Abstract
The North American population is approximately 80% urbanized and spends almost 90% of the time indoors. Accordingly, the built environment is the most important–one might almost say “natural” — human environment. Urban settlements incorporate within their boundaries natural ecosystems of plant and animal life (often highly adapted to the urban environment), and are in turn incorporated within wider bioregions and global ecosystems. But urban settlements are not just built and natural physical environments, they are social, economic, cultural and political environments; the whole constitutes an urban ecosystem. These ecosystems have profound implications for the physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual well-being of their human inhabitants, as well as for human beings remote from these urban ecosystems. Therefore, this paper discusses urban ecosystems and human health and presents a framework for indicators of environmental health in the urban setting based on such an understanding. The concepts of environmental viability, ecological sustainability, urban livability, community conviviality, social equity, and economic adequacy are discussed in relation to human health and are used to organize proposed candidate indicators for urban ecosystems and public health.
Résumé
En Amérique du Nord, environ 80 pour cent de la population vit en milieu urbain et passe presque 90 pour cent du temps à l’intérieur. En conséquence, le milieu bâti est le plus important environnement humain — on pourrait presque dire de lui qu’il est « naturel ». Les milieux urbains comprennent des écosystèmes naturels de plantes et d’animaux (souvent fortement adaptés à l’environnement urbain) et font aussi partie de plus grandes régions biogéographiques et d’écosystèmes planétaires. Cependant, de tels milieux sont non seulement des milieux bâtis et des environnements naturels et physiques, mais ils constituent aussi des milieux sociaux, économiques, culturels et politiques, dont l’ensemble forme un écosystème urbain. Ils sont intimement liés au bien-être physique, mental, socio-émotionnel et spirituel des habitants ainsi qu’à celui des humains qui vivent loin de ces milieux. L’auteur traite donc d’écosystèmes urbains et de santé humaine et présente un cadre pour des indicateurs de l’hygiène de l’environnement en milieu urbain qui est basé sur ces considérations. Il analyse les concepts de viabilité de l’environnement, d’écosystèmes durables, d’habitabilité des milieux bâtis, de convivialité des collectivités, d’équité sociale et de cadre économique adéquat en rapport avec la santé humaine et s’en sert pour organiser les indicateurs potentiels de santé publique dans des écosystèmes urbains.
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