Abstract
Background
Over the past 10 years, there has been a surge of interest in studying small-area characteristics as determinants of population and individual health. Accumulating evidence indicates the existence of variations in the health status of populations living in areas that differ in affluence and shows that selected small-area characteristics are associated with the occurrence of selected health behaviours. These variations cannot be attributed solely to differential characteristics of populations living within small areas. One vexing problem that confronts researchers is that of conceptualizing and operationalizing neighbourhoods through delineation of small territorial units in health research.
Goals and Methods
The aims of this paper are to selectively overview conceptual definitions of neighbourhoods and to illustrate the challenges of operationalizing neighbourhoods in urban areas by describing our attempts to map out small territorial units on the Island of Montreal and in the City of Calgary.
Conclusion
We outline guiding principles for the construction of a methodology for establishing small-area contours in urban areas and formulate recommendations for future research.
Résumé
Introduction
Au cours des 10 dernières années, il y a eu un intérêt accru pour la recherche portant sur les caractéristiques de petites unités territoriales comme déterminants de la santé des populations et des individus. Plusieurs études démontrent l’existence de variations dans l’état de santé des populations en fonction du degré de favorisation dans différents territoires et d’associations entre certaines caractéristiques des territoires et la pratique de différentes habitudes de vie. Ces variations ne semblent pas pouvoir être attribuées uniquement aux caractéristiques différentielles des populations qui y vivent. Un des problèmes de recherche les plus vexant dans ce domaine se rapporte à la conceptualisation et l’opérationnalisation de la notion de quartiers à travers la délimitation d’unités territoriales.
Buts et méthodes
Les buts de cet article sont de sélectivement énumérer les définitions conceptuelles du quartier et d’illustrer les défis associés à l’opérationnalisation de la notion de quartiers dans des milieux urbains en décrivant nos propres tentatives de cartographier de petites unités territoriales sur l’île de Montréal et dans la ville de Calgary.
Conclusion
Nous proposons des lignes directrices pour le développement d’une méthodologie pour établir les contours de quartiers dans des milieux urbains et formulons des recommandations pour la recherche future.
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Acknowledgements: Data-based portions of this paper were supported by a Canadian Population Health Initiative grant from the Canadian Institute for Health Information entitled “Inventory and Linkage of Databases for Studying the Relationships between Place and Health in Urban Setting” awarded to Louise Potvin, Penny Hawe and collaborators.
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Gauvin, L., Robitaille, É., Riva, M. et al. Conceptualizing and Operationalizing Neighbourhoods: The Conundrum of Identifying Territorial Units. Can J Public Health 98 (Suppl 1), S18–S26 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403723
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403723