Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Urbanization and Geo-Simulation, School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
Department of Geography and Resource Management, and Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Apr 21;17(8):2872. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17082872.
An increasing number of studies have observed that ignoring individual exposures to non-residential environments in people's daily life may result in misleading findings in research on environmental exposure. This issue was recognized as the neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP). This study examines ethnic segregation and exposure through the perspective of NEAP. Focusing on Xining, China, it compares the Hui ethnic minorities and the Han majorities. Using 2010 census data and activity diary data collected in 2013, the study found that NEAP exists when examining ethnic exposure. Respondents who live in highly mixed neighborhoods (with high exposures to the other ethnic group) experience lower activity-space exposures because they tend to conduct their daily activities in ethnically less mixed areas outside their home neighborhoods (which are more segregated). By contrast, respondents who live in highly segregated neighborhoods (with low exposures to the other ethnic group) tend to have higher exposures in their activity locations outside their home neighborhoods (which are less segregated). Therefore, taking into account individuals' daily activities in non-residential contexts in the assessment of environmental exposure will likely lead to an overall tendency towards the mean exposure. Using Tobit models, we further found that specific types of activity places, especially workplaces and parks, contribute to NEAP. Ignoring individual exposures in people's activity places will most likely result in misleading findings in the measurement of environmental exposure, including ethnic exposure.
越来越多的研究表明，在研究环境暴露时，如果忽略人们日常生活中非居住环境的个体暴露，可能会导致有误导性的发现。这一问题被认为是环境暴露的邻里效应平均问题（NEAP）。本研究从 NEAP 的角度考察了种族隔离和暴露问题。以中国西宁为例，将回族少数民族和汉族多数群体进行了比较。利用 2010 年的人口普查数据和 2013 年收集的活动日记数据，研究发现，在考察种族暴露时存在 NEAP。居住在高度混合社区（对另一族裔有较高暴露）的受访者由于其日常活动往往集中在离家社区以外族裔混合程度较低的区域（这些区域的隔离程度较高），因此其活动空间的暴露程度较低。相比之下，居住在高度隔离社区（对另一族裔有较低暴露）的受访者往往在离家社区以外的活动地点的暴露程度较高（这些地点的隔离程度较低）。因此，在评估环境暴露时，考虑到个体在非居住环境中的日常活动，可能会导致总体暴露趋于平均值。通过使用 Tobit 模型，我们进一步发现，特定类型的活动场所，特别是工作场所和公园，促成了 NEAP。在测量环境暴露时，如果忽略人们在活动场所的个体暴露，很可能会导致有误导性的发现，包括种族暴露。
