Collaborative Research: Advancing Environmental Equity Research: Vulnerability to Air Pollution and Flood Risks in Houston and Miami

该项目旨在解决与当前环境正义研究和实践相关的几个限制，并推进对环境危害住宅暴露的社会和空间影响的认识。这项研究包括在美国墨西哥湾沿岸两个最大的城市地区进行的两种高影响危害（空气污染和洪水）的平行分析：德克萨斯州的休斯顿和佛罗里达州的迈阿密。待调查的关键问题包括：风险缓解、区位效益和家庭决策过程等因素如何影响社会脆弱性与危害暴露之间的关系，这些因素在环境司法研究中很少受到关注？危险属性和环境因素如何影响社会脆弱性和危险暴露之间的关系？定量研究阶段将把对1 000户家庭进行的社会调查的数据与社区一级的数据结合起来，以检查危害暴露的多层次决定因素。定性阶段将依赖于对一部分调查参与者的访谈，以深入了解支持危害暴露模式的决策过程。比较阶段将重复对多种空气污染和洪水风险变量的分析，以具体说明危害属性（如频率/震级、突发程度）对社会脆弱性与风险暴露之间的空间关系的影响。最后的语境阶段将分析每个城市的历史地理，以促进解释研究地点之间发现的差异。该项目将提供一个可比较的、多层次的、多方法的框架，用于模拟环境危害的住宅暴露，并改变目前对导致环境和社会不公正的因素的理解。该项目的成果将提高公众对环境风险的认识，为从业者社区提供信息，促进教育，并增加代表性不足的群体对危害研究和实践的参与。将向来自代表性不足群体的学生提供教育和研究培训机会。项目数据和调查结果将通过多个渠道以英文和西班牙文传播。将与休斯顿和迈阿密地理教育界建立伙伴关系，项目数据和结果将转化为学习模块，用于高中地理课堂。最后，新闻稿将确保广泛利用项目数据和产品，这些数据和产品将通过项目网站提供。

This project aims to address several limitations associated with current environmental justice research and practice, and advance knowledge of social and spatial influences on residential exposure to environmental hazards. The research involves parallel analyses of two high-impact hazards (air pollution and flooding) conducted in the two largest urban areas on the U.S. Gulf Coast: Houston, Texas and Miami, Florida. Key questions to be investigated include: How do factors such as risk mitigation, locational benefits, and household decision-making processes, which have received little attention in environmental justice research, influence relationships between social vulnerability and hazard exposure? How do hazard attributes and contextual factors influence relationships between social vulnerability and hazard exposure? A quantitative phase of research will integrate data from a social survey of 1,000 households with neighborhood level data to examine multilevel determinants of hazard exposure. A qualitative phase will rely on interviews with a subset of survey participants to provide insight into decision-making processes that underpin patterns of hazard exposure. A comparative phase will replicate analyses for multiple air pollution and flood risk variables to specify the influence of hazard attributes (e.g., frequency/magnitude, suddenness of onset) on spatial relationships between social vulnerability and hazard exposure. A final contextual phase will analyze each city's historical geography to facilitate explanation of differences in findings between the study sites. The project will provide a comparative, multilevel, multi-method framework for modeling residential exposure to environmental hazards, and transform current understandings of factors contributing to environmental and social injustices.The results of the project will enhance public knowledge of environmental risks, inform practitioner communities, contribute to education, and increase the participation of underrepresented groups in hazards research and practice. Education and research training opportunities will be provided to students from underrepresented groups. Project data and findings will be disseminated via multiple outlets in English and Spanish. Partnerships with the Houston and Miami geographic education communities will be formed and project data and results will be translated into learning modules for use in high school geography classrooms. Finally, press releases will ensure broad utilization of project data and products, which will be made accessible via a project website.