Selected Topics - Urbanisation

• CITYFUTURES
  CITYFUTURES is the Centre for Research on Australian Cities in the Faculty of Built Environment at UNSW. CityFutures is dedicated to developing a better understanding of our cities, their people, the policies that manage their growth the issues they face, and the impacts they make on our environment and economy.

Events

• School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW

Global policies and related documents

• The Philippine Urban Forum
  The Philippine Urban Forum is a mechanism for continuing consultation and convergence among stakeholders in shelter and urban governance. It serves as a venue for information sharing, discussion and coordination among national government agencies, legislature, civil society organisations, private sector groups and international donor community that are involved in shelter and urban governance.

Reports, guidelines and projects

• A Billion Voices: Listening and Responding to the Health Needs of Slum Dwellers and Informal Settlers
  This analytical and strategic paper was prepared for the Knowledge Network on Urban Settings of the World Health Organisation's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. It takes a close look at urban slums, poverty and ill health in the 21st Century; reviews evidence and opportunities for synergy and presents a positioning for action.
• Development Malawi: Rapid Urbanisation looks Irreversible
  Frank Phiri, Inter Press Service News Agency, 2004 - an article examining the economic and health impacts of urbanisation in Malawi
• Healthy Urban Planning: Recommendations from the NSW HIA project, 2006
  This 2007 report by P. Harris, E. Harris, B. Harris-Roxas and L. Kempexamines several focus areas concerned with health planning and service provision in urban NSW, Australia, and provides recommendations and rationales for each.
• Metropolis International
  "The International Metropolis Project is a set of co-ordinated activities carried out by a membership of research, policy and non-governmental organizations who share a vision of strengthened migration policy by means of applied academic research."
• Neighbourhood identity – People, time and place
  “…This study looks at the ways in which neighbourhood identity is formed and considers any implications this may have for policies that seek to improve and enhance neighbourhoods. Through an examination of three neighbourhoods in Stirling, Scotland, the study explores what it means to people to ‘come from’ each of these areas as a way of understanding issues of belonging and attachment to particular places. The areas – Raploch, Riverside and Randolph Road – were chosen due to their differing socio-economic profiles and contrasting identities. The authors consider why regeneration policies often fail in their objectives and why the reputations of housing estates often display a remarkable longevity and resilience to change. They focus on how such reputations are established and understood by those in and outside particular areas and what implications this has for the identities of neighbourhoods and the people who live in them….”
• Our cities, our health, our future
  This 2008 KNUS (Knowledge Network on Urban Settings) report summarizes the findings concerning structural and intermediate social determinants of health that are of importance in the urban setting. The framework of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) guided the work. While unmasking the health inequities and inequalities in urban settings, it was decided at an early stage to make a strategic focus on slums and informal settlements where one billion people live in deplorable conditions. This number may double in coming decades unless appropriate policies for economic, social and health equity are developed and implemented. An example of the health inequalities in these circumstances is the strong gradient in infant and child mortality rates within Nairobi, Kenya, with rates in the slums more than three times higher than the city average and possibly ten or more times higher than in the richer parts of the city. Other data from Africa show that these mortality rates among the urban poor are, on average, almost as high as the rates among the rural poor, while among the richer urban groups the rates are the lowest.
• Our cities, our health, our future: Acting on social determinants for health equity in urban settings
  Following the conceptual framework devised by Vlahov et al in 2006 and 2007, the core concept used in this report prepared by the WHO Centre for Health Development, Kobe, Japan in 2007 is that “the social and physical environments that define the urban context are shaped by multiple factors and multiple players at multiple levels. Global trends, national and local governments, civil society, markets and the private sector shape the context in which local factors operate. Governance interventions in the urban setting must consider national and municipal determinants and should strive to influence both the urban living and working environments as well as intermediary processes that include social process and health knowledge. The framework assumes that the urban environment in its broadest sense (physical, social, economic, and political) affects all strata of residents, either directly or indirectly. It should be pointed out that interventions can also influence the key global, national and municipal drivers. The health sector has an important role to play, for instance via the ‘healthy cities’ approach…”
