The Global Health Institute of Barcelona (ISGlobal), center imported by the «La Caixa» Foundation, has a new tool: the Healthy Urban Design Index (IDUS). The idus is a compound index that evaluates 917 European cities A starting of 13 indicators related to the health and well -being of people and divided into four areas: Urban design, sustainable transport, environmental quality and acesibility to green spaces. The IDUS is the result of a scientific work published in Lancet planetary health. The data of all the ciadades are a device arrangement https://isglobalranking.org/es/hudi/.
For cities to be comparable, they have been grouped into Five categories According to the number of habitators: large metropolitan areas, metropolitan areas, urban areas of Middle Tamielo, small urban areas and small city. The 13 indicators assess Atmospheric pollution levelsThe ability to mitigate and management heat and the prison of Green spaces. The index assigns a score between 0 and 10 to each of the indicators analyzed and establish a combined idus score.
Little urban areas lead the IDUS
In general, the category with the highest IDUS scores is that of urban areas of such small such, which include European cities with a population of between 50,000 and 200,000 inhabitants. Pamplona (Spain), Geneva (Switzerland) and Stroke (United Kingdom) They head the IDUS, with scores of 6.80, 6.65 and 6.64, respective. «IDUS scoring conferences are very small. However, the master index index and None of the 917 cities reaches a score of 7 or more About 10, which gives us an idea of Improvement margin In the promotion of health and well -being through urban design in Europe, «he explains Federica MontanaIslobal researcher and first author of the study.
In general, The great great metropolitanas They get better Scores In urban design indicators (Housing density, compactness, medium height development and pmeability) and sustainable transport (You can move on foot and by bicycle and number of public transport stops), especially those of northern Europe and some in Spain. On the contrary, The smallest cities show a better environmental quality (Atmospheric contamination, green spaces and minor effects of urban heat island), with more scores on air quality and mitigation of heat, especially in northern Europe.
Differences between Western and Eastern Europe
«One of the trends we observe is that Lower Idus scores They tend a concentrate In Eastern European countries Such as Romania, Bulgaria and Poland. On the contrary, it is in The cities of Western EuropeWith notable concentrations in the United Kingdom, Spain and Sweden, where we find cities with higher scores, «he says Natalie MuellerIslobal researcher and co -author of the study.
It is not a final classification
«The IDUS does not seek to be a final classification of the ciudesades, but rather a first accusation using only open space data to see how cities healthy urban design to their residents,» he says Mark NieuwenhuijsenDirector of the Climate Program, Contamination of the Air, Nature and Urban Health of Isglobal. «Tamaamo ciadadas similar to a often face a fright of similar opportunities Work ongoing And we invite the community of research, urban and political planning to continue developing this tool in the future and make other relevant indicators available, «adds Nieuwenhuijsen.
Main cities per category
The cities with the best idus score in each category are Madrid (Spain), with a scorch of 6.04 in large metropolitan areas; Lisbon (Portugal), with a score of 6.09 in metropolitan areas; Bilbao (Spain), with a point of 6.35, in urban medium -sized; Pamplona (Spain), with a score of 6.8, in —Chrasse small urban; AND Campobaso (Italy), with a punctuacy of 6.02, in the group of small cities.
Methodologist
The healthy urban design index evaluates 917 cities from 26 European countriesincluding the United Kingdom, and has been elaborated using Open data sourcessuch as television data, OpenSTREETMAP and open data sets of the EU and governments.
The team definitely 13 indicators That scientific evidence relates to physical and/or mental health and grouped them into cure cup cumus: urban design, sustainable transport, environmental quality and accessibility to green spaces. For body one of the indicators are defined Reference value Based on previous studies or recommendations of international experts or organizations. For example, for air pollution pardons, recommendations of the annual average PM particles were used as a reference2.5 and nitrogen dioxide (no2) established by WHO. In the case of the indicators for which there was no reference value, the value of the ciancia was used as a reference with the best result.
Once the data from all cities for each of the 13 indicators is obtained, Share with the reference value and become a score between 0 and 10 Depending on the result. Idus scores are calculated by applying weights to the 13 pardadores and subsequently used to classify cities within their respective categories.
The Equugo hopes to improve the IDUS in the future including other relevant indicators in the context of urban health, as socio -economic indicators, to miss modal transport or access to services and equipment and diversity of myosos. «The use of all open source data is an passage cable. Only to see the indicators a ciuda level, but also at high spatial resolution, which is important for equity, since there may be incoming gries,» he says Carolyn DaherCo -author of the study and coordinator of the Urban Planning Initiative, Environment and Health of Isglobal.
«The IDUS is a useful tool and also a call to action for cities to examine data and distributions, and use their own data to validate -the cartography in the near future,» he concludes Natalie Mueller.
Reference
Federica Montana, Natalie Mueller, Evelise Pereira Barboza, Sasha Khomenko, Tamara Iungman, Marta Cirach, Carolyn Daher, TC Chakraborty, Kees de Hoogh, Alice Battiston, Rossano Schifanella, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen. Building a healthy urban design index (HUDI): How to promote health and sustainability in European cities. The Lancet Planetary Health, June 2025. Doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196 (25) 00109-3
