used longitudinally georeferenced Dutch register data. Suicide cases aged 18–64 years between 2007 and 2016 were matched by gender, age, and date of suicide to 10 random controls. We measured long-term greenery exposure along people’s 10-year residential address histories through longitudinal normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI) from Landsat satellite imagery between 1997 and 2016. We assigned accumulated greenery exposures, weighted by people’s exposure duration, within 300, 600, and 1,000 m concentric buffers around home addresses. To assess associations between suicide and greenery, we estimated gender-specific conditional logistic regressions without and with adjustment for individual-level and area-level confounders. Stratified models were fitted for areas with a high/low level of urbanicity and movers/non-movers. Our study population consisted of 9,757 suicide cases and 95,641 controls. In our models adjusted for age, gender, and date of suicide, the odds ratios decreased significantly with higher quartiles of accumulated NDVI scores. NDVI associations were attenuated and did not remain significant after adjustment for socioeconomics, urbanicity, air pollution, social fragmentation, etc. for either males or females. For females, but not males, our model with 300 m buffers for areas with a low level of urbanicity showed a significant suicide risk reduction with increasing levels of NDVI. Individual risk factors (e.g., lack of labor market participation) outweighed the contribution of greenery. We found limited evidence that long-term greenery exposure over people’s lifetimes contributes to resilience against suicide mortality. Ensuring exposure to greenery may contribute to suicide prevention for specific population groups, but the effectiveness of such exposure should not be overstated.

ACS Style

Marco Helbich; Rory C. O'Connor; Marc Nieuwenhuijsen; Paulien Hagedoorn. Greenery exposure and suicide mortality later in life: A longitudinal register-based case-control study. Environment International 2020, 143, 105982 .

AMA Style

Marco Helbich, Rory C. O'Connor, Marc Nieuwenhuijsen, Paulien Hagedoorn. Greenery exposure and suicide mortality later in life: A longitudinal register-based case-control study. Environment International. 2020; 143 ():105982.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marco Helbich; Rory C. O'Connor; Marc Nieuwenhuijsen; Paulien Hagedoorn. 2020. "Greenery exposure and suicide mortality later in life: A longitudinal register-based case-control study." Environment International 143, no. : 105982.

Journal article
Published: 16 July 2020 in Sustainability
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This paper examines how outdoor advertising shapes the perception and meaning of commuting for cyclists in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), and how individualised constructions of place arise during the journey. New insights are developed for a sustainable urban policy, whilst challenging consumer research methodologies through an emphasis on urban rhythm. Interviews were enhanced through the use of video cameras, capturing the visual attention of advertisements and recording bodily engagement with the road. In contrast to much academic and industry research, it is found that the reception of advertising landscapes differs significantly between transportation types, with socio-cultural differences specific to Amsterdam also determining distinctions for cyclists. The use of data by advertisers to track the movement of cyclists is a contentious issue, with wider consequences for privacy and consent in urban daily life. This paper breaks new ground for sustainability in cycling, re-evaluating the daily-embodied experience of commercial landscapes for commuter-cyclists.

ACS Style

Patrick Moore; Marco Helbich. Cycling through the Landscape of Advertising in Amsterdam: A Commuters Perspective. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5719 .

AMA Style

Patrick Moore, Marco Helbich. Cycling through the Landscape of Advertising in Amsterdam: A Commuters Perspective. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (14):5719.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Patrick Moore; Marco Helbich. 2020. "Cycling through the Landscape of Advertising in Amsterdam: A Commuters Perspective." Sustainability 12, no. 14: 5719.

Journal article
Published: 15 July 2020 in Science of The Total Environment
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Artificial light at night (ALAN) may be an anthropogenic stressor for mental health disturbing humans' natural day–night cycle. However, the few existing studies used satellite-based measures of radiances for outdoor ALAN exposure assessments, which were possibly confounded by traffic-related air pollutants. To assess 1) whether living in areas with increased exposure to outdoor ALAN is associated with depressive symptoms; and 2) to assess the potential confounding effects of air pollution. We used cross-sectional data from people (N = 10,482) aged 18–65 years in the Netherlands. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ–9). Satellite-measured annual ALAN were taken from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite. ALAN exposures were assessed at people's home address within 100 and 600 m buffers. We used generalized (geo)additive models to quantify associations between PHQ–9 scores and quintiles of ALAN adjusting for several potential confounders including PM2.5 and NO2. Unadjusted estimates for the 100 m buffers showed that people in the 2nd to 5th ALAN quintile showed significantly higher PHQ–9 scores than those in the lowest ALAN quintile (βQ2 = 0.503 [95% confidence interval, 0.207–0.798], βQ3 = 0.587 [0.291–0.884], βQ4 = 0.921 [0.623–1.218], βQ5 = 1.322 [1.023–1.620]). ALAN risk estimates adjusted for individual and area-level confounders (i.e., PM2.5, urbanicity, noise, land-use diversity, greenness, deprivation, and social fragmentation) were attenuated but remained significant for the 100 m buffer (βQ2 = 0.420 [0.125–0.715], βQ3 = 0.383 [0.071–0.696], βQ4 = 0.513 [0.177–0.850], βQ5 = 0.541 [0.141–0.941]). When adjusting for NO2 per 100 m buffers, the air pollutant was associated with PHQ–9 scores, but ALAN did not display an exposure-response relationship. ALAN associations were insignificance for 600 m buffers. Accounting for NO2 exposure suggested that air pollution rather than outdoor ALAN correlated with depressive symptoms. Future evaluations of health effects from ALAN should consider potential confounding by traffic-related exposures (i.e., NO2).