• Promoting Public Health through Smart Growth: Building healthier communities through transportation and land use policies and practices
  This report explains how our built environment shapes our transportation choices, and in turn, human health. It reviews the existing research for a range of transportation-related health impacts on seven public health outcomes: Physical Activity and Obesity, Air Quality, Traffic Safety, Noise, Water Quality, Mental Health and Social Capital.
• Reported Health and Health-influencing Behaviors Among Urban American Indians and Alaska Natives: An Analysis of Data Collected by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
  On March 5th, 2008, the Urban Indian Health Institute releases their ground breaking report titled: Reported Health and Health-Influencing Behaviors Among Urban American Indians and Alaska Natives. The report was released at a Native Symposium titled, Through Native Eyes: Identity, Perception and Recognition. “…The report finds additional evidence that American Indians and Alaska Natives living in urban areas face major hurdles in reaching health status similar to their fellow Americans. Findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national telephone survey conducted yearly and coordinated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), show America Indians and Alaska Natives living in selected urban areas were more likely to report difficulty accessing health care, had higher rates of risk behavior, and experienced worse health outcomes than the general population. Income differences were shown to play a role in explaining some of the health disparities, but differences in some reported health indicators were not income dependent….”
• State of the Evidence Review on Urban Health and Healthy Weights
  “…The relationship between urban environments and obesity has received little systematic attention. Our purpose was to review and synthesize the evidence on: a) structural and community level characteristics of urban environments that promote or inhibit the achievement of healthy weights; and b) the effectiveness of interventions to assist urban populations in achieving healthy weights. Research findings were categorized and tabulated within a framework that examines social determinants of health and multiple levels of the environment (i.e. community-level vs. structural). Four outcome areas were considered: obesity/healthy weights, food/diet/nutrition, physical activity and sedentary behaviour. The resulting analyses provide a high-level overview of the strengths of and gaps in the research on associations between urban environments and healthy weights. The report also identifies priorities for future policy-relevant research and presents the author suggestions for promising interventions that may help to reduce population obesity levels in urban places…”.
• Threats to Urban Health
  This article, by Carolyn Stephens addresses the growing trend towards urbanisation in the developing world and the impact this is having on the health of urban dwellers.
• Urban Violence and Insecurity: An Introductory Roadmap
  This paper addresses the following objectives: to define and systematically categorize the multiple forms of violence; to profile the measurement, trends and characteristics of urban violence; to identify interrelated causes, costs and consequences of the phenomenon; and to understand the different types of interventions to reduce violence at national, city and community level, focusing on the urban poor and excluded.
• Urbanisation in Asia: Lessons Learned and Innovative Responses
  This report, by Dean Forbes and Michael Lindfield presents the findings of a study on urbanisation and best practice in urban poverty alleviation invlolving case studies in India, Vietnam and the Philippines.
• Urbanisation's Aftermath
  This article focuses on the extent and effects of urbaisation in America and the world. It describes the use of satellite images to measure the growth of uban areas.
• World Urbanisation Prospects: The 2001 Revision
  This report from the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division presents estimations and projections of population between urban and rural cities in the major areas, regions and countries of the world.

Educational resources

• DFID Urbanisation
  The UK's Department for International Development's (DFID) urbanisation website provides information on all research and development projects in the urban sector supported by DFID. The purpose of this website is to inform readers about current developments in the sector, and to focus on the work supported by DFID country programmes and research activities.
• Food Africa: Impact of Urbanisation of Food Systems
  This site is part of the FoodAfrica project which aims to Improve food systems in sub-Saharan Africa by responding effectively to a changing environment. Its objective is to review the current research and development activities that affect food systems in sub-Saharan Africa; Identify gaps in current food and health research strategies; Recommend future research strategies; and Improve the links between researchers, in particular young scientists, in Africa and Europe. This page particulary focuses on the implications of urbanisation for food systems.
• Urbanisation information
  This resource, provided by Macquarie University, Division of Environmental and Life Sciences, Australia provides general information about the process of urbanisation. Topics include urbanisation trends, urban impacts; socio-cultural, socio-economic, environmental and regional and urban planning.

