Douglas Houston
Biographic Data
| ID | 3720179 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Douglas Houston |
| GIVEN NAMES | Douglas |
| FAMILY NAME | Houston |
| SIGNATURE | HOUSTON D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Irvine |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3901-6072 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 84 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1965 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Paralysis or empowerment: Climate anxiety, hope and action in planning education
Climate change pedagogy is increasingly integrated in planning education, but planning educators have a limited understanding of whether addressing the climate crisis results in student paralysis or empowerment. We surveyed 194 undergraduates in planning courses to assess how climate anxiety and hope influenced three types of climate action: individual behavioral change, discussing climate change and political action. Findings indicate climate an…
Climate Disasters, Anxiety, and Learning: Is Trauma-Informed Climate Pedagogy Needed in Planning Education
Climate change is central to planning education and impacts many students personally. However, little research assesses whether planning students who experience climate trauma learn and respond to climate curricula differently. Based on a survey at the University of California, Irvine, this paper finds that climate-traumatized planning students did not report lower climate literacy, but did experience more climate anxiety and derived no special b…
Between the forest and the trees: Navigating silos and setbacks to vegetative roadway barriers
Expanding participation of marginalized groups within decision-making could help address environmental injustice and increase equity. We assess the potential and challenges of expanded engagement by examining community steering committee (CSC) processes of three communities in the San Joaquin Valley participating in California’s Assembly Bill 617 program to engage local stakeholders to mitigate pollution hotspots. We use case study and interview …
Mitigation behaviors of homeowners and renters in the wildland urban interface
Residential development within the wildland-urban interface (WUI) has greatly expanded in the United States since the 1990s, amplifying wildfire risk by placing people and structures in greater proximity to flammable vegetation. Household wildfire mitigation actions can vary substantially by cost, knowledge required, and perceived effectiveness, but few studies have examined them separately and how their adoption varies by housing tenure in the c…
Spatial Optimism and Cross-Over Effects in the Perceptions of Interconnected Wildfire, Flood, and Mudslide Hazards
Communities near the wildland urban interface (WUI) are exposed to a mix of three interconnected hazards (wildfire, flood, and mudslide), and understanding multi-hazard perceptions is critically important for emergency preparation and hazard mitigation—particularly given the WUI’s rapid expansion and intensifying environmental hazards. Based on a survey of residents living near recent burn scars in Southern California, we document cross-over effe…
The perceived psychological benefits of third places for university students before and after Covid-19 lockdowns
The promise and pitfalls of early project notification meetings; illuminating Santa Ana's sunshine ordinance
Despite the promise that early public participation could enhance transparency and information access, little is known about which public engagement processes and techniques are most effective at the initial stages of plan development and whether development notification meetings enhance inclusion for impacted residents. Responding to these uncertainties, we analyzed the promise and potential pitfalls of early public notification meetings by revi…
Navigating inclusion and legitimacy in campus-community environmental partnerships to advance urban social-ecological resilience
Campus-community partnerships can play a vital role in environmental education by providing universities opportunities to engage diverse communities, but challenges often emerge when research centers leverage their legitimacy as a purveyor of expertise while embracing inclusive engagement practices. While previous campus-community partnership studies have treated inclusion and legitimacy separately, we developed the Legitimacy-Inclusion Engagemen…
Perceptions of neighborhood change in a Latinx transit corridor
Understanding how nearby residents feel about transit-induced neighborhood change remains understudied despite growing concerns over displacement and gentrification. This study analyzed 329 surveys of resident perceptions of neighborhood change and associated development near an existing commuter rail station and a planned streetcar route in Santa Ana, California, a largely low-income, Latinx community. We found residents were on average satisfie…
Urban Form, Socio-Demographics, Attitude and Activity Spaces: Using Household-Based Travel Diary Approach to Understand Travel and Activity Space Behaviors
Very few studies have addressed the gap in literature by examining the travel and activity patterns of travelers in developing countries to inform future land use and socio-economic planning. The major purpose of this paper is to determine the factors related with travel and activity space patterns of residents in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Based on lessons learned from a pilot study, a full study was undertaken using artificial neural network and regres…
Spatial Characteristics and Activity Space Pattern Analysis of Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Although a handful of studies have begun to integrate activity space within travel behavior analysis in the European and United States (U.S.) contexts, few studies have measured the size, structure, and implications of human activity spaces in the context of developing countries. To identify the effects of land-use characteristics, socio-demographics, individual trip characteristics, and personal attitudes on the travel-activity based spatial beh…
Put a park on it: How freeway caps are reconnecting and greening divided cities
How do compact, accessible, and walkable communities promote gender equality in spatial behavior
Environmental Justice: Progress Derailed
AffiliationsDouglas Houston is with the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy, University of California, Irvine.
Driving reduction after the introduction of light rail transit: Evidence from an experimental-control group evaluation of the Los Angeles Expo Line
There is a pressing need to estimate the magnitude and dynamics of the behavioural effects of transportation investments and policy. This article innovates by applying an experimental-control group research design to the case of new light rail transit service in Los Angeles, California. Only a handful of previous studies use an experimental design to assess impacts of light rail transit, and this is the first to use an experimental design to meas…
Can compact rail transit corridors transform the automobile city? Planning for more sustainable travel in Los Angeles
Directing growth towards compact rail corridors has become a key strategy for redirecting auto-oriented regions towards denser, mixed-use communities that support sustainable travel. Few have examined how travel of near-rail residents varies within corridors or whether corridor land use–travel interactions diverge from regional averages. The Los Angeles region has made substantial investments in transit-oriented development, and our survey analys…
Disparities in Exposure to Automobile and Truck Traffic and Vehicle Emissions Near the Los Angeles–Long Beach Port Complex
Objectives. We assessed how traffic and mobile-source air pollution impacts are distributed across racial/ethnic and socioeconomically diverse groups in port-adjacent communities in southern Los Angeles County, which may experience divergent levels of exposure to port-related heavy-duty diesel truck traffic because of existing residential and land use patterns. Methods. We used spatial regression techniques to assess the association of neighborho…
Walkability, Transit Access, and Traffic Exposure for Low-Income Residents With Subsidized Housing
Objectives. We assessed the spatial distribution of subsidized housing units provided through 2 federally supported, low-income housing programs in Orange County, California, in relation to neighborhood walkability, transit access, and traffic exposure. Methods. We used data from multiple sources to examine land-use and health-related built environment factors near housing subsidized through the Housing Choice Voucher Program and the Low Income H…
Arts Accessibility to Major Museums and Cultural/Ethnic Institutions in Los Angeles: Can School Tours Overcome Neighborhood Disparities
Major arts and cultural institutions have expanded their exhibits and programs to reflect society's growing diversity, but we know little about potential neighborhood disparities in arts participation within metropolitan areas and how it varies across institutions and different forms of engagement. Unlike membership, which tends to be 'market' driven, museum school tour programs often target underserved schools to engage diverse communities. We p…
Traffic exposure near the Los Angeles–Long Beach port complex: Using GPS-enhanced tracking to assess the implications of unreported travel and locations
Proximity of Licensed Child Care Facilities to Near-Roadway Vehicle Pollution
Objectives. We assessed child care facilities’ proximity to heavily traveled roadways in an attempt to estimate the extent of potential exposure of young children to vehicle-related pollution in this understudied microenvironment. Methods. We examined approximately 24 000 licensed child care facilities in California located within 200 m of heavily traveled roadways. Results. Approximately 57000 of the available slots in California child care cent…
Policy and Programmatic Importance of Spatial Alignment of Data Sources
Geographic information systems have proven instrumental in assessing environmental impacts on individual and community health, but numerous methodological challenges are associated with analyses of highly localized phenomena in which spatially misaligned data are used. In a case study based on child care facility and traffic data for the Los Angeles metropolitan area, we assessed the extent of facility misclassification with spatially unreconcile…
Structural Disparities of Urban Traffic in Southern California: Implications for Vehicle-Related Air Pollution Exposure in Minority and High-Poverty Neighborhoods
Structural inequalities provide an important context for understanding and responding to the impact of high traffic densities on disadvantaged neighborhoods. Emerging atmospheric science and epidemiological research indicates hazardous vehicle-related pollutants (e.g., diesel exhaust) are highly concentrated near major roadways, and the prevalence of respiratory ailments and mortality are heightened in these high-traffic corridors. This article b…
Transit, Employment and Women on Welfare 1
Inadequate transportation has emerged as a major barrier to employment for welfare recipients required to transition from public assistance to employment under welfare reform. Transportation is a particularly daunting barrier for single women without access to a household car. This study uses multivariate techniques to examine whether nearby transit access impacts the employment outcomes of this population in Los Angeles County. Results show that…
Emile Ollivier and the Hohenzollern Candidacy
Structural Disparities of Urban Traffic in Southern California: Implications for Vehicle-Related Air Pollution Exposure in Minority and High-Poverty Neighborhoods
Structural inequalities provide an important context for understanding and responding to the impact of high traffic densities on disadvantaged neighborhoods. Emerging atmospheric science and epidemiological research indicates hazardous vehicle-related pollutants (e.g., diesel exhaust) are highly concentrated near major roadways, and the prevalence of respiratory ailments and mortality are heightened in these high-traffic corridors. This article b…
