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In India, the number of migrants to urban areas is increasing over time. Unlike in earlier years where male migration was prominent, recent trend shows an increasing trend of female and family migration. As migration and health status are highly correlated, the nature of relationship deserves greater attention from researchers. Although literature on internal migration in India is abundant, little attention is given to the research on the effect of migration on the health status of children. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The present paper, based on National Family Health Survey 3 data, examines the health status of migrant and non-migrant children in the urban areas of India.

Distribution according to social and demographic characteristics is disadvantageous for urban children who are born to migrant women. As seen from various child health indicators, urban children’s health in general and the health situation of migrant women’s children in particular leaves much to be desired. Pattern of migration tends to have an impact on child health in urban areas; children of women who migrate from rural areas are in an adverse position. Duration of migration has a negative influence on health status of urban children. Overall, it was found that migration status of mothers has an independent effect on child health outcomes; children of migrant mothers have a lower health status.

This paper fulfills the need to study the health status of migrant and non-migrant children in the urban areas of India.

This chapter studies the link between urban planning and health. Access to safe drinking water is already a very serious issue for large urban populations in fast-growing economies such as India. Water availability is further being impacted by climate change, leading to the drastically increased spread of water-related diseases.

Leh Town, which is located in an ecologically vulnerable semi-arid region of the Himalayas in Ladakh, has been considered for this study because it is undergoing large-scale transformation due to rapid growth in its tourism industry. In 2012–2013 our interdisciplinary group comprising researchers from Germany and India conducted field surveys, including geographic information system-based (GIS) mapping of point sources of water pollution, questionnaire surveys of 200 households and 70 hotels and guesthouses and semi-structured interviews. We also reviewed secondary medical data.

We found that diarrhoeal incidence has increased in the local population in Leh in the past decade, which may be linked to water pollution: Further, we found that rapidly increasing water consumption coupled with a lack of adequate water and sanitation infrastructure is causing serious water pollution.

Further, data is needed for causal connections between water pollution and health impacts to be conclusively drawn.

This study discusses the use of GIS to support a call for the need for more integrated urban planning and decision-making that holistically addresses water and health challenges in Leh and advocates the development of a decentralized or hybrid sanitation system to support water resources conservation as a central dimension of an integrated health management approach.

GIS is also a very useful platform for supporting participatory urban planning in Leh.

With such an integrated urban planning approach, Leh would be a lighthouse example for other towns in the region.

To provide a public private partnership (PPP) model for urban health centres (UHC) in developing countries that can be useful for urban local governments and private service providers willing to enter into meaningful partnerships so as to improve primary healthcare services.

This research is based on geographical information system methodology to identify suitable locations to address availability, access, affordability and equity concerns and to provide a practical framework for PPP for establishing UHC. The methodology involved survey and mapping of slum communities and private healthcare facilities.

The research provides intricate details about planning healthcare services for urban poor, operational and managerial aspects of service provision and processes involved in PPP for urban health.

The model is developed and tested for Ahmedabad city (sixth largest city in India) and may need a certain amount of customisation for application in other cities.

The outcome of the research is a working model based on a set of legal documents (memorandum of understanding) signed by all the PPP stakeholders. This model is useful for planning and managing similar healthcare facilities in other cities with adequate context‐specific modifications given the increasing importance of urban health.

While a range of published work provides theoretical frameworks for PPPs in general and for urban health in particular, our model has field‐tested all the steps for establishing a PPP model for solving urban health problems. The proposed UHC will start functioning in its new premises soon.

Purpose – The vulnerability and adaptive capacities of cities in Latin America have received relatively less attention compared to other regions of the world. This chapter seeks to address these gaps by (a) examining vulnerability to the health impacts from air pollution and temperature, and exploring whether socioeconomic factors between neighborhoods differentiate these risks within the cities of Bogota, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Santiago and (b) assessing the capacity of urban populations to perceive and respond to vulnerability and risk.

