Melanie Lowe
Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, Australia and AXA Research Fund fellow
Urban environments and infrastructure play a key role in shaping human and planetary health. Climate resilient cities can have multiple health benefits by supporting active, low-carbon lifestyles, and enabling urban populations to survive, adapt, and thrive in the face of climate change. Indicators like those shared by the Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities, can inform urban and transport policy and help monitor progress towards healthy, climate resilient cities. City governments and leaders should prioritise interventions that promote active and public transport, deliver mixed land use neighbourhoods, support urban greening and biodiversity, and reduce residents’ exposure to air pollution, heatwaves and other extreme weather events. Reducing inequities in risk exposure and access to climate resilient urban environments should be at the heart of city planning. The necessary transformation of urban environments to mitigate the health impacts of climate change requires an evidence-informed and coordinated approach across sectors and levels of government.
