Modeling the Health Benefits of Superblocks across the City of Los Angeles

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Reviewer’s Comments:

The manuscript “Modeling the health benefits of Superblocks across the City of Los Angeles” is very interesting work. This paper investigates the superblocks can help to transform urban areas into pedestrian-centric neighborhoods. First launched in Barcelona, Spain, they are expected to reduce harmful environmental exposures, increase green space access, and thereby provide substantial health benefits. However, few studies have examined the practicality and likely benefits of implementing Superblocks to other metropolitan areas. We developed a methodological framework to build a generalizable City of Los Angeles (LA) Superblocks Model and evaluate the predicted health benefits that would follow such interventions. We derived and used five rules to guide the choice of arterial streets and candidate blocks and the choice of major bounding streets that could facilitate mobility across the metropolitan area. We next used the BenMap-CE model to perform a quantitative assessment of the health and economic benefits that would accompany five scenarios that would transform 5 to 50% of the residential areas in the City of LA to Superblocks. However, the following issues should be carefully treated before publication.

1. In abstract, the author should add more scientific findings.

2. Keywords: the synthesized system is missing in the keywords. So, modify the keywords.

3. In the introduction part, the introduction part is not well organized and cited references should cite recently published articles such as 10.3389/fchem.2022.1023316,  10.3390/molecules27196457

4. Introduction part is not impressive and systematic. In the introduction part, the authors should elaborate the scientific issues in the Superblocks research.

5. Results…, The author should provide reason about this statement “Those attributes are crucial, because they assure compliance with the goals of improving the habitability of public space, advancing sustainable mobility, and increasing urban green spaces”.

6. The authors should explain regarding the recent literature why “We obtained the boundaries and use codes of approximately 2.4 million land parcels in LA County from the LA County Assessor’s Data Portal”.

7. Discussion. The author should explain the latest literature “In order to allow that at least one local street runs between the local main streets and the arteries that border the Superblocks, previous studies have established quantitative standards such as:”.

8. The author should provide reason about this statement, “Even though implementing more Superblocks into residential areas will provide greater health and economic benefits, the rate of increase slows with further transformation”.

9. Comparison of the present results with other similar findings in the literature should be discussed in more detail. This is necessary in order to place this work together with other work in the field and to give more credibility to the present results.

10. The conclusion part is very week. Improve by adding the results of your studies.

 

 

 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors obtained superblocks based on five principles, and then quantitatively assessed the health and economic benefits using the BenMap-CE model. The research has important application value.

Here are some questions or critiques to be considered.

1.      In the part of introduction, the author should elaborate the general principles to be considered in the division of Superblocks. This study mainly considers the road system in the division of Superblocks. Please explain whether other factors should be included.

2.      In the part of materials and methods, the author should supplement the introduction of the data used.

3.      The introduction of BenMAP-CE and i-Tree tool should be supplemented in the method section.

4.      Add a technical framework diagram in the method section to specify the process, such as what data BenMAP-CE needs to generate "slow street closures and alfresco dining locations".

5.      Is "increasing urban green space (indicated by tree canopy)" produced by "i-Tree pollution removal program", not the direct effect of superblock, please clarify.

6.      "3.2. Whether the Scenario used to Transform Residential Areas" should be placed in the part of method, not in the part of results and discussion.

7.      Please explain the purpose of analyzing different scenarios. In the subsequent discussion of estimates of air pollutant reductions, different scenarios were not distinguished.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

The paper develops a methodological framework to construct a scalable model of Los Angeles superblocks and to evaluate the expected health benefits following these interventions. The authors derive and use five rules to guide the selection of arterial roads and candidate blocks, as well as the selection of major boundary streets that can facilitate mobility in metropolitan areas. Next, the authors used the BenMap-CE model to quantitatively assess the health and economic benefits associated with the five options. The research objective of this paper is clear, the structure is reasonable and the method is appropriate. However, the research of this paper still has the following problems.

1. What is the marginal contribution of this study?

2.The conclusion of this paper is too hasty, which makes me feel anticlimactic.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 4 Report

Dear Authors,

 

The article addresses a relatively new topic in the field of greening the urban environment by reducing traffic in residential areas through the creation of superblocks. The authors propose a methodology for modelling superblocks in Los Angeles, adapting the methodology proposed by the city of Barcelona. The article is well written, the working methodology is clearly defined, but I would have a few comments:

-        The introduction should contain a detailed literature review and consider the novelty of the topic

-        The first superblock was established in Barcelona in 1994 as a pilot project. However, the project was met with opposition from local business owners, as well as concerns about rising property values and displacement of residents. The proposed article analysed the economic benefits of creating superblocks in terms of avoiding hospitalizations due to air pollutants, but the economic side is more complex. This type of project primarily impacts local businesses, property values, and taxation. I propose to analyse not only the benefits of superblocks, but also the problems and challenges.

-        In section 4. the author should also address the overall effect of superblocks and other complementary measures, e.g., in Barcelona the metro was extended to support the establishment of superblocks

Kind regards

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 5 Report

Dear Author,

I have made a few observations after reading your manuscript. This manuscript might be accepted after fixing the ensuing minor review comments.

Review comments to the author (Applied Sciences -2182480)

In this manuscript, the author wrote an article entitled “Modeling the health benefits of Superblocks across the City of Los Angeles” suitable for publication, but the concerned author has to rectify the below-mentioned minor review comments in the “Applied Sciences”.

 I have made a few observations after reading this work. This article might be accepted after fixing the ensuing minor review comments. However, kindly correct the following:

 

1.  In what ways does the superblock method excel over the conventional ones? When planning the city of Barcelona, what were the primary goals of the government that led them to want to implement Superblocks citywide?

2.   Who was the architect behind the superblocks in Barcelona? What exactly does "superblock architecture" refer to?

3.  Who exactly were the two urban designers who came up with the idea of the superblock? What name is given to the strategy of urban planning in which self-contained communities are encircled by greenbelts that contain proportionate areas of residential, commercial, and agricultural development?

4. What were the primary goals behind the municipal government of Barcelona's decision to implement superblocks throughout the city? How was it that Barcelona was able to combat the issue of urban sprawl?

5.  Why is it important to maintain a resilient mindset during a COVID? What are the most significant repercussions that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon the society?

6.   What kind of effects does COVID-19 have on the students' mental health? In terms of mental health, what do you believe the consequences of the widespread coronavirus outbreak to be?

7.    What are the advantages of having green spaces in the city? What different kinds of green spaces are there in urban areas?

 

It would be best if you corrected the above comments and resubmitted them according to your expectations.

 

 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

The article was improved and now is acceptable for publication.

Reviewer 4 Report

The new version of the article has been improved. Nevertheless, I would recommend that a future study analyse all aspects of planification, not just the health benefits