Primary Submission Category: Place/Communities
A participatory systems approach to understanding the health effects of neighborhood development in Durham, NC
Authors: Aine O’Connor, Natalicio Serrano,
Presenting Author: Aine O’Connor*
Physical inactivity is associated with excess chronic disease risk and mortality. In the US, Latine and Black communities report higher rates of inactivity and chronic disease compared to white communities. Neighborhood environment can influence physical activity behavior, but Latine and Black neighborhoods often feature fewer, lower-quality physical activity resources than white communities. Neighborhood development may alleviate these disparities by investment in infrastructure, facilitating active transportation and leisure-time exercise. However, development in these communities may also produce negative outcomes for Latine and Black residents through gentrification and/or displacement.
This study aims to characterize the systemic and multilevel factors driving racial and ethnic disparities in neighborhood development and physical activity in Durham, NC, where recent surges in development are escalating changes to resident communities.
Our project uses a community-based system dynamics approach to identify factors influencing the relationship between neighborhood development investment and physical activity in Black and Latine neighborhoods in Durham. Working with a Community Advisory Board of local experts, advocates, and community members, we are recruiting 20-30 participants representing community, research, and policy/practice perspectives to engage in participatory group model building (GMB) workshops in late spring 2025.
Resulting systems maps will depict factors, causal pathways, and feedback loops identifying complex, interacting relationships between neighborhood investment, property values, transit, housing, neighborhood composition, displacement, and physical activity. In rapidly changing urban contexts, participatory modeling identifies locally relevant areas of leverage for advocacy and policy to benefit community health and anti-displacement.