Demographic data in the built environment and human health studies

Abstract

Demographic data is widely used in both built environment and population health studies. Traditional data sources include national, state, and local surveys as well as archived data from longitudinal studies and newly emerging sources such as digitally accessible administrative data and real-time data from mobile devices. The value of these diverse data sets hinges on their accuracy, completeness, reliability, relevance, and timeliness. This chapter reviews the literature published in this field, provides a selective overview of the extant published research based on such data, and offers suggestions for the continuing access and use of such datasets.