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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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.
Sarah’s daily cycle takes her to North Lambeth and Waterloo, one of the most polluted areas in the borough. Other areas she travels to and from also experience high levels of air pollution:
Even with all the urban areas around here, there’s quite a lot of green space if you know where to look. I think that’s good. Cities need that. It’s the lungs of the city.
But I’ve noticed that my asthma is getting worse in recent years, especially when we’ve had the hot, hot weather and you can see the pollution hanging. I cycle around a lot and I get more breathless and have to take my puffer more.
I think it’s got to do with the traffic and increased construction round here. They’re doing a lot of building and you really notice when the rain comes down – it’s dirty rain from all the dust in the air.
We’re getting a bit like Beijing and Tokyo where because of air pollution you can’t go out.
I think air pollution is both a health and an environmental issue – a lot of air pollution comes from burning fossil fuels. I think it all interacts. But if you are affected, or members of your family are affected, it’s more of a health issue.
“ It’s not just me. There are more kids with asthma now than there ever used to be and people with more lung conditions and stuff. Sarah
It’s not just me. There are more kids with asthma now than there ever used to be and people with more lung conditions and stuff.
When cycling, I try to take the quieter back roads. You have to keep your wits about you because obviously you’re quite vulnerable on your bike. There’s still a lot of SUVs around – four-wheel drives in the middle of London!
The thing that really bugs me is people drive their kids to school when they could walk more. You see such a difference in the amount of traffic on the roads in the school holidays. It’s not a thing about distance, it’s just about convenience – children being driven to school when they could walk.
If there was a better public transport system, people would think about car ownership. Or if they’ve got two cars they’d say, ‘Oh, maybe we can cut down to one so it doesn’t impinge on people’s lives so much.’
“ Responsibility for the problem should be at all levels, though. It should be governmental and then down to local boroughs and the mayor and stuff. I think everybody should be working together.
Responsibility for the problem should be at all levels, though. It should be governmental and then down to local boroughs and the mayor and stuff. I think everybody should be working together.
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.
Ying lives with her husband and child in Bermondsey. Being environmentally aware and a mother, she would like to know more about air pollution and how it affects our health.
Marilyn is a retired art teacher who lives in Brixton with her husband and three grown-up children. As a teenager she was treated for TB and, following the recent death of her brother, has become even more concerned about her health.
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.
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.
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.