Organisations and Networks

UN and multinational

• Healthy Cities and Urban Governance
  WHO Europe's Healthy Cities provides national and local governments with an effective means of dealing with health related issues such as poverty and social exclusion, pollution and sustainable development, lifestyles and living conditions, care and social support, urban planning and transport, and the special needs of vulnerable groups.
• UN - Habitat
  The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT, is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all

Government

Non Government

• Asian MetaCentre for Population and Sustainable Development Analysis
  The Asian MetaCentre is a research programme that aims to develop research initiatives on themes pertaining to population, sustainable development and health such as population forecasting, international migration, changing family structures and the Asian family, population-development-environment-health interactions, fertility, intergenerational relations, ageing, human capital projections, urbanisation, environmental degradation and the consequences of these population dynamics on human well-being and health.
• The International Society of Urban Health
  "The International Society for Urban Health (ISUH) is an association of researchers, scholars, and professionals from various disciplines and areas of the world who study the health effects of urban environments and urbanization."
• Population Council
  The Population Council is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organisation that conducts biomedical, social science, and public health research. For more than 50 years, the Council has been evaluating and developing sustainable approaches to enhancing people's health and well-being in the following areas: Biomedicine; Gender and Family DynamicsHIV/AIDS; Infants and Children; Quality of Care; Reproductive Health; Social Science; Strengthening Local Resources and Transitions to Adulthood.
• Urban Poverty and Environment Program
  The Urban Poverty & Environment Program (UPE) is part of Canada's International Development Research Centre. It funds research and activities in developing countries that apply integrated and participatory approaches to reducing environmental burdens on the urban poor and enhancing the use of natural resources for food, water and income security.

Academic Institutions with particular focus in this area

• Partnership for Urban Health Research
  The Partnership for Urban Health Research (PUHR) at Georgia State University represents a university-wide commitment focused on the amelioration of health disparities that confront urban communities. PUHR is an interdisciplinary urban health research program developed in partnership with the College of Health and Human Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Law.
• Urban Health Institute
  The mission of the Urban Health Institute at Johns Hopkins University is to marshal the resources of the Johns Hopkins Institutions as well as other, external resources to improve the health and well-being of the residents of East Baltimore and Baltimore City and to promote evidence-based interventions to solve urban health problems nationwide.
• Urban Health Program
  The Urban Health Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago aims to improve the quality of health care services for medically underserved urban populations, especially those in Health Professions Shortage Areas of Illinois, by expanding health professions education opportunities for underrepresented groups (African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Mainland Puerto Ricans, and Native Americans).

Key Conferences, conference and workshop reports

Coming conferences

• 4th International Conference on Urban Health
  The annual meeting of the International Society for Urban Health will be held in Toronto, Canada October 26-28th 2005. The conference brings together researchers, practitioners, community members, and policy makers to present leading-edge research and reviews relating to urban health and to discuss how to translate research into practice and policy.

Conference reports

Journals, Newsletters, Forums

• Habitat-Debate
  Habitat Debate is a journal published by UN-HABITAT, The United Nations Human Settlements Programme. It covers the health related aspects of urbanisation and human habitats.

Bibliographies, Libraries

• HUD USER Database
  The HUD USER Database is a bibliographic database exclusively dedicated to housing and community development issues. It contains more than 10,000 full-abstract citations to research reports, articles, books, monographs, and data sources in housing policy, building technology, economic development, urban planning, and a host of other relevant fields.

Public health bookshops

• Public Health bookshop