Ways in which the City Harms Our Health and Solutions to Stop it from Doing so

---

5 Ways in which the City Harms Our Health and 5 Solutions to 
Stop it from Doing so. 
There are more than 135,000 scientific papers published on air pollution and health, 
according to PubMed, the largest data base of biomedical publications. The scientific 
evidence is clear: current urban lifestyles can have a negative impact on our health.
But 
the simple fact of living in a city should not entail such risks
, especially because 
they are 
perfectly preventable
. 
A double challenge lies ahead of us: 
making this information accessible to the 
public
, i.e. those of us who are not scientists, and 
ultimately translating it into 
policy decisions
.
The cities that we want are cities designed for people
: with good air quality, low 
noise levels, without heat islands; urban environments with more green spaces that 
favour healthy levels of physical activity.
These are 
5 actions that cities can take to place health at the centre
of urban 
planning:
1. Air Pollution > Reduce motorised traffic
Cities built with cars in mind generate pollution and promote unhealthy lifestyles. In 
Barcelona, private vehicles occupy 65% to 70% of the city’s space. 
The World Health Organisation proposes a series of city-wide 
solutions for 
recovering the public space for pedestrians and cyclists
, and for 
reducing the levels of air pollution – a toxic air that we breathe in 98% of cities in low 
and middle income countries and in 56% of those in high income countries.
2. Noise > Reduce motorised traffic
Urban planning also plays a key role in decreasing noise levels. Populations in the EU 
with more than 100,000 inhabitants must report noise pollution through noise maps 
and implement actions to reduce it in the most affected zones.
Common strategies to reduce noise levels include the use of