Treating two pandemics for the price of one: Chronic and infectious disease impacts of the built and natural environment

Abstract

Compact walkable environments with greenspace support physical activity and reduce the risk for depression and several obesity-related chronic diseases, including diabetes and heart disease. Recent evidence confirms that these chronic diseases increase the severity of COVID-19 infection and mortality risk. Conversely, denser transit supportive environments may increase risk of exposure to COVID-19 suggesting the potential for contrasting chronic versus infectious disease impacts of community design. A handful of recent studies have examined links between density and COVID-19 mortality rates reporting conflicting results. Population density has been used as a surrogate of urban form to capture the degree of walkability and public transit versus private vehicle travel demand. The current study employs a broader range of built environment features (density, design, and destination accessibility) and assesses how chronic disease mediates the relationship between built and natural environment and COVID-19 mortality. Negative and significant relationships are observed between built and natural environment features and COVID-19 mortality when accounting for the mediating effect of chronic disease. Findings underscore the importance of chronic disease when assessing relationships between COVID-19 mortality and community design. Based on a rigorous simulation-assisted random parameter path analysis framework, we further find that the relationships between COVID-19 mortality, obesity, and key correlates exhibit significant heterogeneity. Ignoring this heterogeneity in highly aggregate spatial data can lead to incorrect conclusions with regards to the relationship between built environment and COVID-19 transmission. Results presented here suggest that creating walkable environments with greenspace is associated with reduced risk of chronic disease and/or COVID-19 infection and mortality.

City planning policies to support health and sustainability: an international comparison of policy indicators for 25 cities

“…5,6 Government city planning policies specify land uses and related taxation; fund and provide transport infrastructure and other public services; regulate housing, industry, car use, and transport fares; and foster economic development. Given the challenges of the 21st century, it is essential that city planning produces cobenefits for prevention of com municable and non-communicable diseases [7][8][9][10] and climate action. 11,12 Much of the urban growth anticipated by 2050 is expected to occur in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), 13 which are disproportionately affected by the global burden of disease and face the harshest consequences of climate change.…”

Built environment influences on healthy eating and active living: The NEWPATH study

“…Physical activity levels and dietary patterns are major predictors of chronic disease risk, including cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, some cancers, and type 2 diabetes, in part through obesity (1‐3). Recent evidence has suggested that obesity or having a chronic disease increases the risk of COVID‐19‐related mortality (4). Increased time spent at home has resulted in a heightened awareness of how our home environment impacts our health.…”

Are leading urban centers predisposed to global risks- An analysis of the global south from COVID-19 perspective

“…Source: authors. Variable Reference literature Key finding(s) Exposure International air connectivity ( Findlater & Bogoch, 2018 ); ( Keita, 2020 ) Air travel is leading to an increase in the frequency of reach of infectious diseases, more connected countries have higher exposure Participation in international trade ( Ibarrarán, Ruth, Ahmad, & London, 2009 ); ( Wiedmann & Lenzen, 2018 ) Increased dependency on global network can have ripple effect in different countries, developing countries appear to be disproportionately affected Air pollution ( Fattorini & Regoli, 2020 ); ( Frontera, Cianfanelli, Vlachos, Landoni, & Cremona, 2020 ) Chronic atmospheric pollution is likely to favor the spread of COVID-19 Comorbidity ( Wang, Li, Lu, & Huang, 2020 ); ( Sanyaolu et al, 2020 ) People with comorbidity are more like to be severely affected by COVID-19 Susceptibility Population Density ( Ahmadi, Sharifi, Dorosti, Ghoushchi, & Ghanbari, 2020 ); ( Bhadra, Mukherjee, & Sarkar, 2021 ); ( Liu, Liu, & Guan, 2021 ) The spread of COVID-19 is positively correlated to population density Poverty ( Mamun & Ullah, 2020 ); ( Alkire, Dirksen, Nogales, & Oldiges, 2020 ) Poor people are more susceptible to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 Health ( Egawa et al, 2018 ); ( Frank & Wali, 2021 ) Healthier communities are more resilient to disaster risk, life expectancy is an important indicator of disaster risk Informality ( Wilkinson, 2020 ); ( ...…”