Who's in Charge in the Inner City? The Conflict Between Efficiency and Equity in the Design of a Metropolitan Area

A circular metropolitan area consists of an inner city and a suburb. Households sort over the two jurisdictions based on public service levels and their costs of commuting to the metropolitan center. Using numerical simulations, we show (1) there typically exist two equilibria: one in which the poor form the majority in the inner city and the other in which the rich form the majority in the inner city; (2) there is an efficiency vs. equity trade-off as to which equilibrium is preferred; and (3) if the inner city contains only poor households, equity favors expanding the inner city to include rich households.

Sleep Disturbance in the Homeless Population: The Relationship between Homelessness, Sleep and Health

Little is known about how sleep disruption impacts physical health among the homeless. The association between homelessness, quality of sleep and physical health were investigated in the current study. Convenience sampling was used to select participants from a pool of people attending the programs of Ecclesia Ministries. Interviews were conducted with 32 persons from the Boston metropolitan area, of whom 23 were currently homeless. The researcher assessed level of sleep disturbance, number of health problems and degree of homelessness using a standard demographic questionnaire, the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Our results found evidence of significant sleep disturbance as well as significant mental and physical health problems in the sample. Correlational analyses provided partial support for the hypothesis that degree of homelessness impacts both sleep quality and physical health. Future work should investigate whether change in homelessness status alters sleep quality and physical health and also whether interventions may be utilized in this understudied and vulnerable population.