Cities In Middle-income Countries Research Articles

Housing Indicators for Sustainable Cities in Middle-Income Countries through the Residential Urban Environment Recognized Using Single-Family Housing Rating Systems

This study presents a comparative analysis of the housing indicators used by the single-family housing rating systems (SHRSs), in which the residential urban environment (RUE) influences buildings’ certification scores, emphasizing the relationships of six systems developed by middle-income countries (MICs)—BEST, CASA, GBI, BERDE, Green Homes, and LOTUS—and the two most-recognized rating systems, BREEAM and LEED. The aim is to provide new housing indicators that are capable of bringing the concept of sustainability into the cities of MICs. The results reveal that the percentage of influence that single-family housing (SFH) can achieve in the metric established by each system is relatively low. However, considering all of the identified indicators, this influence could increase to 53.16% of the total score in multi-criteria evaluations. Furthermore, a significant lack of indicators for mandatory criteria evaluations was found, with CASA being the only system that considers their inclusion. This paper identifies 37 indicators for multi-criteria assessments and two for mandatory-criteria assessments, providing new perspectives on several topics. Furthermore, the methodology established to obtain the indicators could be useful for other researchers in the identification of new sustainable indicators.

Exploring the economic case for early investment in climate change mitigation in middle-income countries: a case study of Johor Bahru, Malaysia

The assumption that climate mitigation can only be afforded at a particular level of income is implicit in global climate negotiations. This suggests that middle-income countries may reach a tipping point in their development process where low-carbon investment becomes more viable. In order to avoid dangerous levels of climate change, this tipping point needs to be brought forward in time: upper-middle-income countries are already responsible for 37.8% of global CO2 emissions. We explore the scope for large-scale investment in climate mitigation in Johor Bahru, a fast-growing industrial city in Malaysia. We find that the city could reduce per capita emissions by 10.0% by 2025, relative to 2014 levels, through cost-effective investments. If the returns could be recovered and reinvested in low-carbon measures, Johor Bahru could reduce per capita emissions by 35.2% by 2025, relative to 2014 levels. This result suggests that the tipping point may be a function of political will and institutional capacity as well as income. This has substantial implications for global climate policy discussions, particularly the opportunities and responsibilities of middle-income countries. If comparable savings can be delivered across cities in middle-income countries, this would equate to a reduction in global emissions of 6.3% with the exploitation of cost-effective options and 11.3% with the exploitation of cost-neutral options. Investing in economically attractive low-carbon measures could also provide cities in middle-income countries with an opportunity to build the political momentum and institutional capacities necessary for deeper decarbonization.

The challenge of air pollution research

The four papers in this issue, marking the third anniversary of Air Quality, Atmosphere, and Health, illustrate the complexity of research on air pollution and the need for a multidisciplinary journal like this one. The research was carried out by authors in multiple countries (Brazil, Malaysia, and the USA), and the evidence covered is diverse, being based in atmospheric sciences, economics, epidemiology, and toxicology. The main topics covered include the atmospheric and health impacts of traffic in urban environments, the determinants of pollutant concentrations in complex urban environments, the presence and implications of ultrafine particles in urban atmospheres, and the economic evaluation of the benefits of air pollution control. All of these topics are integral to evidence-based control of air pollution. Two of the papers are based on air pollution in cities in middle-income countries where air pollution remains a threat to public health: Sao Paulo, Brazil, and locations within the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The Sao Paulo study by Martins et al. (2010) was carried out in one of the world's largest megacities and one that is notorious for its traffic. Their measurements and modeling captured the complicated temporal variation of pollutant levels within the city and the driving influence of traffic. They also captured a component that was possibly reflective of widespread biomass burning. They emphasize the presence of ultrafines in the atmosphere of Sao Paulo and use modeling to highlight the potential risks to health. Azmi and colleagues (2010) document air quality in the industrialized Klang Valley of Malaysia. As in Sao Paulo, heavy traffic plays a key role in driving air pollutant concentrations, and biomass burning has had a strong influence at times. Both studies should prove useful for informing local decision-making around air quality control strategies. Grahame and Schlesinger (2010) have carried out a critical review that is relevant to interpreting the findings of the studies in Brazil and Malaysia. They consider the rapidly growing literature on traffic emissions and cardiovascular outcomes, integrating findings of epidemiologic and toxicologic research. They conclude that vehicle emissions are a major contributor to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the USA. This conclusion implies that the higher levels of vehicle-related pollution in lowerand middle-income countries, like Brazil and Malaysia, must also be causing adverse cardiovascular health effects. The Health Effects Institute recently published a systematic review of the evidence on exposure to traffic-related pollution and health (Health Effects Institute 2009). This review also found epidemiological and toxicologic evidence for adverse cardiovascular effects, although uncertainties were sufficient to preclude a designation of the evidence as firmly in support of causation. While Grahame and Schlesinger recommend consideration of a black carbon standard to address traffic emissions, the Health Effects Institute did not find sufficient evidence to recommend a particular indicator for monitoring. Recently, the US Environmental Protection Agency promulgated a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for NO2 that calls for a new monitoring network directed at near-roadway exposures of the population (Federal Register 2010). The resulting data will provide insights into the population profile of exposure to traffic emissions. J. M. Samet (*) Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine and Institute for Global Health, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA e-mail: jsamet@usc.edu

Urbanization and human health.

Urbanization involves a physical change in which increasing proportions of populations live in urban settings, however defined. It also implies considerable changes in the ways in which these people live, how they earn their livelihoods, the food which they eat, and the wide range of environmental factors to which they are exposed. There is another underlying assumption that, increasingly, urban populations will be more healthy than their rural counterparts and that higher levels of urbanization will equate with better health status. This paper discusses some of the assumptions underlying this contention. It takes issue with certain of them, particularly the assumption that urbanization affects the health of all residents equally. It is manifestly evident that in many cities, particularly in the developing world, the poor are exposed to greater risks and have much lower health status than their richer neighbours. In addition, whilst urban residents may theoretically have a better access to health care and services than do residents in many rural areas, and whilst many indicators of health do appear better in more highly urbanized societies than ones less so, there are caveats. The paper introduces the concept of epidemiological transition, which suggests that, whilst life expectancy might be higher in many urbanized countries and in certain cities, the inhabitants are often merely suffering from different forms of ill-health, often chronic or degenerative, rather than infective. In certain cities in middle-income countries, residents, particularly the poor, are exposed to a double risk of both infection and chronic degenerative ailments. The paper concludes with a consideration of more general recent statements from the World Health Organization among others, on the impact of urbanization on health. The 'Healthy Cities' project is also discussed. WHO identifies a range of general determinants of urban health: physical, social, cultural and environmental. Many represent the by-products of modernization and especially industrialization. It is emphasized that urbanization, and the concentration of human beings into new areas in particular, can bring exposure to new risk factors for large numbers of people. The growth of infectious and parasitic disease in some urban settings must therefore be recognized, as must the emergence of chronic diseases, with the concomitant need for investment in new types of health and social care. However, a number of constraints militate against the achievement of improved urban health, especially in developing countries.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)