Transit, Employment and Women on Welfare 1
Inadequate transportation has emerged as a major barrier to employment for welfare recipients required to transition from public assistance to employment under welfare reform. Transportation is a particularly daunting barrier for single women without access to a household car. This study uses multivariate techniques to examine whether nearby transit access impacts the employment outcomes of this population in Los Angeles County. Results show that…
How do compact, accessible, and walkable communities promote gender equality in spatial behavior
Disparities in Exposure to Automobile and Truck Traffic and Vehicle Emissions Near the Los Angeles–Long Beach Port Complex
Objectives. We assessed how traffic and mobile-source air pollution impacts are distributed across racial/ethnic and socioeconomically diverse groups in port-adjacent communities in southern Los Angeles County, which may experience divergent levels of exposure to port-related heavy-duty diesel truck traffic because of existing residential and land use patterns. Methods. We used spatial regression techniques to assess the association of neighborho…
Can compact rail transit corridors transform the automobile city? Planning for more sustainable travel in Los Angeles
Directing growth towards compact rail corridors has become a key strategy for redirecting auto-oriented regions towards denser, mixed-use communities that support sustainable travel. Few have examined how travel of near-rail residents varies within corridors or whether corridor land use–travel interactions diverge from regional averages. The Los Angeles region has made substantial investments in transit-oriented development, and our survey analys…
Perceptions of neighborhood change in a Latinx transit corridor
Understanding how nearby residents feel about transit-induced neighborhood change remains understudied despite growing concerns over displacement and gentrification. This study analyzed 329 surveys of resident perceptions of neighborhood change and associated development near an existing commuter rail station and a planned streetcar route in Santa Ana, California, a largely low-income, Latinx community. We found residents were on average satisfie…
Put a park on it: How freeway caps are reconnecting and greening divided cities
Proximity of Licensed Child Care Facilities to Near-Roadway Vehicle Pollution
Objectives. We assessed child care facilities’ proximity to heavily traveled roadways in an attempt to estimate the extent of potential exposure of young children to vehicle-related pollution in this understudied microenvironment. Methods. We examined approximately 24 000 licensed child care facilities in California located within 200 m of heavily traveled roadways. Results. Approximately 57000 of the available slots in California child care cent…
Policy and Programmatic Importance of Spatial Alignment of Data Sources
Geographic information systems have proven instrumental in assessing environmental impacts on individual and community health, but numerous methodological challenges are associated with analyses of highly localized phenomena in which spatially misaligned data are used. In a case study based on child care facility and traffic data for the Los Angeles metropolitan area, we assessed the extent of facility misclassification with spatially unreconcile…
Urban Form, Socio-Demographics, Attitude and Activity Spaces: Using Household-Based Travel Diary Approach to Understand Travel and Activity Space Behaviors
Very few studies have addressed the gap in literature by examining the travel and activity patterns of travelers in developing countries to inform future land use and socio-economic planning. The major purpose of this paper is to determine the factors related with travel and activity space patterns of residents in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Based on lessons learned from a pilot study, a full study was undertaken using artificial neural network and regres…
Spatial Characteristics and Activity Space Pattern Analysis of Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Although a handful of studies have begun to integrate activity space within travel behavior analysis in the European and United States (U.S.) contexts, few studies have measured the size, structure, and implications of human activity spaces in the context of developing countries. To identify the effects of land-use characteristics, socio-demographics, individual trip characteristics, and personal attitudes on the travel-activity based spatial beh…
Driving reduction after the introduction of light rail transit: Evidence from an experimental-control group evaluation of the Los Angeles Expo Line
There is a pressing need to estimate the magnitude and dynamics of the behavioural effects of transportation investments and policy. This article innovates by applying an experimental-control group research design to the case of new light rail transit service in Los Angeles, California. Only a handful of previous studies use an experimental design to assess impacts of light rail transit, and this is the first to use an experimental design to meas…
Arts Accessibility to Major Museums and Cultural/Ethnic Institutions in Los Angeles: Can School Tours Overcome Neighborhood Disparities
Major arts and cultural institutions have expanded their exhibits and programs to reflect society's growing diversity, but we know little about potential neighborhood disparities in arts participation within metropolitan areas and how it varies across institutions and different forms of engagement. Unlike membership, which tends to be 'market' driven, museum school tour programs often target underserved schools to engage diverse communities. We p…
