Underserved: food markets in inner-city Boston

Mi Diao, "Are Inner-City Neighborhoods Underserved? An Empirical Analysis of Food Markets in a U.S. Metropolitan Area," Journal of Planning Education and Research 35 (2015): 1

The take-away: In this article, the market potential of Boston neighborhoods is measured, with the goal of determining which are “underserved” in market terms. In order of importance, factors that affect market potential include food demand, job density, and whether the target tract is ‘inner-city’ or not. This last factor’s measurable influence indicates that “a higher percentage of inner-city neighborhoods than non-inner-city neighborhoods are underserved in food markets,” with approximately 27.1% of inner-city neighborhoods qualifying as underserved (31). The study’s methodology is proposed as a tool for policy design and business strategy.

Abstract: Food accessibility in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods has caused increasing concern because of its potential impacts on public health and neighborhood development. This article proposes a new approach to test whether and to what extent inner-city neighborhoods are “underserved” in food markets controlling for multiple factors that may influence food supply levels. An improved measure of market potential is developed. Using the Boston metropolitan area as an example, we demonstrate that inner-city tracts have significantly lower levels of food store sales than non-inner-city tracts. The research helps to sort out the impact of multiple factors on food environment and contributes to more informed policy design to improve food access and revitalize inner-city neighborhoods.

Full article (requires access)