Data Fusion Methods for Improved Demographic Resolution of Population Distribution Datasets

Despite the availability of multiple global population distribution datasets, these datasets are limited by their lack of demographic depth. Although large area spatial datasets of population distributions currently exist, similar spatial representations of other demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are scarce. Spatial microdata that include detailed demographic information are rarely available for small areas, thus limiting the complex analysis of population subgroups. To address the lack of demographic resolution in existing population distribution datasets, a first step would be to develop large area microdata that can be attached to a country- or global-level population distribution dataset. This can be achieved by reweighting a national level sample so as to estimate the detailed socioeconomic characteristics of populations and households at a small area level. In essence, this modelling approach combines individual or household-level microdata for large spatial areas with spatially disaggregate data in order to create synthetic microdata estimates for small areas. Methods to build synthetic spatiodemographic microdata are well documented in literature, yet these efforts have been implemented on limited geographic extent in data rich environments. More specifically, these methods have been tailored to fit specific local, regional, or national data sources with no plan or requirement for adaptation for other geography or data. To address this gap, this research will present a generalizable method for developing synthetic spatial microdata which in turn can be used to increase the demographic resolution of global population distribution data

Studium sídelních systémů pomocí lokalizačních dat mobilních telefonů

Settlement systems, the large-scale manifestation of the spatial organization of human society, are the frequent object of human geography studies. Mobile positioning data have been used in recent decades as a unique source on human activities in space, but robust methodologies to generate datasets from them that would be comparable in accuracy to conventional sources such as census data or travel diaries have still been lacking. This thesis aims to bridge the gap by describing in detail how to generate population distribution and commuting datasets from mobile positioning sources with the mentioned accuracy using ma- chine learning and ancillary geospatial data, including proper treatment of data privacy and artifacts inherent to mobile positioning, and to illustrate their ca- pabilities by building hierarchical settlement system models from them. Several further possible refinements are presented and discussed. 1Sídelní systémy jsou jakožto významná složka makrogeografické organizace lidské společnosti častým objektem studia sociální geografie. Lokalizační data mobilních telefonů jsou v posledních dekádách oblíbená jako unikátní zdroj o lidských aktivitách v prostoru, stále však chybí spolehlivé metody, jak z nich vytvořit datové sady s přesností porovnatelnou s konvenčními zdroji, jako jsou data ze sčítání lidu nebo cestovní deníky. Tato práce si klade za cíl zaplnit tuto mezeru detailním popisem tvorby datových sad o počtech obyvatel a dojížďce z lokalizačních dat mobilních telefonů se zmíněnou úrovní přesnosti za pomoci strojového učení a pomocných geografických dat, včetně správného ošetření anonymity dat i artefaktů plynoucích z principů fungování mobilní sítě, a ilustrovat možnosti těchto výsledků tvorbou hierarchického modelu sídelního systému. Jsou představeny a diskutovány další možnosti rozvoje. 1Department of Applied Geoinformatics and CartographyKatedra aplikované geoinformatiky a kartografiePřírodovědecká fakultaFaculty of Scienc

Empirical Analysis of Urban Sprawl in Canadian Census Metropolitan Areas using Satellite Imagery, 1986-2016

Major Canadian cities have experienced rapid sprawl in the last 30 years. This dissertation presents two studies that empirically examine the causes of urban sprawl, merging census socioeconomics data and satellite imageries of 11 major Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs). The monocentric city model and the Tiebout model are the main traditional theories explaining urban boundary changes and mobility residential. The first study focuses on the cross-sectional comparison among the 11 CMAs in 2016. In the second study, we zoom into the Toronto CMA and examine the longitudinal changes in its urban coverage at the fringe. We detect land cover/use changes of the Toronto CMA in 1986-2016. In both studies, we insert the role of price risk in understanding the timing of urban development. In doing so, both studies aim to contribute to the literature by broadening the traditional theories to include the role of risk in influencing urban development

Geographic access to family physicians in urban areas across Canada

Primary health care (PHC) is a term used to refer to the parts of the health system that people interact with most of the time when health care is needed. It is considered the first point of contact for health services in Canada. Access to PHC services is an important issue regarding health care delivery in Canada today. There is a need to advance current understanding of access to PHC providers at local scales such as neighbourhoods. The primary objective of this study is to examine the variation in geographic (spatial) accessibility to permanently located primary care services in the Canadian urban environment. Furthermore, the analysis of spatial patterns of accessibility, both visually and statistically using GIS, is to provide a better understanding of among and between neighbourhood variations. This research took place in the 14 urban areas across Canada: Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia; Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Hamilton, and Toronto, Ontario; Montréal and Québec, Quebec; Halifax, Nova Scotia; St. John’s, Newfoundland; Saint John, New Brunswick; and Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario and Quebec. A GIS based method, the Three-Step Floating Catchment Area (3SFCA), was applied to determine the spatial accessibility to PHC services (accessibility score). First, for increasing geocoding match rates with reduced positional uncertainty, an integrated geocoding technique was developed after an empirical comparison of the geocoding results based on manually built and online geocoding services and subsequently applied to generate geographic coordinates of PHC practices which are an essential element for measuring potential access to health care. Next, the results of the Three-Step Floating Catchment Area (3SFCA) method was compared with simpler approachs to calculate the City level physician-to-population ratios and this research highlights the benefit of using the 3SFCA method over simpler approaches in urban areas by providing similar or comparable results of City level physician-to-population ratios with the advantage of intra-urban measurements. Further, the results point out that considerable spatial variation in geographical accessibility to PHC services exists within and across Canadian urban areas and indicate the existence of clusters of poorly served neighbourhoods in all urban areas. In order to investigate the low accessibility scores in relation to population health care needs, spatial statistical modeling techniques were applied that revealed variations in geographical accessibility to PHC services by comparing the accessibility scores to different socio-demographic characteristics across Canadian urban settings. In order to analyse how these relationships between accessibility and predictors vary at a local scale within an urban area, a local spatial regression technique (i.e., geographically weighted regression or GWR) was applied in two urban areas. The results of GWR modelling demonstrates intra-urban variations in the relationships between socio-demographic variables and the geographic accessibility to PHC services. In addition, the influences of “unit of analysis” on accessibility score were analyzed using spatial statistical modeling that emphasize the use of units of analysis that are pertinent to policy and planning purposes such as city defined neighbourhoods. Overall, this research shows the importance of measuring geographic accessibility of PHC services at local levels for decision makers, planners, researchers, and policy makers in the field of public health and health geography. This dissertation will advance current understanding of access to primary care in Canadian urban settings from the perspective of the neighbourhood

