Health

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

The Sustainable Healthy Cities network understands infrastructure-related health risk as the risks and hazards posed to people and to the economy of urban areas due to infrastructure-environment interactions across scale. Such risks and hazards can include inadequate or polluting infrastructure, climate extremes, and supply chain risks resulting in water, food, and electricity shortages.

While infrastructure and resource use patterns that infrastructure systems shape are a key determinant shaping health outcomes, there are also key social system factors that mediate health outcomes related to morbidity, mortality and sense of happiness. For example, among populations exposed to similar levels of a hazard (e.g. similar air pollution levels or heat stress), existing social vulnerabilities can lead to disproportionately high negative health outcomes from infrastructure related hazard or risk. Socially vulnerable populations that may experience increased exposure to infrastructure related health risk include the poor, the elderly, immigrants who may lack information or medical resources, those with prior diseases such as asthma, or those living in homes lacking electricity or adequate cooling sources.

The network’s research efforts seek to better understand the health outcomes associated with socially mediated infrastructure-environment interactions across scales and how questions of distribution and localization affect those outcomes.

OUR PRODUCTS

India COVID-19 Dashboard

  • May 2021
  • Data Sets
  • Author: Multiple

Princeton University researchers affiliated with the Sustainable Healthy Cities Network created an interactive dashboard that displays daily district-level data on the spread of COVID-19 across India. The interface lets users … Read more

Demographic Inequities in Health Outcomes and Air Pollution Exposure in the Atlanta Area and its Relationship to Urban Infrastructure

  • November 2018
  • Peer-Reviewed Articles
  • Author: Multiple

Servadio, J., Lawal, A.S.,  Davis, T., Bates, J., Russell, A.G., Ramaswami, A., Convertino, M., & Botchwey, N. (2018). Demographic Inequities in Health Outcomes and Air Pollution Exposure in the Atlanta Area … Read more

Optimal information networks: Application for data-driven integrated health in populations

  • April 2018
  • Peer-Reviewed Articles
  • Author: Joseph Servadio and Matteo Convertino

Servadio, J. & M. Convertino. (2018). Optimal information networks: Application for data-driven integrated health in populations. Science Advances, 4(2), e1701088. ABSTRACT:  Development of composite indicators for integrated health in populations typically relies … Read more

Impacts of rural worker migration on ambient air quality and health in China: From the perspective of upgrading residential energy consumption

  • April 2018
  • Peer-Reviewed Articles
  • Author: Multiple

Shen, H., Chen, Y., Russell, A. G., Hu, Y., Shen, G., Yu, H., Yu, H., Henneman, L., Ru, M., Huang, Y., Zhong, Q., Chen, Y., Li, Y., Zou, Y., Zeng, E., … Read more

Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Transitions in the ASEAN Region: A Resource Perspective (UN Environment and Sustainable Healthy Cities collaboration)

  • February 2018
  • Report
  • Author: Multiple

The ASEAN nations are a hot spot for rapid urbanization over the next 30 years: Between 2015 and 2050, ASEAN cities are projected to add 205 million new urban residents … Read more

Local Health Co-Benefits of Urban Climate Action

  • February 2018
  • Podcast
  • Author: Anu Ramaswami

Reducing carbon emissions across multiple urban infrastructure sectors can yield significant local air pollution related health co-benefits. But cities will see and experience these co-benefits in different ways and to … Read more

Circular Economies and Low Carbon Urban Infrastructure Planning

  • February 2018
  • Podcast
  • Author: Anu Ramaswami

What is the unique role that urban infrastructure planning can play in national carbon mitigation? In this podcast, learn how cities are positioned to plan infrastructure systems using circular economy … Read more

All-city Carbon Emissions: Understanding City Types and Impact

  • February 2018
  • Podcast
  • Author: Anu Ramaswami

It is common practice to consider the carbon emissions of single cities. But what happens when you analyze carbon emissions for all cities in a country using nationally aligned data? … Read more

Urban cross-sector actions for carbon mitigation with local health co-benefits in China

  • July 2017
  • Peer-Reviewed Articles
  • Author: Multiple

Ramaswami, A., Tong, K., Fang, A., Lal, R. M., Nagpure, A. S., Li, Y., Yu, H., Jiang, D., Russell, A., Shi, L., Chertow, M., Wang, Y. & Wang, S. (2017). “Urban … Read more

Municipal solid waste and dung cake burning: discoloring the Taj Mahal and human health impacts in Agra

  • October 2016
  • Peer-Reviewed Articles
  • Author: Multiple

Lal, R. M., Nagpure, A. S., Luo, L., Tripathi, S. N., Ramaswami, A., Bergin, M. H., & Russell, A. G. (2016). “Municipal solid waste and dung cake burning: discoloring the … Read more

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