We focus on four complex health issues more prevalent in urban areas
With the Social Progress Imperative, we've developed the first neighbourhood level, health-focused social progress index of its kind.
With Wellcome Trust
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Health effects of air pollution
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Insights into air pollution in inner cities and its impact on people’s health
Poor air quality often makes the headlines, but less is known about what genuinely works to reduce its impact on people’s health.
As an urban health foundation, we are setting out to find solutions from our place in the heart of London.
To help develop our ten-year programme we’ve looked at the evidence, analysed local data and explored how people experience the issue in our inner-city area.
Air pollution impacts some people's health more than others. In our work, we are focusing on the most vulnerable: children from pregnancy to early adolescence, people with heart and lung conditions and older people.
Air pollution can affect children’s organ development from pregnancy through to early adolescence, with children living near busy roads four times more likely than adults to have reduced lung function. Yet, our local parents are more likely than other groups to think the dangers of air pollution have been exaggerated.
People with lung or heart conditions experience worsened symptoms from spikes in air pollution, with high levels of NO2 associated with increases in hospital admissions for asthma. In our inner-city area, those with health conditions are more likely to say that air quality has got worse.
Air pollution is linked with heart failure, strokes, poor cognition and even lung cancer in older people over 65, with high levels of particulate matter increasing their risk of hospitalisation. Our research shows that older people are less likely to point to poor air quality as an important issue to address.
How do the ways we get around, construction, the built environment, and other aspects of how we live affect air quality in cities?
“ Proving that public health has been improved is a complicated and costly process, but it is the only way to guarantee that an intervention has been effective and is worthy of being implemented. Frank Kelly Professor of Environmental Health, King's College London
Proving that public health has been improved is a complicated and costly process, but it is the only way to guarantee that an intervention has been effective and is worthy of being implemented.
Poor air quality often makes the headlines and there is significant research on the damage it is doing to our health. But what genuinely works to reduce its impact on our health?
“ We don’t expect this to be easy - we will need to bring together leading experts in atmospheric science, transport, construction, behavioural economics and political science. By working in place we can broaden this coalition to include those with real levers for change - schools, the NHS, local businesses and citizens themselves. Kate Langford Programme Director, Impact on Urban Health
We don’t expect this to be easy - we will need to bring together leading experts in atmospheric science, transport, construction, behavioural economics and political science. By working in place we can broaden this coalition to include those with real levers for change - schools, the NHS, local businesses and citizens themselves.
A deeper understanding of our typical inner city could hold the key to solutions we can share with the world. We’re running a ten-year programme to tackle air pollution in inner cities.
Sarah is an outdoor worker for an environmental education charity in Lambeth. She doesn’t own a car and tries to cycle most places, with public transport her back-up option.
Alika and Alex, 3, live in Southwark. Alika, who moved to London from Nigeria in 2000, is doing an electrical apprenticeship by day and is a youth worker by night.
Piarve is the parent of Janila, 8, and has lived in Southwark all her life. Piarve works in events for an interior design company, as well as running sewing classes and other community fashion initiatives.
John is 72 and lives in Southwark. He loves the hustle and bustle of the area, but is not very mobile and doesn’t get out as much as he’d like to.
The more we know about air pollution in urban areas, the more we will be able to design effective solutions.
We are running a ten-year programme to tackle the health effects of air pollution and poor air quality in cities and other urban areas.
Our insights into clean air solutions include an evidence review of interventions in inner cities as well as public perception research.