Traffic exposure near the Los Angeles–Long Beach port complex: Using GPS-enhanced tracking to assess the implications of unreported travel and locations
Emile Ollivier and the Hohenzollern Candidacy
Emile Ollivier and the Hohenzollern Candidacy
Transit, Employment and Women on Welfare 1
Inadequate transportation has emerged as a major barrier to employment for welfare recipients required to transition from public assistance to employment under welfare reform. Transportation is a particularly daunting barrier for single women without access to a household car. This study uses multivariate techniques to examine whether nearby transit access impacts the employment outcomes of this population in Los Angeles County. Results show that…
Structural Disparities of Urban Traffic in Southern California: Implications for Vehicle-Related Air Pollution Exposure in Minority and High-Poverty Neighborhoods
Structural inequalities provide an important context for understanding and responding to the impact of high traffic densities on disadvantaged neighborhoods. Emerging atmospheric science and epidemiological research indicates hazardous vehicle-related pollutants (e.g., diesel exhaust) are highly concentrated near major roadways, and the prevalence of respiratory ailments and mortality are heightened in these high-traffic corridors. This article b…
Proximity of Licensed Child Care Facilities to Near-Roadway Vehicle Pollution
Objectives. We assessed child care facilities’ proximity to heavily traveled roadways in an attempt to estimate the extent of potential exposure of young children to vehicle-related pollution in this understudied microenvironment. Methods. We examined approximately 24 000 licensed child care facilities in California located within 200 m of heavily traveled roadways. Results. Approximately 57000 of the available slots in California child care cent…
Policy and Programmatic Importance of Spatial Alignment of Data Sources
Geographic information systems have proven instrumental in assessing environmental impacts on individual and community health, but numerous methodological challenges are associated with analyses of highly localized phenomena in which spatially misaligned data are used. In a case study based on child care facility and traffic data for the Los Angeles metropolitan area, we assessed the extent of facility misclassification with spatially unreconcile…
Traffic exposure near the Los Angeles–Long Beach port complex: Using GPS-enhanced tracking to assess the implications of unreported travel and locations
Walkability, Transit Access, and Traffic Exposure for Low-Income Residents With Subsidized Housing
Objectives. We assessed the spatial distribution of subsidized housing units provided through 2 federally supported, low-income housing programs in Orange County, California, in relation to neighborhood walkability, transit access, and traffic exposure. Methods. We used data from multiple sources to examine land-use and health-related built environment factors near housing subsidized through the Housing Choice Voucher Program and the Low Income H…
Arts Accessibility to Major Museums and Cultural/Ethnic Institutions in Los Angeles: Can School Tours Overcome Neighborhood Disparities
Major arts and cultural institutions have expanded their exhibits and programs to reflect society's growing diversity, but we know little about potential neighborhood disparities in arts participation within metropolitan areas and how it varies across institutions and different forms of engagement. Unlike membership, which tends to be 'market' driven, museum school tour programs often target underserved schools to engage diverse communities. We p…
Disparities in Exposure to Automobile and Truck Traffic and Vehicle Emissions Near the Los Angeles–Long Beach Port Complex
Objectives. We assessed how traffic and mobile-source air pollution impacts are distributed across racial/ethnic and socioeconomically diverse groups in port-adjacent communities in southern Los Angeles County, which may experience divergent levels of exposure to port-related heavy-duty diesel truck traffic because of existing residential and land use patterns. Methods. We used spatial regression techniques to assess the association of neighborho…
Can compact rail transit corridors transform the automobile city? Planning for more sustainable travel in Los Angeles
Directing growth towards compact rail corridors has become a key strategy for redirecting auto-oriented regions towards denser, mixed-use communities that support sustainable travel. Few have examined how travel of near-rail residents varies within corridors or whether corridor land use–travel interactions diverge from regional averages. The Los Angeles region has made substantial investments in transit-oriented development, and our survey analys…
Driving reduction after the introduction of light rail transit: Evidence from an experimental-control group evaluation of the Los Angeles Expo Line
There is a pressing need to estimate the magnitude and dynamics of the behavioural effects of transportation investments and policy. This article innovates by applying an experimental-control group research design to the case of new light rail transit service in Los Angeles, California. Only a handful of previous studies use an experimental design to assess impacts of light rail transit, and this is the first to use an experimental design to meas…
How do compact, accessible, and walkable communities promote gender equality in spatial behavior
Environmental Justice: Progress Derailed
AffiliationsDouglas Houston is with the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy, University of California, Irvine.
