Dr Tim Chatterton

Air Quality Management Resource CentreInstitute for Sustainability, Health and Environment

University of the West of England, Bristol

IAPSC

Birmingham

Wednesday 2nd October 2009

Urban Design, Air Quality and Health

Institute for Sustainability, Health and

Environment (ISHE)

• Contributors:

– Prof. Jim Longhurst

– Prof. Hugh Barton

– Marcus Grant

– Judy Orme

• Research groups:

– WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Cities and Urban Policy

– Air Quality Management Resource Centre

– Centre for Transport and Society

– Centre for Public Health Research

– Cities Research Centre

– Centre for Environment and Planning

– 12 other research groups

Why Are We Interested in Urban Design?

Urban Design and Health

• Complex issue

• What scale in urban?

– Building, street, neighbourhood, urban area?

• Setting – How does it relate to rural areas,

or to other towns and cities?

• Regional policies, national policies

Presentation• Based on ‘Evidence Review on Environmental

Health Challenges and Risks in Urban

Settings’ for the World Health Organisation

• What are the health risks?

• How can we categorise ‗the urban environment‘?

• Illustrating the complexities

• Solutions

• Examples

5 Key Health Risks

• Physical inactivity

• Social impacts (incl. mental health)

• Air pollution

• Noise

• ‗Unintentional injuries‘

Physical Inactivity

Chief Medical Officer‘s Report (2004):

• Annual cost of physical inactivity ≈ £10.7 billion(incl. contribution to obesity)

• Doubles risk of heart disease, strokes and type 2 diabetes

Social Impacts

• ‗Social pathologies‘ or

‗bad behaviour‘

• Division of communities:

– by geography or culture

• Sometimes the effect is direct...

…often simply the fear or

perception of the risk causes

the problem

Noise

• Previously just considered a nuisance….

…now significant public health risk

• Costs > £7 billion per annum(Defra/IGCB Economic Valuation of Noise Pollution, 2008).

• Cardio-vascular impact

• Similar path to obesity, air pollution and the

stress of modern life

Unintentional Injuries

A range of dangers which can be enhanced

or mitigated through design, including:

– Road Traffic Accidents

– Falls (particularly in elderly)

– Flooding (with or without climate change)

– Heat (with or without climate change)

Air Pollution

• Up to 24,000 premature deaths in 1995/6(requoted in RCEP 2007 from DETR 2001)

• 7-8 life months on average across UK population

in 2005 (Defra – Air Quality Strategy, 2006)

• Health costs of £20 billion per year (Defra-AQS,2006)

• 60% of LAs have AQMAs

• UK is currently facing action by the EU for failing

to meet both NO2 and PM10 Limit Values

• New PM2.5 ‗exposure reduction‘ target

@ 60 million population ≈ 40 million life years!

The current air quality problem

The root of the problem?

• Replacement rate of buildings 1-1.5% annually

= half of buildings in 50 years (Tyndal Centre 2003)

• Compared to 800% increase in traffic in last 50 years

Historic and Predicted Traffic Growth (Historic Data Defra, Predictions Dft 2005)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030

Year

Bil

lon

Veh

icle

Kil

om

etr

es

Car and taxis

Other vehicles

All motor vehicles

4 Key Physical Components of the

Urban Environment

• Land-use patterns

• Transport

• Greenspace

• Local environment

+ Public policy and culture

e.g. dual income families and travel?

Land-use: Pedestrian Permeability

• A pedestrian permeable

street design leads to a 6lb

difference in average weight.

(US – Jackson et al.).

• This is equivalent to an

additional death rate of

about 1 per 1,000 per annum (S Watkins, Stockport PCT).

Image: Duany Plater-Zyberg

Impact of transport on community

San Francisco, Donald Appleyard

Thanks to Hugh Barton

Thanks to Hugh Barton

Thanks to Hugh Barton

GreenspaceSenior citizens lived longer with more

space to walk and with nearby parks and

tree lined streets near to where they live. Tanaka A, Takano T,Nakamura K, et al. Health levels influence by urban

residential conditions in a megacity—Tokyo. Urban Stud 1996; 33:

879–945.

For every 10% increase in greenspace

there was a reduction in health

complaints equivalent to a reduction of

five years of age.De Vries, S.Nature and health; the importance of green space in the

urban living environment. Proceedings of the symposium ‗Open

space functions under urban pressure‘. Ghent: 19–21 September

2001.

Being within access to greenspace can

increase levels of physical activityGiles-CortiB, Donovan RJ. Relative influence of individual, social

environmental, and physical environmental correlates of walking.

Am J Public Health 2003; 93(9): 1583–1589.

