IMPACT OF URBANIZATION ON HEALTH AND DISEASE
Urbanization: Urbanization involves a physical change in which increasing proportions pf populations live in urban settings. The movement of people to cities is one of the dominant characteristics of population change.
Increase in urban population is determined by three factors:
- Natural increase through birth.
- Rapid migration from rural to urban for better employment opportunities.
- Inclusion of new areas under urban
Environmental health impacts associated with rapid urbanization
The issues of urbanization
1. Infection disease prevalence:
Diseases are caused from polluted water. Presence of respiratory diseases due to indoor and outdoor air pollution. Infectious disease prevalence is also in rural but what makes urban area prone is due to polluted water as well as crowd and high population density in which risk is high of epidemics.
2. Non communicable disease :
Non communicable disease are going to be highly prevalence in the urban areas due o pollution, lack of physical exercise, dietary practices to have more junk and high calorie food which leads to heart diseases and diabetes etc.
3. Road traffic accidents :
Due to increased number of population in urban urea there is increased number of vehicles too which increases number of vehicles too which increases number of traffic accidents. This results in serious injuries and disabilities.
4. Housing security and sanitation :
Urban areas which are overcrowded and are often exposed to hazards such as steep hillsides subject to landslides, riverbanks and water basin locations subject to flooding and Sites are near to industrial hazards increases health risks.
5. Water, Food and Nutritional crisis :
As urbanization rapids there is for sure to be the lack of safe drinking water. As water mining is continuous to fulfill the demand of water supply which is a non renewable after water crisis goes then there will be food crisis starts hitting which directly effects the nutrition.
6. Indoor, outdoor Pollution and Climate change :
Out of urban air pollutants, fine particulate matter, mostly from vehicle and industrial fuel combustion, has the greatest effect on human health. Actually these indoor and outdoor air pollution greenhouse gases are highly emitted and rural areas due to the greater heat absorption of dense urban built spaces and lowered capacity for evaporative cooling.
The effect on health of urbanization is two edged. On the one hand, there are the benefits of ready access to healthcare, sanitation, and secure nutrition whilst on the other urban health hazards and risks are overcrowding, air pollution, contaminated water, solid waste disposal services and vector borne diseases.
MBH/AB