PEM Seminar Series -Prof Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen: Urban and Transport Planning Pathways to Carbon Neutral, Liveable and Healthy Cities
| Dates: | 21 April 2021 |
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| Times: | 12:00 - 14:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | Manchester Urban Institute |
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| Speaker: | Prof Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen |
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Over 50% of the world´s population is living in cities and this is expected to rise to 70% over the next few decades. Cities are society’s predominant engine of innovation and wealth creation, but also main sources of pollution, and disease. Partly due to poor urban and transport planning, or the lack thereof, we have cities that are too car dominated. All the urban planning in the world seems for cars; People do not matter. This has led to high air pollution and noise levels, heat island effects and lack of green space and physical activity that are all detrimental to health. For example, a recent health impact assessment in Barcelona estimated that 20% of premature mortality was due to urban and transport related exposures. This talk will review the latest developments on urban and transport planning pathways leading to low carbon, liveable and healthy cities.
Electric cars and/or autonomous vehicles have been mentioned as possible solutions, but they are unlikely to be, and solutions need to be sought elsewhere. A new long term visioning of healthy urban future is needed that bring health, sustainability and livable at the forefront of urban and transport planning. Systemic approaches to the current problems and a shift away from our grey car centric cities towards cities with more public and active transportation and green space are urgently needed. New urban models like Car free cities, the 15-minute city and the Superblocks are urgently needed. Collaboration between e.g. urban and transport planners, environmentalists and public health professionals is essential to create carbon neutral, liveable and healthy cities.
Zoom details: https://zoom.us/j/94739379727 Passcode: 517479
Speaker
Prof Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen
Biography: Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen PhD is a world leading expert in environmental exposure assessment, epidemiology, and health risk/impact assessment with a strong focus and interest on healthy urban living. He is director of Urban Planning, Environment and Health and Air pollution and Urban Environment at ISGlobal, Barcelona. He is President of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology. He has edited 3 books on Exposure Assessment and on Environmental Epidemiology, and one on Integrating human health into Urban and Transport planning, and has co-authored more than 500 papers published in peer reviewed journals and 30 book chapters. His latest book COVID19 and the City discusses the transformation of the city as a result of COVID19. In 2018, he was awarded the ISEE John Goldsmith Award for Outstanding Contributions to Environmental Epidemiology. In both 2018, 2019 and 2020 he was among the 1% most cited scientists in the world.
Travel and Contact Information
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Virtual
Architecture and Planning
Manchester
