Using the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes to Identify Differences in the Pedestrian Built Environment for Neighborhoods with High and Low New-Immigrant Populations

This study examines the qualities of pedestrian environments associated with health supportiveness in the context of rapid increase of new-immigrant populations in Edmonton, Canada. Considering the risks of adverse health outcomes, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, injuries, chronic health conditions, and rapid expansion of new-immigrant populations, the health supportiveness of pedestrian environments in Edmonton needs to be assessed. No prior research has examined how neighborhood built environments impact new immigrants’ health. This study assessed the microscale features of the pedestrian environment and identified any differences that may exist in the built environment between high and low new-immigrant neighborhoods in Edmonton, Canada. We described the microscale pedestrian built environment and examined the differences between high and low new-immigrant neighborhoods. The Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes-Full version tool was employed to audit 91 pedestrian routes in eight neighborhoods in Edmonton, Canada. Health-supportiveness ratings were generally low. High new-immigrant neighborhoods had significantly higher ratings for commercial shops, streetscapes, street buffers, presence and spacing of trees, and crosswalk characteristics, whereas low new-immigrant neighborhoods had better scores for building heights and setbacks. New immigrants moving to Edmonton, Canada, are more likely to reside in neighborhoods with more health-supportive pedestrian microscale features than areas with smaller proportions of new immigrants.