Center for Urban Science & Progress and Department of Civil and Urban Engineering, New York University, Brooklyn, NY, United States.
Marron Institute of Urban Management and Center for Urban Science and Progress, New York University, New York, NY, United States.
Health Place. 2019 Mar;56:80-87. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.01.016. Epub 2019 Jan 31.
Urban trees play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, cleaning air, promoting physical activity, and improving mental health. However, it is still largely unknown how the density and species of urban street trees may impact local public health. This study demonstrates how open data mining and large-scale spatial data integration can contribute to deeper insights into the effects of urban forestry. We analyze the impact of the spatial distribution of street trees by species in New York City by combining crowd-sourced tree census data - which includes geolocation, species, size, and condition for each of 652,169 street trees - with pollen activity, allergen severity, land use, housing conditions, and neighborhood demographic data. We further integrate neighborhood asthma hospitalization and emergency department visit rates and air quality data (PM2.5) to investigate how street trees impact local air quality and the prevalence of acute respiratory illness. Using a geographically weighted regression model, the results indicate that although a greater concentration of trees contributes to better local air quality, species with severe allergenicity can increase local asthma hospitalization rates in vulnerable populations, controlling for other covariates.
城市树木在减少温室气体排放、净化空气、促进身体活动和改善心理健康方面发挥着关键作用。然而，城市街道树木的密度和物种如何影响当地公众健康，这在很大程度上仍然未知。本研究展示了开放数据挖掘和大规模空间数据集成如何有助于更深入地了解城市林业的影响。我们通过结合众包树木普查数据——其中包括纽约市 652169 棵街道树木的地理位置、物种、大小和状况——与花粉活动、过敏原严重程度、土地利用、住房条件和社区人口统计数据，分析了街道树木物种的空间分布的影响。我们进一步整合了社区哮喘住院率和急诊就诊率以及空气质量数据（PM2.5），以调查街道树木如何影响当地空气质量和急性呼吸道疾病的患病率。使用地理加权回归模型，结果表明，尽管树木浓度的增加有助于改善当地空气质量，但具有严重致敏性的物种会在易受影响的人群中增加当地哮喘住院率，控制其他协变量。