ACS Style

Marco Helbich; Matthew H.E.M. Browning; Anke Huss. Outdoor light at night, air pollution and depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional study in the Netherlands. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 744, 140914 .

AMA Style

Marco Helbich, Matthew H.E.M. Browning, Anke Huss. Outdoor light at night, air pollution and depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional study in the Netherlands. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 744 ():140914.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marco Helbich; Matthew H.E.M. Browning; Anke Huss. 2020. "Outdoor light at night, air pollution and depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional study in the Netherlands." Science of The Total Environment 744, no. : 140914.

Journal article
Published: 25 March 2020 in ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
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Near-repeat crime refers to a pattern whereby one crime event is soon followed by a similar crime event at a nearby location. Existing research on near-repeat crime patterns is inconclusive about where near-repeat patterns emerge and which physical and social factors influence them. The present research addressed this gap by examining the relationship between initiator events (i.e., the first event in a near-repeat pattern) and environmental characteristics to estimate where near-repeat patterns are most likely to emerge. A two-step analysis was undertaken using data on street robberies reported in Malmö, Sweden, for the years 2006–15. After determining near-repeat patterns, we assessed the correlations between initiator events and criminogenic places and socioeconomic indicators using a negative binomial regression at a street segment level. Our results show that both criminogenic places and socioeconomic indicators have a significant influence on the spatial variation of initiator events, suggesting that environmental characteristics can be used to explain the emergence of near-repeat patterns. Law enforcement agencies can utilize the findings in efforts to prevent further street robberies from occurring.

ACS Style

Markus Rasmusson; Marco Helbich. The Relationship between Near-Repeat Street Robbery and the Environment: Evidence from Malmö, Sweden. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 2020, 9, 188 .

AMA Style

Markus Rasmusson, Marco Helbich. The Relationship between Near-Repeat Street Robbery and the Environment: Evidence from Malmö, Sweden. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 2020; 9 (4):188.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Markus Rasmusson; Marco Helbich. 2020. "The Relationship between Near-Repeat Street Robbery and the Environment: Evidence from Malmö, Sweden." ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 9, no. 4: 188.

Journal article
Published: 07 January 2020 in Environmental Research
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Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to residential green space is beneficial for people's mental health along multiple pathways. It remains unknown, however, whether the complex pathways found for the general population also apply to internal migrants in China. To examine the mediators of green space–mental health associations among migrants in the metropolis of Shenzhen, China. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 591 migrants aged between 18 and 68 years in January–April 2017 in Shenzhen, a city facing a considerable inflow of rural-urban migration. Migrants' mental health was assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Data on migrant's green space perception, migration characteristics, environmental disturbances, social cohesion, physical health, etc. were obtained through a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the mechanisms underlying the green space–mental health association. No direct effect of perceived green space on migrants' mental health was found. We did find, however, that perceived green space is significantly and indirectly related to mental health through reducing perceived environmental disturbance and enhancing social cohesion. Migrants' residential mobility presented a significant potential risk to migrants’ physical health and might influence their mental health indirectly. A similar but only weakly significant health-threatening effect was found for migration frequency. Male and female respondents showed different patterns regarding their physical and mental health status. Migrants with higher personal incomes seemed to face a lower mental health risk. Our findings suggest distinctive pathways through which residential green space could affect the mental health of internal migrants in China. Further studies in rapidly urbanizing areas are advised to evaluate green space–mental health relationships for specific population groups/subgroups with distinctive socioeconomic backgrounds.

ACS Style

Min Yang; Martin Dijst; Jan Faber; Marco Helbich. Using structural equation modeling to examine pathways between perceived residential green space and mental health among internal migrants in China. Environmental Research 2020, 183, 109121 .

AMA Style

Min Yang, Martin Dijst, Jan Faber, Marco Helbich. Using structural equation modeling to examine pathways between perceived residential green space and mental health among internal migrants in China. Environmental Research. 2020; 183 ():109121.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Min Yang; Martin Dijst; Jan Faber; Marco Helbich. 2020. "Using structural equation modeling to examine pathways between perceived residential green space and mental health among internal migrants in China." Environmental Research 183, no. : 109121.

