Are we building for health? Food environments in transit-oriented development, New South Wales 

The built food environment has a significant influence on population health, for better and for worse. Evidence shows that urban planning can play a major role in creating food environments that support healthy food choices; however current transit-oriented developments have not yet considered access to healthy food outlets. We found evidence that a high proportion (79 – 84%) of food outlets could be classified as ‘unhealthy’ across eight transport hubs identified for accelerated development in New South Wales.

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Association between perceived quality and access to urban green spaces and loneliness in India

Our study explores how perceptions of urban green space quality and accessibility relate to loneliness in urban India. Findings show that subjective experiences, design features, and feelings of social exclusion shape engagement with green spaces. Inclusive, safe, and emotionally responsive green space design is crucial for reducing loneliness.Important to note; our study advances urban health and planning research by demonstrating that loneliness is shaped more by perceived quality and emotional experience of green spaces than by their physical presence alone.

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Addressing social participation needs of older adults at risk of marginalization in a revitalization

Considering the increase in loneliness and isolation, and importance of creating inclusive communities, this study explored older adults’ social participation needs, facilitators and barriers during a downtown revitalization. Findings highlighted the signification of inclusive environments, and importance of accessibility to activities and resources, affordable transportation and housing, and information about participation opportunities.

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In studying the epidemiology of a virus (COVID-19), the urban context must not be ignored

The high concentration of people and activities in cities makes them vulnerable to various stressors such as natural and man-made disasters. In the recent pandemic, the cities are the places where the transmission started. We investigated the impact of social, economic, and environmental indicators on the rate of COVID-19 disease in the neighborhoods of Urmia City, Iran. Our results show that the number of employees, gross residential density, number of elderly people, building density, commercial density and road density have a significant relationship in predicting the epidemic.

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Out-of-home built environment characteristics of urban heritage cores and their impact on age-friendliness

The deterioration of the built environment, as well as poor traffic and pedestrian conditions, creates obstacles to active mobility, active ageing and functional abilities among older adults residing in heritage city cores. This has negative impacts on their social inclusiveness, quality of life and well-being. The walled city, which encompasses Jaipur’s heritage neighbourhood, is one of the few planned cities in India, extending back to the 18th century, and is considered a tourist attraction. With an in-depth study, we use Jaipur’s walled city to examine how supporting a better quality of life for an ageing population can have co-benefits for the tourism economy.

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Constraints, compromises and decision-making: What drives healthy and unhealthy diets in Urban Informal Settlements

We examined the factors that limit and enable the uptake of healthy diets among urban populations with multiple socio-economic vulnerabilities. By exploring the interconnected economic, social and environmental influences, we aimed to generate context-specific evidence that can inform effective and targeted action to support progress towards achieving global nutrition targets in the context of triple burden of malnutrition and increasing concern on high incidences of diet-related diseases in rapidly urbanizing areas.

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