Spatial Characteristics and Activity Space Pattern Analysis of Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Although a handful of studies have begun to integrate activity space within travel behavior analysis in the European and United States (U.S.) contexts, few studies have measured the size, structure, and implications of human activity spaces in the context of developing countries. To identify the effects of land-use characteristics, socio-demographics, individual trip characteristics, and personal attitudes on the travel-activity based spatial beh…
Put a park on it: How freeway caps are reconnecting and greening divided cities
Urban Form, Socio-Demographics, Attitude and Activity Spaces: Using Household-Based Travel Diary Approach to Understand Travel and Activity Space Behaviors
Very few studies have addressed the gap in literature by examining the travel and activity patterns of travelers in developing countries to inform future land use and socio-economic planning. The major purpose of this paper is to determine the factors related with travel and activity space patterns of residents in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Based on lessons learned from a pilot study, a full study was undertaken using artificial neural network and regres…
Navigating inclusion and legitimacy in campus-community environmental partnerships to advance urban social-ecological resilience
Campus-community partnerships can play a vital role in environmental education by providing universities opportunities to engage diverse communities, but challenges often emerge when research centers leverage their legitimacy as a purveyor of expertise while embracing inclusive engagement practices. While previous campus-community partnership studies have treated inclusion and legitimacy separately, we developed the Legitimacy-Inclusion Engagemen…
Perceptions of neighborhood change in a Latinx transit corridor
Understanding how nearby residents feel about transit-induced neighborhood change remains understudied despite growing concerns over displacement and gentrification. This study analyzed 329 surveys of resident perceptions of neighborhood change and associated development near an existing commuter rail station and a planned streetcar route in Santa Ana, California, a largely low-income, Latinx community. We found residents were on average satisfie…
Spatial Optimism and Cross-Over Effects in the Perceptions of Interconnected Wildfire, Flood, and Mudslide Hazards
Communities near the wildland urban interface (WUI) are exposed to a mix of three interconnected hazards (wildfire, flood, and mudslide), and understanding multi-hazard perceptions is critically important for emergency preparation and hazard mitigation—particularly given the WUI’s rapid expansion and intensifying environmental hazards. Based on a survey of residents living near recent burn scars in Southern California, we document cross-over effe…
The perceived psychological benefits of third places for university students before and after Covid-19 lockdowns
The promise and pitfalls of early project notification meetings; illuminating Santa Ana's sunshine ordinance
Despite the promise that early public participation could enhance transparency and information access, little is known about which public engagement processes and techniques are most effective at the initial stages of plan development and whether development notification meetings enhance inclusion for impacted residents. Responding to these uncertainties, we analyzed the promise and potential pitfalls of early public notification meetings by revi…
Mitigation behaviors of homeowners and renters in the wildland urban interface
Residential development within the wildland-urban interface (WUI) has greatly expanded in the United States since the 1990s, amplifying wildfire risk by placing people and structures in greater proximity to flammable vegetation. Household wildfire mitigation actions can vary substantially by cost, knowledge required, and perceived effectiveness, but few studies have examined them separately and how their adoption varies by housing tenure in the c…
Paralysis or empowerment: Climate anxiety, hope and action in planning education
Climate change pedagogy is increasingly integrated in planning education, but planning educators have a limited understanding of whether addressing the climate crisis results in student paralysis or empowerment. We surveyed 194 undergraduates in planning courses to assess how climate anxiety and hope influenced three types of climate action: individual behavioral change, discussing climate change and political action. Findings indicate climate an…
Climate Disasters, Anxiety, and Learning: Is Trauma-Informed Climate Pedagogy Needed in Planning Education
Climate change is central to planning education and impacts many students personally. However, little research assesses whether planning students who experience climate trauma learn and respond to climate curricula differently. Based on a survey at the University of California, Irvine, this paper finds that climate-traumatized planning students did not report lower climate literacy, but did experience more climate anxiety and derived no special b…
Between the forest and the trees: Navigating silos and setbacks to vegetative roadway barriers
Expanding participation of marginalized groups within decision-making could help address environmental injustice and increase equity. We assess the potential and challenges of expanded engagement by examining community steering committee (CSC) processes of three communities in the San Joaquin Valley participating in California’s Assembly Bill 617 program to engage local stakeholders to mitigate pollution hotspots. We use case study and interview …
Geography (16 works) · Urban Transport and Accessibility (14 works) · Engineering (12 works) · Transport engineering (11 works) · Business (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Environmental health (8 works) · Medicine (8 works) · Economics (7 works) · Environmental Science (7 works)