Advancing Environmental Health in Urban Areas

Dear Colleagues,

Many cities around the world have been facing environmental health challenges (i.e., air and water pollution, urban heat island effects, heatwaves, high noise levels, and the effects of inadequate sanitation and waste management). Rapid urbanization without a proper environmental management system and effective urban planning has been threatening environmental quality in several ways, resulting in diverse health risks and poor quality of life among urban citizens. The WHO has estimated that more than 55% of the world’s population currently live in urban settings, and this proportion is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. The WHO also reports that 91% of urban citizens live in areas with poor air quality. As a result, urban citizens are forced to breathe polluted air and are facing severe health risks such as respiratory infections, lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, pneumonia, and stroke. According to the OECD, air pollution in many cities will become the main environmental cause of illness and death by 2050. Inadequate sanitation and waste management in cities have also posed health risks to urban citizens, particularly cities in lower-income countries. Several outbreaks of diseases (i.e., cholera, malaria, and typhoid) which are caused by contaminated environments can affect large numbers of urban citizens, particularly those who live in unsanitary living conditions. Another critical environmental health challenge in urban areas includes the effects of heatwaves and extreme weather. According to the study of Zhao et al. (2021) [1], during 2000–2019, approximately 489,000 deaths occurred annually due to heat-related illness. Heat health risks have also been reported to be high in many cities, causing many deaths. To tackle these environmental health challenges in urban areas, innovative approaches to identify, analyze, and manage the health risks associated with environmental health threats are required. In addition, the integration of environmental health management and urban development approaches is essential to mitigate environmental health impacts. Most importantly, building urban resilience in all urban elements (individuals, organizations, communities, and urban systems) can help to minimize potential health effects greatly.

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on the current state of knowledge on the links between environmental health quality and diverse aspects of human health and well-being. New research papers, reviews, case reports, and conference papers are welcome to be submitted to this Special Issue. Papers dealing with new approaches to sustainably manage environmental health in urban areas and to enhance urban resilience to tackle the environmental health challenges we are facing are welcome to be submitted. Other acceptable manuscript types include methodological papers, position papers, brief reports, and commentaries. Here are some examples of topics that could be addressed in this Special Issue:

1. Environmental health challenges in urban areas and innovative management approaches:

a. Prevention of urban heat island effects;
b. Heat prevention and adaptation measures in urban areas;
c. Air pollution prevention through urban management tools;
d. Creating urban resilience to environmental health hazards;
e. Urban development approaches for environmental health sustainability.

2. Creating healthy environments for promoting health and well-being of urban citizens:

a. Association between urban environments and human health and well-being;
b. Designing and managing urban environments for promoting urban citizens’ health and well-being.

3. Promoting health-related behaviors against environmental health risks in urban areas:

a. Social and environmental determinants of health risks associated with the poor quality of urban environments;
b. Promoting prevention and adaptation behaviors against environmental health risks in urban areas;
c. Individual resilience to environmental health hazards.

4. Environmental health risk assessment for urban sustainability:

a. Methodological approaches to identify, analyze, evaluate, and monitor environmental health risks in urban settings;
b. Assessing health impacts of environmental health threats;
c. Environmental health risk management framework.

5. Urban governance and environmental health management.

References

1. Zhao, Q.; Guo, Y.; Ye, T.; Gasparrini, A.; Tong, S.; Overcenco, A.; Urban, A.; Schneider, A.; Entezari, A.; Vicedo-Cabrera, A.M.; et al. Global, regional, and national burden of mortality associated with non-optimal ambient temperatures from 2000 to 2019: a three-stage modelling study. Lancet Planet. Heal. 2021, 5, e415–e425, https://doi.org/10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00081-4.

Dr. Piyapong Janmaimool
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• environmental health management
• urban management tools
• prevention and adaptation behaviors
• health risk assessment
• environmental health threats
• urban resilience
• urban environmental management
• environmental pollutants
• extreme weather