urbanisation in developing vs developed countries --- while preparing a policy brief on urban planing and physical INactivity (btw one of the leading cause for DALYs) I saw how different urbanisation can be and what diverse impacts it has. While tarred or concrete surfaces add more heat (so negative on climate change), encourage car traffic (less physical activity) and harm ecosystems, in HIC this is more due to urban sprawl than to urbanisation, whereas in LMIC it is the growth of townships that produces these negative impacts. Urbanisation can have green surfaces (roof gardens, green playgrounds instead of stone gardens or carparks), and reduce for example traffic due to long commuting.

Source author: Katharina Beyer katharina.beyer@etu.unige.ch