Design/methodology/approach – Because of the complex nature of vulnerability, we combined a set of quantitative and quantitative methods and data to determine whether and under what conditions the people in these cities are vulnerable (e.g., Time Series Analysis, Generalized Linear Model, and statistical correlations of exposure and human mortality with socioeconomic vulnerability).

Findings – We found high levels of PM10, ozone, and other criteria air pollutants in three cities for which we had data. However, the pattern of their impacts on health depends on the particulars of pollutant levels and atmospheric and weather conditions of each city. Our results reflect the varied facets of urban vulnerability and shed light on the nature of the associated human health risks. Although wealthy populations have access to education, good quality housing, and health services to mitigate some environmental risks, overall the data show that health impacts from air pollution and temperature in the study cities do not necessarily depend on socioeconomic differentiations.

Research limitations/implications – Although we sought to use quantitative and qualitative methods, given the complexity of the research, it has proven difficult to fully explore these issues across scales and with a full accounting of local context.

Practical implications – Our findings show that wealthy and educated populations may be equally at risk to the health implications of air pollution. Policies designed to mitigate these risks should not use socioeconomic characteristics as predictors of a population's risk in relation to air pollution.

Originality/value – This research contributes valuable insights into the dynamics of vulnerability to air pollution in Latin American cities, a region that has been historically underrepresented in empirical studies of urban risk. We have also combined a range of methods and approaches to improve our understanding of the multifaceted nature of urban vulnerability to global environmental change.

The purpose of this paper is to present a nonparametric comparative study on the HCMS consumption of urban and rural households in China.

This paper applies the panel data for China's thirty provinces in 1991‐2007 as a sample and presents a local linear estimation to the nonparametric Working‐Leser panel data models on the HCMS consumption of the rural and urban households in China. The nonparametric Hausman test is applied to test the random effects specification against the fixed effects.

Both the parametric and nonparametric estimation of the Working‐Leser panel data models give us a similar result: that the HCMS commodity is quite elastic in both the rural and urban China. Nonparametric estimate also shows that the urban‐rural difference of the HCMS expenditure share in the total expenditure is mainly due to the large urban‐rural difference of total expenditure. Under the same total expenditure, the HCMS is more elastic in the urban than in the rural regions.

To decrease the urban‐rural difference in the HCMS consumption, the government should enhance the income or total expenditure level of the rural households, especially in the impoverished and remote areas in China. Urbanization plays a critical role in access to health care and can help make substantial changes in rural health care in China.

Compared to the parametric estimation, the nonparametric estimation gives us the added information that the expenditure elasticity of the HCMS consumption in China gradually declines as one moves up the per capita total expenditure distribution. The paper could make a contribution to the relatively thin literature on the Chinese medical and health consumption market.

The differences in the distribution of factors associated with under-five mortality (UFM) can help explain the rural-urban inequities in UFM. The determinants contributing to UFM in rural and urban areas have not been previously explored in Bhutan. This study examined the factors associated with UFM in rural and urban Bhutan and the role of the factors in explaining UFM disparity.

The dataset of 6,398 single births (4,999 in rural and 1,399 in urban areas) from the 2012 Bhutan National Health Survey was analyzed. Logistic regression analysis accounting for the complex survey design was performed to investigate the determinants.

The UFM rate was 2.75 times higher in rural than in urban Bhutan. In rural communities, children of younger mothers, born in households without safe sanitation and electricity, and central and eastern regions had increased UFM odds. Whereas, children born to working mothers and educated fathers, and born in households with non-working household heads had lower UFM odds in urban areas. A higher number of births and smaller household size was associated with an increased UFM odds irrespective of rural-urban residence. Environmental factors were attributable for the largest portion of rural UFM disadvantage.

This study helps to understand the rural-urban differences in the factors influencing UFM in Bhutan. The findings suggest that policies aimed to improve environmental and socioeconomic conditions, women empowerment, and those aimed to enhance health utilization can help reduce the rural-urban child survival disparity and accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal target.

