Hillier, Amy
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Disciplines
Mental and Social Health
Urban Studies and Planning
Urban, Community and Regional Planning
Urban Studies and Planning
Urban, Community and Regional Planning
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Position
Assistant Professor of City & Regional Planning
Introduction
My research focuses on geographic disparities, particularly racial disparities in housing and public health. Much of my research uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze spatial patterns.
Research Interests
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Now showing 1 - 10 of 17
Publication WEB Du Bois and the "Negro Problem": Thoughts on Violence in Philadelphia(2007-07-22) Hillier, AmyThis sermon, delivered at First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, might also be called "Why a white girl from New Hampshire is studying The Philadelphia Negro." This essay/sermon connects Du Bois's 1896 survey of Philadelphia to the violence currently plaguing Philadelphia.Publication Why Social Work Needs Mapping(2007-07-01) Hillier, Amy ERelative to other fields, social work has been slow to adopt geographic information systems (GIS) as a tool for research and practice. This paper argues that GIS can benefit social work by: (1) continuing and strengthening the social survey tradition; (2) providing a framework for understanding human behavior; (3) identifying community needs and assets; (4) improving the delivery of social services; and (5) empowering communities and traditionally disenfranchised groups. Examples from a social work course on GIS and published social work research help illustrate these points. The paper concludes by considering the ways that social work can contribute to the development of GIS.Publication Exploring the Role of the Food Environment on Food Shopping Patterns in Philadelphia, PA, USA: A Semiquantitative Comparison of Two Matched Neighborhood Groups(2013-01-14) Hirsch, Jana A.; Hillier, AmyIncreasing research has focused on the built food environment and nutrition-related outcomes, yet what constitutes a food environment and how this environment influences individual behavior still remain unclear. This study assesses whether travel mode and distance to food shopping venues differ among individuals in varying food environments and whether individual- and household-level factors are associated with food shopping patterns. Fifty neighbors who share a traditionally defined food environment (25 in an unfavorable environment and 25 in a favorable environment) were surveyed using a mix of close- and open-ended survey questions. Food shopping patterns were mapped using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Stores visited were beyond the 0.5-mile (805 meters) radius traditionally used to represent the extent of an individual’s food environment in an urban area. We found no significant difference in shopping frequency or motivating factor behind store choice between the groups. No differences existed between the two groups for big food shopping trips. For small trips, individuals in the favorable food environment traveled shorter distances and were more likely to walk than drive. Socioeconomic status, including car ownership, education, and income influenced distance traveled. These findings highlight the complexities involved in the study and measurement of food environments.Publication Comment on James R. Cohen’s “Abandoned Housing: Exploring Lessons from Baltimore”(2001-01-01) Culhane, Dennis P.; Hillier, Amy EFor most cities, the possibility of transforming unused property into community and city assets is as yet hypothetical. Fiscal constraints limit the amount of land acquisition, relocation, and demolition that cities can undertake. Private investors, unsure of which neighborhoods have a chance of becoming self-sustaining, are reluctant to take risks in untested markets. Cities need to create citywide planning strategies for land aggregation and neighborhood stabilization and to develop analyses of the risks and opportunities associated with redevelopment opportunities in specific markets. Research seems sorely needed. Although the policy world cannot and will not stand still waiting for academics to design the perfect study or to collect all the data to model the potential effects of various policy options and investments, analysis that can play a more immediately supportive role can and should be done now.Publication Evaluating a Community Based Homelessness Prevention Program: A Geographic Information System Approach(2001-01-01) Wong, Yin-Ling I; Hillier, Amy EThis article introduces and illustrates the application of Geographic Information System technology to examine patterns of social-services use in community-based interventions. By integrating management information system data from human service agencies and publicly accessible data from the U.S. Census within a specially-referenced framework, the study illustrates that GIS analysis could help managers and planners of social services to assess the extent to which program implementation reflects adherence to a program concept and identify geographical areas with the greatest