Neighborhood sociodemographics and change in built infrastructure

While increasing evidence suggests an association between physical infrastructure in neighborhoods and health outcomes, relatively little research examines how neighborhoods change physically over time and how these physical improvements are spatially distributed across populations. This paper describes the change over 25 years (1985–2010) in bicycle lanes, off-road trails, bus transit service and parks, and spatial clusters of changes in these domains relative to neighborhood sociodemographics in four US cities that are diverse in terms of geography, size, and population. Across all four cities we identified increases in bicycle lanes, off-road trails, and bus transit service, with spatial clustering in these changes that related to neighborhood sociodemographics. Overall, we found evidence of positive changes in physical infrastructure commonly identified as supportive of physical activity. However, the patterning of infrastructure change by sociodemographic change encourages attention to the equity in infrastructure improvements across neighborhoods.