Kuo, et. al. University of Illinois, Urbana

Crime

Aggression

Coping

ADHD

Stress

Social tiesThanks to William Bird, Natural England

Local Environment

• Housing

• Provision of accessible, high quality facilities

• Dispersion of air pollution

• Heat increases of up to 6 degrees

• Relation of physical activity with perceptions of:

– Safety

– Pavements

– Provision of services

– Traffic ―not being a problem‖

Untangling the Web of Impacts

Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (2007)

―Negative‖ Feedbacks

Increasing road space

More cars

Increasing pressure for more road space

―Positive‖ Feedbacks

Well designed park

Attracts more people

Attracts others

Encourages longer,

more frequent stays and

greater physical activity

Complex Feedbacks

Air pollution fitness and health

Increased cycling and walking

Reduces both emissions and exposure to emissions

Increased physical activity improves respiratory

and cardio-vascular health

Increases resilience to the impacts of air pollution

Multiple Public Health Benefits of ‗Smart Growth‘

SMART GROWTH

PRINCIPLES

PA &

Obesity

Pedestrian

Injuries

Environmental

Health

Social

Capital

Mental

Health

Health

Disparities

Elder

Mobility

Create walkable

neighborhoodsX X X X X X X

Mix land uses X X X X X X X

Foster distinctive, attractive

places with a strong sense

of place

X X X X X

Strengthen and direct

development towards

existing communities

X X X X

Provide a variety of

transportation choicesX X X X X X X

Preserve open space,

farmland, natural beauty

and critical environmental

areas

X X X X

Take advantage of compact

building designX X X

Create range of housing

opportunities and choicesX X X X

Encourage community and

stakeholder collaborationX X X X X X

Safe & Healthy Communities Consulting, 2003

Settlement Health Map

Barton and Grant, 2006

(after Dahlgren and Whitehead)

Vauban, Freiburg• Motto = “We make the world as

we would like it to be”

• UWE study tour for DPHs –

AS LONG AS THEY TAKE A

SENIOR PLANNER!

Does It Work?

Hasselt, Belgium• 1995 study identified 725

distinct traffic problems

• Third ring road proposed

• 70,000 population,

300,000 commuters

• 1997 – public transport made free, inner-ring road turned

into ‗Green Boulevard‘, traffic banned from city centre

• Just 3 parts of an extensive mobility

plan

• PT usage increase 800% overnight,

now steady at 1300%

Copenhagen

• 350km of cycle track, incl. 40km of

green off-road track.

• 55% of the population choose

the bicycle for all trips.

• 37% trips by commuters to

work and school are by bikes

• Raised cycle tracks increase

cycles 18-20%....

…and reduce car usage 9-10%

• Cycle lanes on roads increase

cycles by only 5-7% with no car

reduction

Home Zones

―a residential street, or group of streets, designed for community use‖

Streets for people?

or

Streets for parking cars?

Eco-Towns

• Very much based on (weak)environmental criteria for a group of buildings

• Little concept of what might constitute a ‗town‘e.g. community

• No detail provided on how they are supposed to “contribute to promoting and supporting healthier and more active living and reduce health inequalities”

• ―The provision of services within the eco-town MAY be co-located to reduce the need for individuals to travel by private car.‖ WILL? SHOULD?

The UK in General

• Not good enough (CABE Housing Audit)

– Only 18 per cent of developments are “good” or

“very good”

– 53 per cent are “average”

– 29 per cent are “poor”

• We are stuck with these for 50 to 100 years

Solutions and Answers

Not simple!

―the principle reason for the lack of satisfactory

progress in many areas of urban environmental

policy appears to have been the mismatch

between complex problems and simplistic

policy prescriptions‖ (RCEP, 2007)

Avoid physical determinism….

“a set of rules, or masterplan, for a healthy urban

environment, with universal applicability cannot

be developed‖ (UWE/WHO, 2009)

So?

• Air quality is just one of a number of major

health issues caused by modern urban life

• Need for close working between Health,

Planning and Environmental people

• Health bodies are rarely statutory

consultees…make sure they are included

• The goals should all be the same (―well-being‖)

• If not, why not?

Development within AQMAs

• Often seen as a problem that will lead to

worsening air quality

• Best option often seen to be Low Emission

Strategies

• Need to look at the actual design of buildings an

how they can improve ventilation:

– Set back from road

– Roof-lines

Working to Link Environment, Health

and Planning

UKPHA

Special Interest Group on

Health and Sustainable Environments

Planning

Transport

Environmental Pollution

Thank You!

Institute for Sustainability, Health and Environment

www.uwe.ac.uk/ishe

tim.chatterton@uwe.ac.uk