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Heart healthy cities : Genetics loads the gun but the environment pulls the trigger
Münzel, Thomas Sørensen, Mette Lelieveld, Jos Hahad, Omar Al-Kindi, Sadeer Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark Giles-Corti, Billie Daiber, Andreas Rajagopalan, Sanjay
Münzel, Thomas
Sørensen, Mette
Lelieveld, Jos
Hahad, Omar
Al-Kindi, Sadeer
Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark
Giles-Corti, Billie
Daiber, Andreas
Rajagopalan, Sanjay
Abstract
The world’s population is estimated to reach 10 billion by 2050 and 75% of this population will live in cities. Two-third of the European population already live in urban areas and this proportion continues to grow. Between 60% and 80% of the global energy use is consumed by urban areas, with 70% of the greenhouse gas emissions produced within urban areas. The World Health Organization states that city planning is now recognized as a critical part of a comprehensive solution to tackle adverse health outcomes. In the present review, we address non-communicable diseases with a focus on cardiovascular disease and the urbanization process in relation to environmental risk exposures including noise, air pollution, temperature, and outdoor light. The present review reports why heat islands develop in urban areas, and how greening of cities can improve public health, and address climate concerns, sustainability, and liveability. In addition, we discuss urban planning, transport interventions, and novel technologies to assess external environmental exposures, e.g. using digital technologies, to promote heart healthy cities in the future. Lastly, we highlight new paradigms of integrative thinking such as the exposome and planetary health, challenging the one-exposure-one-health-outcome association and expand our understanding of the totality of human environmental exposures.
Keywords
heart healthy city, environmental stressors, heat islands effects, air pollution, noise pollution, light pollution, urban and transport planning and design interventions
Date
2021
Type
Journal article
Journal
European Heart Journal
Book
Volume
42
Issue
25
Page Range
2422-2438
Article Number
ACU Department
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY-NC 4.0
File Access
Open