Urban Design - Transport and Population Health - Mark Stevenson

A new series published in The Lancet, led by the University of Melbourne and featuring authors from leading global academic institutions, quantifies for the first time the health outcomes that could be gained through changes to urban design and the transport system

The three paper series, launched by the United Nations Sustainable Development Society Network in New York, compares six global cities with a variety of liveability indexes, economic, land-use and transport attributes. Cites examined include Melbourne, London, Boston, Delhi, Sao Paulo and Copenhagen.

With the world’s population estimated to reach 10 billion by 2050, with 75% living in cities, city planning is now being recognised as a part of a comprehensive solution to tackling adverse health outcomes.

The Series lead, Professor Mark Stevenson, an epidemiologist and Professor of Urban Transport and Public Health at the University of Melbourne, said momentum and awareness is growing around the health and well-being benefits available through changes to city planning and transport modal shift.

“This research has considerable implications for policy change. By quantifying the need for integrated city planning and its focus around modal choice for cities, it emphasises the need for sustainable transport that will deliver health gains for the future,” said Professor Stevenson.


Produced by: Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne