Posts tagged with 'public health'
In many cities, lockdowns have forced large numbers of people into an impossible dilemma: follow social distancing guidelines or be deprived of their livelihoods and basic services. Unlike most places, South Korea and its capital, Seoul, took a markedly different ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a disruptive new normal for everyone through shelter-in-place orders and social distancing guidelines. But for the billions of urban poor, these guidelines aren’t just burdensome; they’re essentially impossible. Social distancing is a critically important response ...
As the coronavirus crisis spreads throughout the world, it is increasingly clear that people with the least access to essential services like water will feel the most dramatic effects. Major health organizations advise washing hands more frequently – for at least ...
The COVID-19 pandemic is already affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans, and it’s poised to get worse before it gets better. Our primary concern is for the health and welfare of all those affected. The COVID-19 outbreak’s ...
COVID-19 is shutting down urban transportation networks around the world. But to “flatten the curve” and save lives, critical frontline health workers still need to get to work. In Bogotá, Colombia, where the city has already experimented with providing emergency ...
The COVID-19 pandemic is laying bare two unavoidable facts about our new reality: we are more interconnected than ever, and cities are at the frontlines of this crisis and will be at the frontlines of any similarly globalized crisis in ...
In the urban neighborhood known as Kosovo Village in Nairobi, Kenya, 95% of residents defecate in communal or shared facilities where untreated human waste drains directly into a nearby river. During a storm, fetid and polluted waters flood the riverbanks, ...
High up in the stratosphere, naturally occurring ozone reflects solar radiation back into space, protecting people and the planet from harmful ultraviolet rays. But closer to Earth’s surface, rising ozone levels – formed when pollutants from a wide range of sources react ...
India is ground zero for extreme heat. More than 6,100 people have died from heat events since 2010. Half of the country reeled under severe heat waves this summer, when temperatures reached over 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit) in many places. The urban ...
The narrative about global inequality and poverty often focuses on rural areas in the global south, with a heavy emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. But the reality is that poverty is becoming more concentrated in cities across the ...
With a population of 12.2 million – eighth largest in the world – São Paulo faces a daunting task in making its streets safe for all. But in April 2019, the city pledged to do just that, becoming the first ...
In 2003, London followed the example of Singapore and launched a congestion charge, requiring drivers to pay £11.50 ($15.90) to enter the city center and becoming a global example of how this innovative but sometimes fraught policy can work. Sixteen ...
Cities in the global south today face a complex challenge: like all cities, they need to reduce carbon emissions, but they also need to expand access to energy. Around the world, 1.1 billion people currently lack access to electric cooling ...
More than half the global population lacks access to safely managed sanitation services – 4.5 billion people. Every year, more than 340,000 children under the age of five die as a result of this problem. And we’re not solving it ...
More than 7 million people die prematurely every year due to air pollution. That’s like the entire population of Hong Kong dropping dead due to a cause that’s ultimately avoidable. The World Health Organization (WHO) is turning its attention to ...