Data article
Published: 07 January 2020 in Data in Brief
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Monitoring of air pollution is an important task in public health. Availability of data is often hindered by the paucity of the ground monitoring station network. We present here a new spatio-temporal dataset collected and processed from the Sentinel 5P remote sensing platform. As an example application, we applied the full workflow to process measurements of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) collected over the territory of mainland France from May 2018 to June 2019. The data stack generated is daily measurements at a 4 × 7 km spatial resolution. The supplementary Python code package used to collect and process the data is made publicly available. The dataset provided in this article is of value for policy-makers and health assessment.

ACS Style

Hichem Omrani; Bilel Omrani; Benoit Parmentier; Marco Helbich. Spatio-temporal data on the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide derived from Sentinel satellite for France. Data in Brief 2020, 28, 105089 .

AMA Style

Hichem Omrani, Bilel Omrani, Benoit Parmentier, Marco Helbich. Spatio-temporal data on the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide derived from Sentinel satellite for France. Data in Brief. 2020; 28 ():105089.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hichem Omrani; Bilel Omrani; Benoit Parmentier; Marco Helbich. 2020. "Spatio-temporal data on the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide derived from Sentinel satellite for France." Data in Brief 28, no. : 105089.

Journal article
Published: 14 November 2019 in Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
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Walking is a common form of physical activity and has a considerable impact on public health. Walking behavior may change over time due to life events, including residential relocation. Only a few studies based on longitudinal data have examined the impacts of life events on walking behavior. The present study investigated the extent to which life events lead to changes in transport-related and recreational walking duration, by analyzing longitudinal panel data from the Netherlands Mobility Panel (MPN) for the years 2013 and 2015. In total, 1185 respondents aged 18 or older who completed both survey waves were included in our sample. Multilevel mixed-effects Tobit regression models were fitted and showed that both childbirth and relocation to less urbanized areas were related to an increase in transport-related walking over time. No significant associations of life events with recreational walking were observed. Findings suggest that transport-related walking is more likely to be influenced by changes in the household composition and residential relocation than recreational walking. Further longitudinal research is needed to verify our findings and gain insight into the mechanisms underlying these relationships.

ACS Style

Jie Gao; Carlijn B.M. Kamphuis; Dick Ettema; Marco Helbich. Longitudinal changes in transport-related and recreational walking: The role of life events. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 2019, 77, 243 -251.

AMA Style

Jie Gao, Carlijn B.M. Kamphuis, Dick Ettema, Marco Helbich. Longitudinal changes in transport-related and recreational walking: The role of life events. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. 2019; 77 ():243-251.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jie Gao; Carlijn B.M. Kamphuis; Dick Ettema; Marco Helbich. 2019. "Longitudinal changes in transport-related and recreational walking: The role of life events." Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 77, no. : 243-251.

Original paper
Published: 14 November 2019 in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
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Purpose The physical and social neighborhood environments are increasingly recognized as determinants for depression. There is little evidence on combined effects of multiple neighborhood characteristics and their importance. Our aim was (1) to examine associations between depression severity and multiple perceived neighborhood environments; and (2) to assess their relative importance. Methods Cross-sectional data were drawn from a population-representative sample (N = 9435) from the Netherlands. Depression severity was screened with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and neighborhood perceptions were surveyed. Supervised machine learning models were employed to assess depression severity-perceived neighborhood environment associations. Results We found indications that neighborhood social cohesion, pleasantness, and safety inversely correlate with PHQ-9 scores, while increasing perceived distance to green space and traffic were correlated positively. Perceived distance to blue space and urbanicity seemed uncorrelated. Young adults, low-income earners, low-educated, unemployed, and divorced persons were more likely to have higher PHQ-9 scores. Neighborhood characteristics appeared to be less important than personal attributes (e.g., age, marital and employment status). Results were robust across different ML models. Conclusions This study suggested that the perceived social environment plays, independent of socio-demographics, a role in depression severity. Contrasted with person-level and social neighborhood characteristics, the prominence of the physical neighborhood environment should not be overstated.

ACS Style

Marco Helbich; Julian Hagenauer; Hannah Roberts. Relative importance of perceived physical and social neighborhood characteristics for depression: a machine learning approach. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2019, 55, 599 -610.

AMA Style

Marco Helbich, Julian Hagenauer, Hannah Roberts. Relative importance of perceived physical and social neighborhood characteristics for depression: a machine learning approach. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2019; 55 (5):599-610.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marco Helbich; Julian Hagenauer; Hannah Roberts. 2019. "Relative importance of perceived physical and social neighborhood characteristics for depression: a machine learning approach." Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 55, no. 5: 599-610.