Sociospatial inequalities in health-related behaviours

Abstract

There has been a resurgence of interest in how the social, built and cultural environments contribute to shaping health outcomes. The pathways relating place to health behaviour have received less attention. We develop a nuanced understanding of the pathways linking individuals, places and smoking. Two key pathways operate: place-based ‘practices’ and place-based ‘regulation’. Future geographical research should pay attention to the different scale effects, encompass a wider set of influences which affect the liveability and social composition of neighbourhoods, and specify group differences in the impact of the local economic and social environment upon smoking.