Details of the data analysis.

Rats are an important issue in cities globally. Despite their ubiquity, perceptions and concerns about rats vary with circumstance and the context in which a person interacts with them. Municipal rat management programs are a service to communities and therefore must be responsive to the varied concerns of their residents. Understanding why communities are concerned about rats can help inform rat management programs to meet the specific needs of their residents. The objective of this study was to identify why the residents of Vancouver, Canada care about rats and what they want done to address them. To do this, we qualitatively analyzed 6,158 resident complaints about rats made to the city’s municipal government between January 2014 and May 2020. Using a qualitative descriptive coding process, we found that rats were a priority in a minority of cases. In general, people were more concerned about broader community issues, such as neighborhood disorder, of which rats were one part. Complaints tended to be made when problems were highly visible, nearby, and when the complainant wanted the city to take action to alleviate this issue, particularly when they were in and around their living spaces. The rates of complaints were highest in the most economically and socially deprived neighborhoods and lowest in the most privileged neighbourhoods. We synthesize this information with a view towards understanding how to develop objectives and actions for municipal management strategies that are grounded in community concerns.

鼠患是全球城市普遍面临的重要公共议题。尽管鼠类无处不在，但人们对鼠患的认知与担忧程度会随所处场景及与鼠类的互动情境而异。市政鼠害管理项目作为面向社区的公共服务，必须充分响应居民的多元关切。厘清社区关注鼠患的缘由，有助于优化鼠害管理方案以契合居民的实际需求。本研究旨在明确加拿大温哥华市民众关注鼠患的原因，以及他们期望通过何种措施解决鼠患问题。为此，我们对2014年1月至2020年5月间市民向温哥华市政部门提交的6158条鼠患投诉展开了质性分析。通过质性描述编码流程，我们发现仅在少数案例中鼠患被列为首要关切事项。总体而言，民众更关注社区层面的宏观问题（如邻里失序），鼠患只是此类问题的其中一环。民众通常会在鼠患问题高度显眼、发生在居所附近，且诉求市政部门采取措施缓解该问题时发起投诉，尤其是当鼠患出现在其居住空间内部或周边区域时。投诉率在经济与社会处境最为窘迫的社区中最高，而在最富裕优渥的社区中最低。我们对上述研究结果进行综合梳理，以期为制定贴合社区关切的市政鼠害管理策略的目标与行动路径提供参考。