The Regeneración Urbana, Calidad de Vida y Salud - RUCAS project: a Chilean multi-methods study to evaluate the impact of urban regeneration on resident health and wellbeing

BMC Public Health

Francisca González¹  Laura Orlando¹  Roxana Valdebenito¹  Alejandra Vives Vergara²  Andrea Cortinez-O’Ryan³  Fernando Baeza⁴  Claire Slesinski⁵  Ana V. Diez Roux⁵ 

[1] Department of Public Health, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Diagonal Paraguay 362, 8330077, Santiago, Chile;Department of Public Health, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Diagonal Paraguay 362, 8330077, Santiago, Chile;Centre for Sustainable Urban Development (CEDEUS), Los Navegantes 1963, 7520246, Santiago, Chile;Department of Public Health, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Diagonal Paraguay 362, 8330077, Santiago, Chile;Department of Physical Education, Sports and Recreation, Universidad de La Frontera, Moneda 673, 8320216, Santiago, Chile;Department of Public Health, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Diagonal Paraguay 362, 8330077, Santiago, Chile;Institute of Geography, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436, Santiago, Chile;Urban Health Collaborative, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, 3215 Market St, 19104, Philadelphia, PA, USA;

关键词: Urban regeneration;    Prospective longitudinal study;    Urban health;    Latin America;    Housing policy;    Natural experiment;    Neighborhood renewal;    Housing improvement;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-021-10739-3

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe available evidence of the health effects of urban regeneration is scarce In Latin America, and there are no studies focused on formal housing that longitudinally evaluate the impact of housing and neighborhood interventions on health. The “Regeneración Urbana, Calidad de Vida y Salud” (Urban Regeneration, Quality of Life, and Health) or RUCAS project is a longitudinal, multi-method study that will evaluate the impact of an intervention focused on dwellings, built environment and community on the health and wellbeing of the population in two social housing neighborhoods in Chile.MethodsRUCAS consists of a longitudinal study where inhabitants exposed and unexposed to the intervention will be compared over time within the study neighborhoods (cohorts), capitalizing on interventions as a natural experiment. Researchers have developed a specific conceptual framework and identified potential causal mechanisms. Proximal and more distal intervention effects will be measured with five instruments, implemented pre- and post-interventions between 2018 and 2021: a household survey, an observation tool to evaluate dwelling conditions, hygrochrons for measuring temperature and humidity inside dwellings, systematic observation of recreational areas, and qualitative interviews. Survey baseline data (956 households, 3130 individuals) is presented to describe sociodemographics, housing and health characteristics of both cohorts, noting that neighborhoods studied show worse conditions than the Chilean population.DiscussionRUCAS’ design allows for a comprehensive evaluation of the effects that the intervention could have on various dimensions of health and health determinants. RUCAS will face some challenges, like changes in the intervention process due to adjustments of the master plan, exogenous factors –including COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns– and lost to follow-up. Given the stepped wedge design, that the study capitalizes on within household changes over time, the possibility of adjusting data collection process and complementarity of methods, RUCAS has the flexibility to adapt to these circumstances. Also, RUCAS’ outreach and retention strategy has led to high retention rates. RUCAS will provide evidence to inform regeneration processes, highlighting the need to consider potential health effects of regeneration in designing such interventions and, more broadly, health as a key priority in urban and housing policies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY