Monitoring slum health through ecological deprivation indexes is a useful strategy to understand and reduce health inequalities within a city. We developed a robust socioenvironmental index capable of explaining health outcomes in small intraurban areas and differentiating areas with the presence of different slum typologies and non-slum spaces.
We conducted a citizen science project to engage with current residents in higher density residences in Northern Sydney to explore the positive and negative aspects of their lived experiences on their health and wellbeing. Together, we identified the elements that residents of these communities value as well as those with potential negative impacts that could be mitigated through good planning and design.
Social sustainability entails improving quality of life by addressing basic human needs, promoting well-being, and creating supportive communities. Our approach prioritizes the inclusion of human needs in neighborhood design to enhance the overall quality of a neighborhood’s physical environment.
Understanding of the influence of local political actors helps to highlight where their influence is limited, particularly by national-level housing policy, which in the UK is focused on housing numbers, rather than quality of new homes, as well as financial viability and public opinion. Understanding this can help to build trust in the political processes of decision-making and inform interventions for healthier place-making.
Urban environments in many cities, both those found in Mexico and many other countries, can be called obesogenic – they are prone to promote obesity. Relevant factors are that they foster sedentary behaviour, poor dietary choices, and elevated stress levels; thus contributing to higher obesity rates. Urban planning, design, and practices offer opportunities for upstream public health interventions to mitigate these negative health impacts. These findings are especially relevant given the role of neighbourhood environments in encouraging children’s physical activity and reducing obesity.
People living in informal settlements endure the disproportionate burden of health vulnerabilities due to poor living conditions, overcrowding and infrastructural neglect. I examine how social, economic, political and environmental forces converge to amplify health disparities in Harare’s informal settlements.
Looking into an urban transformation of a low-income settlement in Maputo, Mozambique, through the behaviours and experiences of pedestrians, shows that physical interventions to the walking environment contribute to the ability of diverse individuals to exercise their Right to the City.
This study presents 20 key insights into the walking experiences of people living with dementia, highlighting shared priorities like safety and subgroup-specific needs. These findings offer actionable strategies for designing dementia-friendly neighborhoods that enhance mobility, inclusion, and well-being.
This study introduces the Women-Centric Walkability Index, addressing factors influencing women’s walking experiences in urban areas. Analyzing fifty-five wards in Kollam Corporation, Kerala, we identified key indicators like well-maintained sidewalks, street lighting, safety measures, and access to public amenities that enhance women’s walkability. Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process and GIS analysis, our research highlights the need for safer, more accessible, and comfortable walking environments for women, benefiting all pedestrians.
Shared mobility hubs that offer (electric) bikes and cars can be a sustainable solution that enables people to expand their mobility options while protecting cities’ environment by reducing private car use and encouraging cycling. We interviewed residents of a deprived neighbourhood in Utrecht, the Netherlands, to understand their mobility needs and views on a recently implemented shared mobility hub in their neighbourhood, identifying potential obstacles in the process.