The Urban Health Desert

Air pollution. Asthma. Obesity. These are among the plights of the modern city. As the world's cities become home to a greater percentage of the population, better urban planning will be needed to reduce these negative health impacts, according to a new report from the University College London/Lancet Commission on Healthy Cities.

In some senses, we've done alright so far – sewage treatment facilities, for example, have greatly reduced water-borne disease in urban areas, and the concept of locating industrial facilities away from housing and schools has also cut down on the adverse health impacts these heavy polluters can cause in people. But as the report notes, those positive developments are not spread evenly throughout the increasingly urban world. And as cities continue to grow in both people and wealth, it's not a guarantee that these best practices will be put in place in time.