IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i21p8167-d440251.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Discovery of the Environmental Factors Affecting Urban Dwellers’ Mental Health: A Data-Driven Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Chao Wu

    (School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310027, China
    The authors contribute equally.)

  • Pei Zheng

    (School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310027, China
    The authors contribute equally.)

  • Xinyuan Xu

    (School of Management, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310027, China)

  • Shuhan Chen

    (School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310027, China)

  • Nasi Wang

    (School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang 310027, China)

  • Simon Hu

    (School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, ZJU-UIUC Institute, Zhejiang University, Haining 314400, China)

Abstract

Mental health is the foundation of health and happiness as well as the basis for an individual’s meaningful life. The environmental and social health of a city can measure the mental state of people living in a certain areas, and exploring urban dwellers’ mental states is an important factor in understanding and better managing cities. New dynamic and granular urban data provide us with a way to determine the environmental factors that affect the mental states of urban dwellers. The characteristics of the maximal information coefficient can identify the linear and nonlinear relationships so that we can fully identify the physical and social environmental factors that affect urban dwellers’ mental states and further test these relationships through linear and nonlinear modeling. Taking the Greater London as an example, we used data from the London Datastore to discover the environmental factors that had the highest correlation with urban mental health from 2015 to 2017 and to prove that they had a high nonlinear correlation through neural network modeling. This paper aimed to use a data-driven approach to find environmental factors that had not yet received enough attention and to provide a starting point for research by establishing hypotheses for further exploration of the impact of environmental factors on mental health.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Wu & Pei Zheng & Xinyuan Xu & Shuhan Chen & Nasi Wang & Simon Hu, 2020. "Discovery of the Environmental Factors Affecting Urban Dwellers’ Mental Health: A Data-Driven Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-16, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:8167-:d:440251
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8167/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8167/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Valerio Baćak & Edward H. Kennedy, 2019. "Principled Machine Learning Using the Super Learner: An Application to Predicting Prison Violence," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 48(3), pages 698-721, August.
    2. Mireia Gascon & Margarita Triguero-Mas & David Martínez & Payam Dadvand & Joan Forns & Antoni Plasència & Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen, 2015. "Mental Health Benefits of Long-Term Exposure to Residential Green and Blue Spaces: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-26, April.
    3. Barnett, E. & Casper, M., 2001. "A definition of"social environment" [1]," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(3), pages 465-465.
    4. Marco Helbich, 2018. "Mental Health and Environmental Exposures: An Editorial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-4, October.
    5. Shuai Chen & Paulina Oliva & Peng Zhang, 2018. "Air Pollution and Mental Health: Evidence from China," NBER Working Papers 24686, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liqing Li & Haifeng Ding, 2022. "The Relationship between Internet Use and Population Health: A Cross-Sectional Survey in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-17, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qiang Wen & Haiqiang Liu & Jinyuan Chen & Huiyao Ye & Zeyu Pan, 2023. "Evaluation of Satisfaction with the Built Environment of University Buildings under the Epidemic and Its Impact on Student Anxiety," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-23, February.
    2. Yayun Ren & Jian Yu & Guanglai Zhang & Chang Zhang & Wenmei Liao, 2023. "The Short- and Long-Run Impacts of Air Pollution on Human Health: New Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-23, January.
    3. Su, Yuandong & Lu, Xinjie & Zeng, Qing & Huang, Dengshi, 2022. "Good air quality and stock market returns," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Hyun Jin Lee & Dong Kun Lee, 2019. "Do Sociodemographic Factors and Urban Green Space Affect Mental Health Outcomes Among the Urban Elderly Population?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-13, March.
    5. Hao-Ting Chang & Chih-Da Wu & Wen-Chi Pan & Shih-Chun Candice Lung & Huey-Jen Su, 2019. "Association Between Surrounding Greenness and Schizophrenia: A Taiwanese Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-16, April.
    6. Colmer, Jonathan & Lin, Dajun & Liu, Siying & Shimshack, Jay, 2021. "Why are pollution damages lower in developed countries? Insights from high-Income, high-particulate matter Hong Kong," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Susanne Boers & Karin Hagoort & Floortje Scheepers & Marco Helbich, 2018. "Does Residential Green and Blue Space Promote Recovery in Psychotic Disorders? A Cross-Sectional Study in the Province of Utrecht, The Netherlands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-8, October.
    8. Phi-Yen Nguyen & Thomas Astell-Burt & Hania Rahimi-Ardabili & Xiaoqi Feng, 2021. "Green Space Quality and Health: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-38, October.
    9. Guo, Liwen & Cheng, Zhiming & Tani, Massimiliano & Cook, Sarah & Zhao, Jiaqi & Chen, Xi, 2022. "Air Pollution and Entrepreneurship," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1196, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    10. Matthew H. E. M. Browning & Alessandro Rigolon, 2019. "School Green Space and Its Impact on Academic Performance: A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-22, February.
    11. Shiyu Bo, 2021. "Environmental Regulations, Political Incentives and Local Economic Activities: Evidence from China," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(3), pages 812-835, June.
    12. Wang, Jinxian & Wang, Yangjie & Sun, Cuicui & Chen, Xiaohong, 2021. "Does mandatory air quality information disclosure raise happiness? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Xia, Fan & Xing, Jianwei & Xu, Jintao & Pan, Xiaochuan, 2022. "The short-term impact of air pollution on medical expenditures: Evidence from Beijing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    14. Benjamin Guinaudeau & Mark Brink & Beat Schäffer & Martin A. Schlaepfer, 2023. "A Methodology for Quantifying the Spatial Distribution and Social Equity of Urban Green and Blue Spaces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-20, December.
    15. Lisa Dandolo & Klaus Telkmann & Christina Hartig & Sophie Horstmann & Sara Pedron & Lars Schwettmann & Peter Selsam & Alexandra Schneider & Gabriele Bolte & on behalf of the INGER Study Group, 2023. "Do Multiple Sex/Gender Dimensions Play a Role in the Association of Green Space and Self-Rated Health? Model-Based Recursive Partitioning Results from the KORA INGER Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-23, March.
    16. Jason Corburn, 2017. "Urban Place and Health Equity: Critical Issues and Practices," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-10, January.
    17. Li, Hao & Guo, Huanxiu & Huang, Naqun & Ye, Jingjing, 2020. "Health risks of exposure to waste pollution: Evidence from Beijing," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    18. Chenying Li & Tiantian Zhang & Xi Wang & Zefeng Lian, 2022. "Site Selection of Urban Parks Based on Fuzzy-Analytic Hierarchy Process (F-AHP): A Case Study of Nanjing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-27, October.
    19. Chen, Fanglin & Hao, Xinyue & Chen, Zhongfei, 2021. "Can high-speed rail improve health and alleviate health inequality? Evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 266-279.
    20. Asier Anabitarte & Mikel Subiza-Pérez & Jesús Ibarluzea & Kepa Azkona & Gonzalo García-Baquero & Carme Miralles-Guasch & Jon Irazusta & Kristina W. Whitworth & Guillem Vich & Aitana Lertxundi, 2020. "Testing the Multiple Pathways of Residential Greenness to Pregnancy Outcomes Model in a Sample of Pregnant Women in the Metropolitan Area of Donostia-San Sebastián," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-23, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:8167-:d:440251. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.