Urban green space can be viewed as a preventative public health measure. Nature contributes to health through disease prevention, disease management, and well-being (physical, mental, and social) promotion. Those contributions are based on improvement in health determinants. Nature and green spaces have been related to more physical activity, restoration and less stress, more social capital, and ecosystem services such as better air quality, less traffic noise, less heat island effects, more biodiversity, among others. Nature, vegetation, and green spaces have also been associated with better mental health, immune system, metabolic system, pregnancy outcomes, reduced cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality. This chapter presents the connections between nature and health, describing how nature impacts key health determinants, how those health determinants are associated with health outcomes (i.e. diseases, injuries, deaths), and provides examples of urban nature interventions that have been related to public health.

Reports the results of a study into the urban health issues of Muslim minorities, in the city of Aligarh, India, in 1991‐1993. Outlines the conceptual framework and presents the methodology before providing a brief portrait of the Muslim minority status and urbanization. Concludes that basic health information is still lacking. Comments that infectious diseases, malnutrition and occupational diseases are the most common, with women, children and elderly being the most vulnerable.

Despite striving for resilience and a sustainable urban future, European cities face a multitude of crisis caused by both natural and human-induced risks. This paper asks two key questions: How have cities experienced and managed crises situations they encountered? and What are the plans and actions for embedding sustainability at a local level within a clear decision-making structure? Hence, it aims to examine urban resilience in the context of urban crisis and the associated health concerns that took place because of crisis situations, while identifying sustainable urban development initiatives and strategies that were conceived and implemented beyond crisis.

An evidence-based analytical approach is undertaken following two lines of inquiry. The first is case-based and identifies 11 cities that have experienced crisis situations and a further 10 cities that have instigated urban resilience strategies. The second is theme-based and engages with identifying strategies relevant to sustainable urban development at city and project levels. The outcomes of the two lines of inquiry are verified by mapping the lessons learned from the analysis to recent international guidance and a further co-visioning workshop with 6 experts.

The evidence-based analysis reveals key lessons which were classified under two primary types of findings: (a) lessons learned for a future urban resilience resulting from the 1st line of Inquiry (case-based) and (b) lessons learned for a future sustainable urban development resulting from the 2nd line of inquiry (theme-based). The verified lessons provide four areas that can be utilised as key priorities for future urban resilience and sustainable urban development including (a) Governance, effective communication, and decision making for city resilience and urban sustainability; (b) the social dimension of resilience and participatory practices for sustainable urban development; (c) from implicit strategies for health to positive impact on health; and (d) diversification of initiatives and localisation of sustainable development endeavours.

There is always limitation on what a bibliometrics analysis can offer in terms of the nature of evidence and the type of knowledge generated from the investigation. This limitation manifests in the fact that the analysis engages with the body of knowledge but not based on engaging physically or socially with the contexts within which the cases took place or through empirical investigations including systematic observations, focused interviews, and attitude surveys. While the study does not generate empirical findings, the rigour of the bibliometrics analysis offers a credible and reliable evidence on how cities experienced and managed crises situations and their current plans and priority actions for embedding and localising sustainable development measures.

This research conveys significant implications for policy, practice, and action in that it crystalises the view that understanding urban resilience and sustainability, at the city or urban level, requires coupling the two. The findings offer a solid foundation for a more contextualised, evidence-based examination of urban resilience and sustainability during and beyond crisis. Highlighting urban and health challenges that emerged from experienced crisis situations, how these were managed and developing an understanding of sustainable urban development and local resilience strategies elucidate insights that can be adopted and acted upon by city councils and built environment practitioners.

The analysis provides comprehensive insights into urban resilience and sustainable urban development at both city and continental Europe scales in the form of key lessons that represent the first step towards developing rudiments for building a better urban future. Little is known about resilience and sustainability at these scales. The originality of this work lies in the breadth and depth for capturing an inclusive understanding of urban resilience and sustainable urban development based on systematic inquiry and scrutinising the body of knowledge emerged over the past 2 decades.