Human Geography Urban or Local

Human Geography

Urban or local environmental stress refers to the stressors that are present as a result of built environment and activities within an urban or local setting. These factors can include everything from the aesthetics of a building to the noise, waste, smoke or other things generated by vehicles, manufacture and other human activities coupled with the influence of built and preserved green spaces that exist in an environment, usually urban. The effects on human behavior that result from the real and perceived environmental stressors of the local urban environment can be many and environmental psychology is often focused on these issues, i.e. how humans and other living things behave in the urban landscape, making connections between local and regional observed behaviors and the perception of or reality of the local urban environmental stressors.

Mapping such stress can prove difficult as multi-causal factors are always present in any given environment, yet it is clear that certain geographical areas of urban space can be mapped for certain factors and correlated with behaviors and/or even self report stressors and behavior reviews. One way one might go about mapping such an issue would be to break it down by factors. One might look at measurable air quality, number of green spaces and/or living trees and say the behavior of human violent crime. Another way to look at the issue might be to measure the number of human developed heavy or affective sale or manufacture sites in any given area then measure factors associated with such manufacture, noise pollution, air pollution, water pollution. Once such a measure has been taken a comparison might then be made between these stressors and direct human behaviors such as crime, violent crime or even a positive human behavior such as biking, walking or other, where positive environmental factors are found. One might use GIS spatial mapping or simple google/yellow page regional mapping to locate a specific type of known or perceived risk for an environmental stressor and then measure some known human activity in and around such a region. Many communities have begun to make such maps in an attempt to track behaviors and additionally when such stressors are proven to be factors in negative human behaviors or health risks to develop policies and/or legislation to change the level of local stressors present. This work will take the approach of comparing a known environmental stressor in Portland, or, by the development of a simple data map which tags the environmental stressor and then correlating this data to incidence of air pollution data as well as potentially the incidence of air pollution related health threats.

Cremation is often thought of as the Eco-friendly way to dispose of human remains, as it does not require land to bury bodies. It is also increasing in popularity, exponentially. According to Chea of the Associated Press in 1975 only 6% of the population chose cremation upon their death while in 2004 about 31% chose this final solution. (Chea, 2007) Additionally, the popularity of cremation is greater in certain areas than in others and the overall population has grown substantially between 1975 and 2004. One area where cremation is far more popular than any other is the Pacific Northwest, hence the choice of Portland, Oregon as the site of this rudimentary study. (Chea, 2007) to a large degree the cremation of bodies does not measure independently from any other air pollutant in the category associated with burning, so it is difficult to determine the real affects of such burning on a given location. Furthermore, it is also clear that the air quality measurements for all air pollutants resulting from burning, discrete from those most often associated with other air pollution, such as fossil or diesel fuel burning is higher than the national average and higher than is acceptable according to the national EPA. (Knight, 2007) This is particularly true of Benzene, which is the result of burning in general and is measured independently. "Currently the benzene level in the Portland area is 20 times the DEQ acceptable cancer risk level of one in one million, about twice the national average cancer risk for this chemical" (Knight, 2007) it is known that the cremation process does emit benzene, which can contaminate the air, water and soil and does contribute directly to cancer.

As a result of the increase in popularity of cremation there is a strong possibility that the existing infrastructure cannot continue to support requests for cremation services. Yet, this issue is largely ignored, in part due to an overwhelmingly death denying society. Yet as new facilities are being proposed in various areas communities are coming together to challenge the level of environmental stress created by such practices. Individuals communities and organizations are asking questions about how cremations are performed, what toxins they emit into the air and if such emissions have toxic effects on the environment and living individuals. (Chea, 2007)

Discussion of Methods

A simple data map was created which locates local crematoriums in the most densely affected area in the city/region. The environmental stressor, i.e. presence of the crematorium was then correlated to state and local data on overall air pollution and cancer incidence as they are associated with pollution.

Description of Patterns Found

In the most populated area of Portland the East Portland Neighborhood there are 7 known operating crematoriums. Interestingly, in the google map service only five of the business locations are presented on the map, and three of the two business also offer full service funeral services. There are then four of the seven services that offer cremation services, presumably to the many funeral homes in the region that do not own and operate crematoriums, the largest of which in Happy Valley Oregon, Service Corporation International even has an ambiguous name. Happy Valley is a relatively small regional suburb of Portland Oregon that is nearly completely developed as residential but contains the largest cemetery in the region, where the majority of veteran and service deaths in the region area are interned. With the understanding that the area is also densely populated with homes many of which are newer and have young children living within them. In fact only one of the seven crematoriums is in a commercial rather than residential area. "Chemicals in outdoor air such as benzene and 1,3-butadiene have been association with elevated rates of cancer in children (Steffen, Auclerc, & Auvrignon, 2004; Crosignani et al., 2004; Knox, 2005)." (Herzog, 2007) it would seem irresponsible in fact to locate a crematorium in a residential neighborhood or adjacent to one but many have existed for so long that the services they provide are often ignored by the surrounding community as they existed before the homes these people live in were built and are therefore part of the landscape.

1

Forest Lawn Funeral Home

1515 NE 106th Ave

(503) [HIDDEN]

2

Gateway Little Chapel-Chimes

1515 NE 106th Ave

(503) [HIDDEN]

3

Neptune Cremation Service

17819 NE Riverside Pkwy

(503) [HIDDEN]

4

Omega Funeral & Cremation Service

223 SE 122nd Ave

Toll-Free [HIDDEN]

5

Portland Cremation Center, Llc17819 NE Riverside Pkwy

(503) [HIDDEN]

6

Stehn Family Tribute Ctr8747 SE Foster Rd

(503) [HIDDEN]

7

Service Corporation International11801 SE Mount Scott Blvd

Happy Valley, or 97086

(503) [HIDDEN]