Which urban land covers/uses are associated with residents’ mortality? A cross-sectional, ecological, pan-European study of 233 cities
Objectives The study aim was to determine whether the range and distribution of all, and proportions of specific, land covers/uses within European cities are associated with city-specific mortality rates.Setting 233 European cities within 24 countries.Participants Aggregated city-level all-cause...
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| Format: | Article |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2019-11-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e033623.full |
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| author | Jamie Pearce Jonathan R Olsen Natalie Nicholls Graham Moon Niamh Shortt Richard Mitchell |
| author_facet | Jamie Pearce Jonathan R Olsen Natalie Nicholls Graham Moon Niamh Shortt Richard Mitchell |
| author_sort | Jamie Pearce |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives The study aim was to determine whether the range and distribution of all, and proportions of specific, land covers/uses within European cities are associated with city-specific mortality rates.Setting 233 European cities within 24 countries.Participants Aggregated city-level all-cause and age-group standardised mortality ratio for males and females separately and Western or Eastern European Region.Results The proportion of specific land covers/uses within a city was related to mortality, displaying differences by macroregion and sex. The land covers/uses associated with lower standardised mortality ratio (SMR) for both Western and Eastern European cities were those characterised by ‘natural’ green space, such as forests and semi-natural areas (Western Female coefficient: −18.3, 95% CI −29.8 to −6.9). Dense housing was related to a higher SMR, most prominently in Western European cities (Western Female coefficient: 17.4, 95% CI 9.6 to 25.2).Conclusions There is pressure to build on urban natural spaces, both for economic gain and because compact cities are regarded as more sustainable, yet here we offer evidence that doing so may detract from residents’ health. Our study suggests that urban planners and developers need to regard retaining more wild and unstructured green space as important for healthy city systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-447fc9d69790428f8e2471e04303a150 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-447fc9d69790428f8e2471e04303a1502024-11-27T23:25:08ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552019-11-0191110.1136/bmjopen-2019-033623Which urban land covers/uses are associated with residents’ mortality? A cross-sectional, ecological, pan-European study of 233 citiesJamie Pearce0Jonathan R Olsen1Natalie Nicholls2Graham Moon3Niamh Shortt4Richard Mitchell5Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health (CRESH), School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKMRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UKMRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK2 School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK3 School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK4 School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UKObjectives The study aim was to determine whether the range and distribution of all, and proportions of specific, land covers/uses within European cities are associated with city-specific mortality rates.Setting 233 European cities within 24 countries.Participants Aggregated city-level all-cause and age-group standardised mortality ratio for males and females separately and Western or Eastern European Region.Results The proportion of specific land covers/uses within a city was related to mortality, displaying differences by macroregion and sex. The land covers/uses associated with lower standardised mortality ratio (SMR) for both Western and Eastern European cities were those characterised by ‘natural’ green space, such as forests and semi-natural areas (Western Female coefficient: −18.3, 95% CI −29.8 to −6.9). Dense housing was related to a higher SMR, most prominently in Western European cities (Western Female coefficient: 17.4, 95% CI 9.6 to 25.2).Conclusions There is pressure to build on urban natural spaces, both for economic gain and because compact cities are regarded as more sustainable, yet here we offer evidence that doing so may detract from residents’ health. Our study suggests that urban planners and developers need to regard retaining more wild and unstructured green space as important for healthy city systems.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e033623.full |
| spellingShingle | Jamie Pearce Jonathan R Olsen Natalie Nicholls Graham Moon Niamh Shortt Richard Mitchell Which urban land covers/uses are associated with residents’ mortality? A cross-sectional, ecological, pan-European study of 233 cities BMJ Open |
| title | Which urban land covers/uses are associated with residents’ mortality? A cross-sectional, ecological, pan-European study of 233 cities |
| title_full | Which urban land covers/uses are associated with residents’ mortality? A cross-sectional, ecological, pan-European study of 233 cities |
| title_fullStr | Which urban land covers/uses are associated with residents’ mortality? A cross-sectional, ecological, pan-European study of 233 cities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Which urban land covers/uses are associated with residents’ mortality? A cross-sectional, ecological, pan-European study of 233 cities |
| title_short | Which urban land covers/uses are associated with residents’ mortality? A cross-sectional, ecological, pan-European study of 233 cities |
| title_sort | which urban land covers uses are associated with residents mortality a cross sectional ecological pan european study of 233 cities |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e033623.full |
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