ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2018
Associations between Urban Sprawl and Life Expectancy in the United States.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Urban Sprawl, Natural Environments, and Mortality Inequality: Socioeconomic Pathways and Spatial Heterogeneity Across U.S. Counties.Applied geography (Sevenoaks, England) · 2026Article
- "Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- The ecological footprint of physicians: A survey of physicians in Canada, India, and USA.PloS one · 2023Article
- The Association between Active Mobility and Subjective Wellbeing during COVID-19 in MENA Countries.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- COVID-19 and the compact city: Implications for well-being and sustainable urban planning.The Science of the total environment · 2022Article
- Assessing Trade-Offs and Optimal Ranges of Density for Life Expectancy and 12 Causes of Mortality in Metro Vancouver, Canada, 1990-2016.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- COVID-19 and urban planning: Built environment, health, and well-being in Greek cities before and during the pandemic.Cities (London, England) · 2022Article
- Can Obesity Prevalence Explain COVID-19 Indicators (Cases, Mortality, and Recovery)? A Comparative Study in OECD Countries.Journal of obesity · 2022Article
- Do COVID19 infection rates change over time and space? Population density and socio-economic measures as regressors.Cities (London, England) · 2022Article
- Do population density, socio-economic ranking and Gini Index of cities influence infection rates from coronavirus? Israel as a case study.The Annals of regional science · 2022Article
- How Does Urban Sprawl Affect Public Health? Evidence from Panel Survey Data in Urbanizing China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- The Health Cost of Transport in Cities.Current environmental health reports · 2021Review
- Subway Ridership, Crowding, or Population Density: Determinants of COVID-19 Infection Rates in New York City.American journal of preventive medicine · 2021Article
- [Air pollution and cardiovascular diseases].Herz · 2021Review
- Compact development and adherence to stay-at-home order during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal investigation in the United States.Landscape and urban planning · 2021Article
- Using Satellite Images and Deep Learning to Identify Associations Between County-Level Mortality and Residential Neighborhood Features Proximal to Schools: A Cross-Sectional Study.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Active living environments, physical activity and premature cardiometabolic mortality in Canada: a nationwide cohort study.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Reduction of environmental pollutants for prevention of cardiovascular disease: it's time to act.European heart journal · 2020Article
- Urban Sprawl and Health Outcome Associations in Sicily.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In recent years, the United States has had a relatively poor performance with respect to life expectancy compared to the other developed nations. Urban sprawl is one of the potential causes of the high rate of mortality in the United States. This study investigated cross-sectional associations between sprawl and life expectancy for metropolitan counties in the United States in 2010. In this study, the measure of life expectancy in 2010 came from a recently released dataset of life expectancies by county. This study modeled average life expectancy with a structural equation model that included five mediators: annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per household, average body mass index, crime rate, and air quality index as mediators of sprawl, as well as percentage of smokers as a mediator of socioeconomic status. After controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, this study found that life expectancy was significantly higher in compact counties than in sprawling counties. Compactness affects mortality directly, but the causal mechanism is unclear. For example, it may be that sprawling areas have higher traffic speeds and longer emergency response times, lower quality and less accessible health care facilities, or less availability of healthy foods. Compactness affects mortality indirectly through vehicle miles traveled, which is a contributor to traffic fatalities, and through body mass index, which is a contributor to many chronic diseases. This study identified significant direct and indirect associations between urban sprawl and life expectancy. These findings support further research and practice aimed at identifying and implementing changes to urban planning designed to support health and healthy behaviors.
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