Introduction
Environmental health primarily refers to the protection against the physical, chemical, and biological environmental factors that adversely affect basic human health or even the various ecological balances that are essential to long-term environmental quality and overall human health. Creating a healthy city is cardinally vital in environmental health. Essentially, this is because a healthy city improves its social and physical environments, alongside expanding community resources, which essentially enable the population to provide mutual support to one another particularly in performing the various life functions and further developing to their highest abilities. In this regard, developing a healthy city is of tremendous value, and it calls for various efficacious measures and reforms as will be elaborately discussed herein.
Strategies to Create a Healthy City
To create a healthy city, it is important to note that all the subsystems that exist in the city ought to effectively work together and integrate cohesively. As such, for my city to transform into a healthy and smart city, various methodologies need to be incorporated to substantially mitigate the adverse ramifications of the rampant and high pollution levels alongside many other factors that compromise the health of its populace.
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First, it is worth noting that the non-renewable forms of energy in the city have been a constant cause of environmental pollution. Therefore, to effectively contain this situation, it is vital to choose clean forms of renewable energy as a prudent replacement of environmental pollutants. These renewable sources of energy include shifting to solar, wind, as well as electric transportation. Combining clean energy with effective smart grids will go a long way in making the city more eco-friendly, greener, sustainable, and even more independent (Gallet, 2016).
Secondly, reforming the transport sector in the city specifically by improving mass transit systems is also of colossal importance. Reducing air pollution is a critical part of creating a healthy city (World Health Organization, 2017). Noteworthy, the city is characterized by an influx in vehicles and other automobiles, which consequently results in alarming rates of traffic jams. The upsurge of automobiles and the resultant traffic jams informs massive emission of fuels, which cause enormous air pollution in consequence. Therefore, mitigating the high levels of air pollution that stems from the hustles and bustles of the fast-growing city is an important course. It can be ideally ensured by heavily investing in upgrading the mass transit as well as infrastructure. Additionally, it will greatly help to reduce the notorious traffic jams on the city’s major roads, alongside cutting down on air pollution levels significantly. A mass public transit system that is energy efficient will significantly promote a healthy atmosphere that will be handy for the city’s populace.
Incorporating the Internet of Things can also be an effective modality to transform the city into one that is not only healthy but also efficient and sustainable. It encompasses an array of things, which include encompassing digital bus stops that display bus schedules in real-time as well as adopting garbage bins configured with sensors to track trash levels effectively. Additionally, the Internet of Things can be used to introduce city-wide sensors that monitor environmental pollution and noise. Through the use of technology, therefore, a vast array of factors that result in pollution can be effectively thwarted, thus contributing tremendously to the realization of a clean and healthy city (Gallet, 2016). Other effective strategies include formulating recycling policies and setting up recycling centers. Besides, changing the drainage system in the city to maximize recycling and water harvesting processes is an effective methodology of making the city cleaner and healthier.
Obstacles
While the achievement of a healthy city can be realized by incorporating the aforementioned strategies, it is also faced with a special share of drawbacks and obstacles. Perhaps the biggest stumbling block is getting stakeholders and members that share the same vision and objective of efficiently sustaining the natural environment and the population. As such, a majority of people are generally accustomed to tackling issues that affect them directly. This is why getting credible and visionary members who have the zeal and tempo to create a healthy environment is a huge obstacle.
The direct objection and resistance, especially from those benefiting from the current conditions and environmental status is yet another notable challenge. However, this issue can be tackled through outlaying appropriate paperwork as well as proper planning strategies prior to the actual activities. In addition, ignorance can also be documented as a significant challenge in the quest to develop a healthy city. However, it can be effectively handled by providing proper education and raising mass awareness prior to groundbreaking the actual activities entailed in the transition process.
Financial Issues
Establishing a clean and healthy city comes with myriads of financial issues. Improving the city’s mass transit system, implementing Internet of Things effectively, setting up recycling centers, and shifting to renewable sources of energy are generally ambitious and highly sophisticated ventures that will require significant resources. As such, they come as extra costs to the city, potentially resulting in increased taxes that subsequently dwindle the standards of living for the people. There will be an apparent strain on the city’s economy, and it is thus pivotal to have an informed and vigorous economic plan to counter these underlying financial setbacks effectively.
Benefits: Personal and Societal
The establishment of a clean city will be enormously beneficial not only on a personal level but also to the broader community. The benefits of a healthy city will be enjoyed by the city’s population greatly. Particularly, people will relish having a city that is clean, convenient, and generally healthy. Additionally, through recycling, the community will enjoy huge savings of hard-earned income. I would take the successful implementation of my plan and consequent realization of a healthy city with great pride, and my service to the city and the people would come with a great sense of prestige and value.
Disaster Preparedness
Natural and human-made disasters have great likelihoods of occurring in the ever-growing city, thus making it cardinal for effective measures to be laid out to avert future vulnerabilities such as floods, landslides, and structure collapses among others. The most fundamental response to arresting these disasters is by conducting an in-depth assessment of the imminent risks. This involves undertaking community surveys, mapping geographic vulnerability to natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and landslides as well as identifying areas where the most prone citizenries are located (Goyet, Marti, & Osorio, 2015). Also, improving infrastructural guidelines and perfecting water supplies, power grid systems, and strict stipulations in construction thresholds among others can significantly aid to mitigate human-made disasters and accidents in the city.
Why Environmental Health Should Be of Individual and Global Concern
Environmental health should be highly considered an individual, as well as global issue, owing to the adverse ramifications that are informed by various environmental hazards. Environmental menaces result in increased risks of complications and lethal diseases such as heart problems, asthma, cancer, and many others (Briggs, 2003). For this reason, environmental health should be an individual and global concern to avert these consequences, reduce vulnerability to diseases, increase mortality rate, and generally improve the quality and quantity of people’s lives.
Conclusion
Environmental health is a significant aspect that plays an indispensable role in making the world a better place. It can be, for example, fostered through outlaying requisite modalities to achieve clean, healthy and livable cities. Classic strategies include investing in mass transit systems, employing clean sources of energy, implementing the Internet of Things, and revamping recycling techniques among others.
References
Briggs, D. (December 1, 2003). Environmental pollution and the global burden of disease. British Medical Bulletin, Volume 68 , 2-24.
Gallet, S. (October 5, 2016). How to Create a Healthy City in 5 Achievable Steps. Breezometer .
Goyet, C., Marti, R., & Osorio, C. (2015). Natural Disaster Mitigation and Relief. National Center for Biotechnology Information .
World Health Organization. (2017). Healthy Cities . Retrieved from www.who.int: http://www.who.int/healthy_settings/types/cities/en/
