Social distancing (e.g., maintaining two-meter distance between people, restricting group gatherings) is recommended to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Social distancing guidelines might not broadly consider the varying built environment contexts in which people live, however. Controlling for key covariates, we examined the association of several built environment characteristics with COVID-19 cases in New York City. This cross-sectional ecological study used ZIP code tabulation area (ZCTA) data from New York City. We found positive, significant adjusted associations between the COVID-19 case rate and average people per household, percentage of Black or African American population, percentage of Hispanic population, and percentage of the population over sixty-five years old. Population per square kilometer and percentage taking public transit to work were both negatively associated with case rates. Percentage of sidewalks was negatively associated with case rates, but parks were not significant. ZCTAs with higher percentage area of sidewalks were associated with lower case rates, controlling for potential confounders. Consideration of the local characteristics of the built environment could inform context-specific COVID-19 prevention guidelines, such as increasing street space for pedestrian use in high-density neighborhoods.

建议保持社交距离（例如，人与人之间保持两米的距离，限制集体聚会）以降低 COVID-19 传播的风险。然而，社会疏远准则可能不会广泛考虑人们居住的不同建筑环境。控制关键协变量，我们检查了几个建筑环境特征与纽约市 COVID-19 病例的关联。这项横断面生态研究使用了纽约市的邮政编码列表区 (ZCTA) 数据。我们发现 COVID-19 病例率与每个家庭的平均人口、黑人或非裔美国人的百分比、西班牙裔人口的百分比以及 65 岁以上人口的百分比之间存在积极的、显着的调整关联。每平方公里人口和乘坐公共交通工具上班的百分比都与病例率呈负相关。人行道的百分比与病例率呈负相关，但公园不显着。人行道面积百分比较高的 ZCTA 与较低的病例发生率相关，控制了潜在的混杂因素。考虑建筑环境的当地特征可以为特定环境的 COVID-19 预防指南提供信息，例如在高密度社区增加行人使用的街道空间。