Environmental Inequality in Germany – A Nation-wide Assessment of the Spatial Patterns Causing Environmental Inequality

德国的环境不平等 â 对导致环境不平等的空间模式进行全国范围的评估

• 批准号: 418939357
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Henning Best
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Fachgebiet Soziologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2018-12-31 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/418939357?language=en
• 关键词: Environmental; Inequality; Germany; Nation; wide

Environmental inequality research addresses the question of whether environmental pollution is unequally distributed across different groups of citizens. While a huge body of research has documented the disproportionate burden of minorities in the United States, only a handful of empirical studies have investigated the topic of environmental inequality in Germany, thereby relying on either spatially aggregated data or on subjective assessments of environmental pollution. This is a serious shortcoming that needs attention. Moreover, previous research in the United States yields quite inconclusive results regarding the driving forces of environmental inequality. Some studies emphasise selective migration processes, some studies rather highlight selective siting processes, and still others find that infrastructural characteristics play a major role in shaping the disproportionate burden of minorities. This is a second serious shortcoming, given the severe consequences of a persistently high exposure to hazardous environmental pollution. Thus, the main aim of this proposal is to close these gaps in the literature by combining household-level data and enhanced measures of industrial environmental pollution in Germany. Specifically, the goals of this project are (1) to assess the extent of environmental inequality in Germany by using household-level data (as opposed to spatially aggregated data) and objective measures of industrial air pollution and (2) to investigate the causal forces of environmental inequality using geocoded panel data. To achieve those goals, the project involves several sub-goals. First, we aim to develop an accurate estimate of the exposure to toxic pollution in Germany by applying enhanced geographical modelling strategies to the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR). Second, we connect those exposure estimates to aggregated community characteristics as well as household-level data. This can help to identify the causal mechanisms but also to solve the puzzle of why results from individual-level and macro-level data yield different results. Third, the socio-demographic data should be further enriched by geographical data on urban forms and infrastructure. This seems especially relevant when developing strategies to reduce the disproportionate burden of minorities. Fourth, we need to investigate the data in a temporal perspective and, thus, use panel data and appropriate fixed-effects regression techniques. Research taking these aspects into account would advance the state of research in Germany, but also bolster the knowledge about causal forces in the general field of environmental inequality. Furthermore, by using similar methods as available in the USA, future research can conduct comparative research between the two countries. This should provide important insights on the role of structural condition in shaping environmental inequality.

环境不平等研究解决的是环境污染是否在不同的公民群体之间分配不均的问题。虽然有大量研究记录了美国少数族裔不成比例的负担，但只有少数几项实证研究调查了德国的环境不平等问题，因此要么依赖于空间聚合数据，要么依赖于对环境污染的主观评估。这是一个需要注意的严重缺陷。此外，美国之前的研究得出了关于环境不平等的驱动力的相当不确定的结果。一些研究强调选择性迁移过程，一些研究相当强调选择性选址过程，还有一些研究发现，基础设施特征在形成少数族裔不成比例的负担方面发挥了重要作用。鉴于长期暴露在危险环境污染中的严重后果，这是第二个严重缺陷。因此，这项建议的主要目的是通过结合家庭层面的数据和德国加强的工业环境污染措施来弥合文献中的这些差距。具体地说，该项目的目标是(1)通过使用家庭数据(而不是空间聚合数据)和工业空气污染的客观测量来评估德国环境不平等的程度，以及(2)使用地理编码的小组数据调查环境不平等的原因。为了实现这些目标，该项目涉及几个子目标。首先，我们的目标是通过将改进的地理建模策略应用于欧洲污染物释放和转移登记册(E-PRTR)来开发对德国有毒污染暴露的准确估计。其次，我们将这些暴露估计与聚合的社区特征以及家庭层面的数据联系起来。这有助于确定因果机制，但也解决了为什么从个人层面和宏观层面的数据得出的结果不同的谜题。第三，关于城市形态和基础设施的地理数据应进一步丰富社会人口数据。在制定战略以减轻少数群体不成比例的负担时，这似乎特别重要。第四，我们需要从时间的角度调查数据，从而使用面板数据和适当的固定效应回归技术。考虑到这些方面的研究将促进德国的研究状况，但也支持对环境不平等一般领域的因果关系的了解。此外，通过使用与美国类似的方法，未来的研究可以在两国之间进行比较研究。这应该会为结构性条件在塑造环境不平等中的作用提供重要的见解。