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Three Ecologies of the Urban Environment and the Health of Latinx Communities

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New and Emerging Issues in Latinx Health

Abstract

In the USA, the Latinx population has been identified as a minority group subject to disproportionate exposure to unhealthy environments. Given that a vast majority of Latinx persons live in highly segregated neighborhoods in metropolitan areas, an understanding of how urban environments affect Latinx persons’ health opportunities is vital for reducing health disparities. In this chapter, we explore some dimensions of the urban environment and explain its relevance to Latinx communities’ health. We provide an overview of the social composition and spatial distribution of the Latinx population. Then, we present a conceptual model describing a general pathway of how the social, built, and natural ecologies of the urban environment influence Latinx communities’ health. We illustrate empirically how these ecologies interact at the neighborhood level to affect Latinx persons’ physical activity. We conclude with a list of actionable policy alternatives that can address urban health problems in Latinx neighborhoods.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    All individuals’ names in this chapter are pseudonyms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Transborder Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Francisco Lara-Valencia

  2. Department of Population Studies, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Nogales, Sonora, México

    Hilda García-Pérez

Authors
  1. Francisco Lara-Valencia
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  2. Hilda García-Pérez
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Correspondence to Francisco Lara-Valencia .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Promotion and Policy, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA

    Airín D. Martínez

  2. Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Scott D. Rhodes

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Lara-Valencia, F., García-Pérez, H. (2020). Three Ecologies of the Urban Environment and the Health of Latinx Communities. In: Martínez, A., Rhodes, S. (eds) New and Emerging Issues in Latinx Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24043-1_13

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