Faculty Research and Papers

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/1773/53107

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item type: Item ,
    The Road to Settlement: The Impact of Subsidized Housing Program on Low-Income Immigrant Families in Toronto
    (2025-07-07) Jiao, Alice; Zhao, Bo
    The Subsidized Housing Program plays a critical role in ensuring housing stability for low-income immigrant families in Toronto, yet its distribution and accessibility remain pressing concerns. This study examines the spatial relationship between subsidized housing availability, low-income prevalence, and immigrant population density using data from the Toronto Open Data Portal. Through correlation analysis and mapping, the study identifies clear patterns of housing accessibility and economic vulnerability among immigrant communities. The findings reveal a strong overlap between subsidized housing locations and neighborhoods with high concentrations of low-income immigrant families, indicating that the program is being allocated in areas of need. However, the limited supply of subsidized housing continues to present significant challenges for these communities. To address these gaps, the study highlights the need for integrated housing policies that not only expand affordable housing options but also promote economic mobility and social inclusion. Key recommendations include increasing subsidized housing availability in areas with greater employment opportunities, strengthening public service integration, and adopting mixed-income community models. These findings contribute to the broader discourse on urban equity, immigrant integration, and sustainable housing policies in Toronto.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item type: Item ,
    Social Infrastructure’s Impact on Loneliness: Proposing a New Loneliness Index to Predict Relationship of Social Infrastructures and Loneliness
    (2025-07-02) Zur, Shira
    This project aims to continue and grow the conversation about the loneliness epidemic. Loneliness, as experienced both physically and mentally, has major, significant impacts on our individual and societal health. Social infrastructures have been proven to be strong loneliness mitigation tools, as they create a physical space of connectedness and belonging within a community. To see whether the number of and distance to social infrastructures could predict a lower experienced loneliness in a neighborhood, I propose a new loneliness index, composed of 13 social variables that have been proven to be indicative of loneliness, to measure loneliness on a census tract level. This project maps social infrastructures (libraries and parks) and a new loneliness index (created through the Composite Index tool in ArcGIS Pro) in Seattle, Washington, to observe the impact of social infrastructures on loneliness in a metropolitan area. The results show that libraries have little to no correlation to a census tract’s reported loneliness on the new loneliness index, while parks have some correlation. This project suggests future research should observe both the quality of social infrastructures as well as the quantity of social infrastructures in a city, as well as implement further individual measures of loneliness, such as a participatory map of reported loneliness, to better understand the impact social infrastructures can have on mitigating and reducing loneliness in a major city.