unmet service needs. The article demonstrates the application of GIS technology, based on an analysis of a city-wide community-based homelessness prevention program in Philadelphia.Publication Help in Time: An Evaluation of Philadelphia's Community-Based Homelessness Prevention Program(1999-12-01) Wong, Yin-Ling I; Culhane, Dennis P; Metraux, Stephen; Koppel, Meg; Hillier, Amy; Eldridge, David E; Lee, Helen RThis report provides an evaluation of Philadelphia's neighborhood-based homelessness prevention initiative. Results indicate that nearly all households served do not become homeless. But it is unclear if households would have become homeless had they not been served. Recommendations are made for targeting prevention interventions to families requesting shelter.Publication PhillydotMap: The Shape of Philadelphia(2009-10-01) Branas, Charles; Davitt, Joan K; Hillier, Amy; Cheetham, Robert; Cheetham-Richard, Rachel; Cohen, Rachel B; Decker, Joan; Heckert, Megan; Steinberg, Harris; Sullivan-Marx, Eileen; Hutchins, Jason; Tomlin, C. Dana; Kerman, Lucy; Volpe, Stella; Lechner, Zachary L; Wiebe, Douglas; McLarnon, Michael; Newlin, Heather; Scholssberg, Dina; Wormley, Diane-LouiseThis book is the outgrowth of a working group entitled, “Modeling Urban Environmental Impacts on Health, Development, and Behavior" sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research. The purpose of the working gropu was to engage faculty from across campus and to encourage their collaborative use of GIS technology in the modeling of urban form and function. These ten chapters represent a wide range of GIS applications, from community-based social services to public history to social science research.Publication Integrating and Distributing Administrative Data to Support Community Change(2005-01-01) Hillier, Amy E; Culhane, Dennis P.An increasing number of groups are demanding access to information about the physical, economic, and social conditions in their communities. In addition to researchers, community development corporations, neighborhood associations, social service agencies, and municipal agencies all are becoming consumers of quantitative data. More powerful desktop computers, sophisticated data management software, enormous data storage devices, and expanding Internet access have increased exponentially the capacity of even small organizations to handle large amounts of data. However, none of these advances guarantees that organization staff will be able to make sense of these mountains of data. Perhaps more important, the advances do not enhance access to the most useful types of data that frequently reside behind municipal agency firewalls and layers of bureaucratic red tape. The growing demand for small-area administrative data in useful formats makes essential the development of new tools to support a wide range of community change efforts.Publication Redlining and the Homeowners' Loan Corporation(2003-05-01) Hillier, Amy EThis article analyzes the impact of the residential security maps created by the Home Owners’Loan Corporation (HOLC) during the 1930s on residential mortgages in Philadelphia. Researchers have consistently argued that HOLC caused redlining and disinvestment in U.S. cities by sharing its color-coded maps. Geographic information systems and spatial statistical models were used to analyze address-level mortgage data from Philadelphia to determine if areas with worse grades actually had less access to residential mortgage credit as a result. Findings indicate that the grades on HOLC’s map do not explain differences in lending patterns with the exception of interest rates, which were higher in areas colored red. Archival material and journal articles from the 1930s also reveal that lenders were avoiding areas colored red before HOLC made its maps, that HOLC’s maps were not widely distributed, and that lenders had other sources of information about real estate risk levels.Publication Predicting Housing Abandonment with the Philadelphia Neighborhood Information System(2003-01-01) Hillier, Amy E; Culhane, Dennis P.; Smith, Tony E; Tomlin, C. DanaSeveral large US cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, have developed information systems to distribute property-level housing data to community organizations and municipal agencies. These early warning systems are also intended to predict which properties are at greatest risk of abandonment, but they have rarely used statistical modeling to support such forecasts. This study used logistic regression to analyze data from the Philadelphia Neighborhood Information System in order to determine which properties were most likely to become imminently dangerous. Several different characteristics of the property, including whether it was vacant, had outstanding housing code violations, and tax arrearages as well as characteristics of nearby properties were identified as significant predictors. Challenges common to the development of early warning systems - including integrating administrative data, defining abandonment, and modeling temporal and spatial data - are discussed along with policy implications for cities like Philadelphia that have thousands of vacant and abandoned properties.