Neighbourhood-level housing quality indices for health assessment in Dakar, Senegal

Abstract

In sub-Saharan African cities, the dearth of accurate and detailed data is a major problem in the study of health and socioeconomic changes driven by rapid urbanization. Data on both health determinants and health outcomes are often lacking or are of poor quality. Proxies associated with socioeconomic differences are needed to compensate the lack of data. One of the most straightforward proxies is housing quality, which is a multidimensional concept including characteristics of both the built and natural environments. In this work, we combined the 2013 census data with remotely sensed land cover and land use data at a very high resolution in order to develop an integrated housing quality-based typology of the neighbourhoods in Dakar, Senegal. Principal component analysis and hierarchical classification were used to derive neighbourhood housing quality indices and four neighbourhood profiles. Paired tests revealed significant variations in the censusderived mortality rates between profile 1, associated with the lowest housing quality, and the three other profiles. These findings demonstrate the importance of housing quality as an important health risk factor. From a public health perspective, it should be a useful contribution for geographically targeted planning health policies, at the neighbourhood spatial level, which is the most appropriate administrative level for interventions.

Fine-scale mapping of urban malaria exposure under data scarcity: an approach centred on vector ecology

“…[ 33 ]. Poorly-built dwellings, and dwellings with openings are associated with a higher incidence of malaria [ 5 , 97 ] Overall, western neighbourhoods present buildings of higher quality than eastern neighbourhoods, but there are fine-scale variations within this duality [ 98 ]. In deprived areas, there is not much difference between the materials of the housing units of poor and non-poor households [ 68 ] Improved buildings (proxy: medium- and high-rise buildings) Improved housing and mosquito proofing contribute to the decline in malaria incidence [ 5 ] Swimming pools n/a Swimming pools are not cited among suitable habitats Swimming pools are not cited among suitable habitats Paved surface OSM Paved surface is not cited among suitable habitats Paved surface is not cited among suitable habitats.…”

Assessing built environment quality at neighborhood level in the design, construction and operational phase

“…Examples of district-level monitoring models that deal with particular aspects are observed in the literature, but there are no series of indicators that highlight guides for designers or for the Public Administration to assess the quality of projects. The indicators of the social condition of the neighborhood (Glassman, 2020) (Gadiaga, 2021) are focused on the state of the social conditions of the neighborhoods in terms of quality of life, which is defined according to the principles contained in the theories of Urban Planning (Serag El Din, Shalaby, Hend Elsayed, & Elariane, 2012) in which they are considered interdependent dimensions that contribute to a definition of quality in the neighborhoods.…”