Environmental risks to health

Rapid urbanization around the globe has led to an ever more critical role for cities to play in protecting and enhancing their citizens' health. Health is an asset and cornerstone for sustainable urban development. Urban health is influenced by a range of personal, social, economic and environmental determinants including housing, transport, urban planning, lead paint, green spaces, air pollution and climate change.

WHO is responding by building the capacity of the health sector to effectively engage in urban health, working across sectors to support cities to produce contextual, meaningful and actionable information on the health, economic and climate impacts of urban environments. WHO offers tools and resources to enable cities to make the case for investments in interventions which effectively address environmental risks to health. WHO also works to build networks of urban health practitioners to exchange best practices, and advocate for scaling up the implementation of health-enhancing urban policies.