The Unintended Consequences of Flood Mitigation along Inland Waterways \u2013 a Look at Resilience and Social Vulnerabilities through a Case Study Analysis

69A3551747130This project aims to fill such gaps by developing a model for calculating a Social Fabric Index (SoFI) using publicly available data that is both replicable and scalable. To test the model\u2019s applicability and robustness, it was applied to a case study area and subjected to uncertainty analysis and global sensitivity analysis. The overall objective of this project is to evaluate the unintended consequences of flood mitigation activities (i.e., buyout programs) represented as community costs of measures such as residential home buyouts. While buyouts are used in both coastal and inland communities as a mitigation approach, this study is focused primarily on a case study of an inland riverine community because an inland community may have more alternatives for mitigation than coastal areas (i.e., relocation and elevation may be more amenable options in some inland areas)

Defining and delineating urban neighbourhoods: a case study of housing areas in Brent, North London

There is no geographical definition of the neighbourhood despite it being the chosen spatial scale for U.K. government policy tackling social injustice and rebuilding democracy, and the setting for the majority of life’s experiences where an individual’s lifelong welfare is largely determined. Consequently, resources are targeted sub-optimally with environmental and social dynamics largely undiagnosed. This has fuelled an urgent demand for revealing the nature of neighbourhoods, and how they can be identified on the ground and delineated on maps. Implementing a positive methodology I build upon the foremost theoretically-supported pedestrian-street network neighbourhood model, harnessing established theory, and present an integrative geographical theory of the neighbourhood and its practical manifestation to address the research problem. Using Grannis's empirical work as a benchmark I test the transferability of his methodology to the UK and the explanatory power of my housing area neighbourhood model, using correlation analysis, in two London case study areas, with positive results. Housing areas arise from the physical and built environments and are shown to explain social distributions better than other spatial units tested, and compare favourably with applied surrogate neighbourhoods. I then identify the datasets required to roll out the methodology for developing a practical, meaningful and bounded neighbourhood geography. Further analysis confirms the role of wealth as the great social and spatial segregator. The neighbourhood is re-conceptualised as an holistic and commonly understood entity, whilst the spatial precision introduced facilitates measurement and assessment for optimal service and resource provision, as well as monitoring and intervention. Presenting structural and social homophily as the geneses of social interaction patterns and the explanation for how space is transformed into place is a paradigm shift in our understanding of this fundamental geographical concept which promises to stimulate additional theoretical substantiation and development whilst providing a framework for phenomenological and ethnographical approaches

Measuring Drinking Water Affordability and Sustainability

Access to safe water is necessary for life, but safe water is not always affordable or accessible. The human right to water and the Sustainable Development Goals are landmark social visions for a world where everyone has access to safe and affordable water. These frameworks embed water access in broader aspirations for sustainably managing resources on earth. Metrics play a key role in developing policies and analyzing progress toward water access equity and sustainability. This dissertation contributes to scholarship on water access, economics, and sustainability through developing metrics of household water affordability and greenhouse gas impacts of bottled water. The impacts of unaffordable water can be substantial for economically vulnerable households, who may compromise health and food-related expenses to pay for water and utilities. In a comprehensive and critical review in Chapter 2, I evaluate the state of water affordability research to understand how water affordability should be measured to advance the human right to water and Sustainable Development Goals. In the following chapter, I aim to operationalize metrics for household water affordability in California as part of the state’s first human right to water tracking tool. The research in Chapter 3 offers insight into California’s water affordability challenges through the development of three water affordability indicators, as well as analyses by system size and poverty levels. At the same time, this study underscores the substantial data gaps facing researchers and policymakers aiming to improve water access equity in the U.S.In Chapter 4, I turn to the question of water access sustainability in Mexico, where water access is high, but trust in water quality is low–resulting in the highest per capita consumption of bottled water in the world. I develop a representative metric of greenhouse gas emissions associated with household bottled water use in Mexico using life cycle assessment modeling. To realize sustainable transitions, research into the antagonistic or synergistic interactions among Sustainable Development Goals is required. Achieving water access through the use of bottled water is a prime case study to evaluate such interactions and identify areas for emissions reductions on the pathway to water access for all.The projects in this dissertation enable me to quantify equity and sustainability dimensions of household water access in novel ways, and I explore the scholarship and policy implications of this work in a concluding chapter