Environmental change can negatively impact human health: air pollution, hot and cold weather and extreme events can reduce general health and wellbeing, increase illness, and even lead to early death. Urban populations are particularly vulnerable to overheating due to the urban heat island effect (i.e. increased temperatures in towns and cities compared with rural areas). These health impacts are likely to increase due to climate change, and the fact that globally more people now live in urban areas than ever before. 

One way to reduce overheating is through green infrastructure (e.g. parks, green roofs, walls, etc). Greenspaces have added health benefits; they can promote healthy, active lifestyles and improve mental health and well-being. We will investigate potential health and monetary benefits of a range of methods, including increasing green infrastructure in cities to help decide how we can build cities which improve health and wellbeing, and reduce inequalities in urban populations. We will focus on cities in different climatic zones, and in high, medium and low-income countries.

We will address the following research questions:

  1. How might climate change, land use, and measures aimed at the amelioration of, and adaptation to, the UHI, including use of green infrastructure, modify population health risks?
  2. How do urban heat risks to health vary in relation to socio-economic, demographic and other population factors, and what are the likely impacts of UHI interventions on those differentials within and between cities?
  3. How can we value the health and wellbeing benefits of increased green infrastructure and other strategies aimed at reducing the adverse impacts of the UHI and urban heat risks in monetary terms? 

Key facts

  • Funding body: Wellcome Trust ‘Our Planet Our Health’ funding stream as part of the Climate Change and Health call.
  • Project partners: LSHTM, European Centre for Environment and Human Health at Exeter University
  • Start date: September 2020
  • Duration: 3 years