Written by: Yuyang Zhang Urban population exceeded 55% of the world total in 2019 and continues to increase, making the impact of urban environments on human health a growing concern. Neighborhoods are the basic geographical unit of a city and the most appropriate to predict residents’ daily activities and exposure to the urban environment. Colleagues in the Housing and Neighborhood …
Why accessibility matters: a case study of London
Written by: Abhilash Singh, PhD candidate About us: The Transport and Mobility group studies the influence of urban transportation, land use and services on health in an integrated manner. The emphasis is on how the combinations of location of home, transportation options and provision of services determines mobility and access to services. The group uses engineering, environmental and epidemiological models …
Equitable access to essential services in metro Vancouver
Written by Avril Li (University of British Columbia) More than four billion people currently live in urban areas globally and that number is projected to increase to about two-thirds of global population by 2050, approximately seven billion people. Through the pandemic in 2020 and increasing urban development, more people realized the importance and necessity of having open and accessible essential …
Old Data New Tricks, New Data New Tricks: Pathways at ICUH 2022
Written by Alicia Cavanaugh (McGill University) and Ricky Nathvani (Imperial College London) In late October, the International Society for Urban Health hosted the 18th International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) in Valencia, Spain. Hundreds of stakeholders including researchers, policy makers, planners, and members of civil society from all over the world came together to share ideas to improve urban health …
The complexities of the urban development: An insight into the policy dimensions
Authors: Sabrina Mustabin Jaigirdar, Zahidul Quayyum Dhaka City’s overall development programme and planning are complicated by its multiplicity of stakeholders and actors working on improving poor physical and social infrastructure (e.g., education, healthcare, communication), housing and neighbourhood conditions, and addressing poverty and inequality. This situation is further exacerbated by inadequate financial resources, poor administration, inefficiency, and a lack of cooperation …
Pathways to Equity at the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology
This year, Pathways members Barbara Metzler (PhD student) and Sierra Clark (former PhD student) travelled to Athens to attend and present their research at the Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE, September 18th – 21st 2022), which is the largest gathering of environmental epidemiologists each year. After two years of being held virtually due to COVID-19, about …
Why cities need to preserve green space: A case study of Dhaka city
By Khadiza Tul Kobra Nahin, Hasna Hena Sara, Zahidul Quayyum Human and nature are two inseparable entities that have interchangeable interactions at every level of life. The negative consequences of abandoning nature are increasingly being recognized by countries around the world as the effects of segregation from nature on human health become more clear. Therefore, cities worldwide are now trying …
Protecting the health of vulnerable city residents during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond
The 19th century notion of cities as spectres of ill-health re-emerged early in the Covid-19 pandemic. The density of people in cities was thought of as synonymous with disease transmission, with urban hotspots emerging in many countries. Since then, evidence undermining the link between density and disease has accumulated. The underlying vulnerability of cities has not been their critical mass …
The water hunt: Unreliable water supply in low-income communities of Accra
Access to potable water supports life and improves well-being. However, household access to potable and uninterrupted drinking water supply continues to elude communities throughout Accra as well as its neighbouring towns. This commodity is essential for the survival of Accra’s residents, and the absence of reliable water threatens their very existence. As Ghana becomes increasingly urbanized, and its population increases …
Enhancing walkability in Accra
Walking is universally considered as healthy and is a prerequisite of mobility: moving from one place to another often starts and finishes with a walk. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), walking is the most popular means of transport across the world; however, data on walkability worldwide are scarce since in the past “walking has not been seriously considered …