Urban and Environmental Health

Urban and Environmental Health

With more than 50% of the world's population living in urban areas, our research agenda is to estimate the effects of the built environment and living and working conditions on the health of populations. A broader focus of our work is to understand the connections between environment and health, and how issues including global warming, pollution, and toxicant exposure undermine the public’s health. Our work will inform the development of localized and policy-level interventions to improve urban health in China and the region.

Hall, B. J., Leong, T.I., & Chen, W. (2019). Rapid urbanization in China. Eds. Galea, Ettman, Valhov. Urban Health. Oxford University Press.

Guan, C.H., Tan, J., Hall, B. J., Liu, C., Li, Y., & Cai, Z. (2022). The effect of the built environment on the COVID-19 pandemic at the initial stage: A country-level study of the USA. Sustainability, 14, 3417. doi: https:// doi.org/10.3390/su14063417.

2022 Shanghai Lockdown Study

We conducted a large population-wide study enrolling more than 3000 Chinese residents in Shanghai, across each of the 16 districts, during the 20222 Shanghai lockdown. This longitudinal cohort study will provide key insights into the spatial, social, and neighborhood influences on health and wellbeing of the diverse communities living here during this critical period, and the long term trajectories of health service utilization.

Hall, B. J., Li, G., Rafiq, M. Y., Lu, J., & Li, C. (in press). Digital determinants of public mental health and wellbeing in Shanghai during the 2022 lockdown. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103155