Chapter 1 - Introducing Urban Health and Wellbeing
Introduction
Historical development
Concept
Approaches
Techniques
Relationship with other sciences and social science
National and international institutional mechanisms
Chapter 2 - Urban environment of Delhi and Mumbai
Literature Review
Urban Environmental Change
Urban Heat Island
Impact of Changing Urban Environment on Urban Health
Study area: Urban Environment of Delhi and Mumbai
Geographical Profile of Study Area: Delhi and Mumbai
Chapter 3 - Changing Urban Environment in Megacities: Delhi and Mumbai
Driving Forces of Urban Environmental Change
Land use/cover Change
Population Change
Vehicular Growth
Trend of air pollution
Chapter 4 – Urban micro climates: Delhi and Mumbai
Urban environment’
Urban heat island
UHI in India
Spatial Patterns and Trends of LST and UHI in Delhi
Spatial Patterns and Trends of LST, NDVI and NDBI in Delhi
Relationship between LULC, LST, NDVI and NDBI in Delhi
Spatial Patterns and Trends of LST and UHI in Mumbai
Spatial Patterns and Trends of LST, NDVI and NDBI in Mumbai
Relationship between LULC, LST, NDVI and NDBI in Mumbai
Chapter 5 - Urban Health Risk Analysis: Delhi and Mumbai
Introduction
Data Sources and Methodology
Results and Discussion
Impact of Air Pollution on Mortality in India
Temporal Analysis of Mortality from Circulatory and Respiratory system in Delhi
People’s Perception on Urban Environment and Health of Delhi and Mumbai
Chapter 6 - Policy initiatives and other mechanisms
Introduction
Existing Plans and Policy for Health and Wellbeing in Changing Urban Environment
Lacuna in Existing Policies and Plans
Systems Approach and Sustainable Urban Environment
Strategic Planning for Delhi and Mumbai
Dr. Aakriti Grover is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography, School of Earth Sciences, Central University of Tamil Nadu, India. She specializes in urban environment, urban health, and disaster management and is a World Social Science Fellow. She has published nine research papers in peer-reviewed journals and contributed three chapters to edited books, including a policy brief for the Global Sustainable Development Report by the United Nations.
Dr. R.B.Singh is first Indian and second Asian elected as the Secretary General and Treasurer of the International Geographical Union (2018-22). He has been a Professor of Geography at the Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India, since 1996. He is also coordinator of Departmental Research Support for the University Grants Commission’s Special Assistance Programme (UGC-SAP-DRS III), and specializes in land use, environmental studies, climate change, urban and regional development, disaster management, remote sensing, and geographic information systems. Dr. Singh is currently chair of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore (India), and a member of the International Council of Science (ICSU) and the prestigious scientific committee Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment: a Systems Analysis Approach. Since 2012, Dr. Singh has been the vice-president of the International Geographical Union (IGU), the world’s leading geographical body, and was reelected for a second consecutive term (2016–2020).
This book focuses on interdisciplinary issues of human health in the changing urban environments of India’s largest megacities—Delhi and Mumbai. The authors explore human health concerns related to increased temperatures and air pollution in these cities in a study based on primary data collected through interviews, as well as secondary data on causes of mortality from 2001 to 2012. During this period, the surface temperatures for both megacities were mapped using Landsat Images.
The rapidly increasing populations of cities and urban centers alter ecosystem services such as water, air and land cover, with disastrous impacts on health and wellbeing, particularly in megacities. In 2015, polluted air was estimated to have been responsible for 6.4 million deaths worldwide, and it is projected that it will cause between 6 and 9 million deaths per year by 2060. In 2017, outdoor air pollution resulted in 1.2 million deaths in India and brought about a 3% loss in GDP. The increase in population, vehicles, and industries has led to changes in land use and land cover and a rise in city temperatures and air pollution, creating urban heat islands (UHIs). Together, UHIs and air pollution have damaging impacts on human health that range from stress and headache to asthma, bronchitis, and chronic diseases, and even to death.
Delhi has been experiencing emergency conditions in terms of environmental health over the past two years. At the same time, both the Delhi and Mumbai urban agglomerations are growing at a rapid pace, and the United Nations has projected that they will be the second and third most populous cities in the world by 2025. In this context, the book offers significant insights into the past patterns and responses to the present global urban health emergencies, and explores sustainable means of combating the problem to enable college and university researchers to develop innovative solutions. Further. It presents trans-disciplinary research that cuts across the WHO Action Plan, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Habitat III to help policymakers gain a better understanding of the global challenges of urban health and wellbeing. The book is especially useful for students and researchers in geography, urban demography, urban studies, environmental studies, health sciences, and policy studies.