IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v10y2013i2p490-498d23156.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban Public Health: Is There a Pyramid?

Author

Listed:
  • Meirong Su

    (State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai St., Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China)

  • Bin Chen

    (State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai St., Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China)

  • Zhifeng Yang

    (State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai St., Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China)

  • Yanpeng Cai

    (State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai St., Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
    Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Communities, University of Regina, 120-2 Research Drive, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 7H9, Canada)

  • Jiao Wang

    (Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA)

Abstract

Early ecologists identified a pyramidal trophic structure in terms of number, biomass and energy transfer. In 1943, the psychologist Maslow put forward a pyramid model to describe layers of human needs. It is indicated that the pyramid principle is universally applicable in natural, humanistic and social disciplines. Here, we report that a pyramid structure also exists in urban public health (UPH). Based on 18 indicators, the UPH states of four cities (Beijing, Tokyo, New York, and London) are compared from the point of view of five aspects, namely physical health, living conditions, social security, environmental quality, and education and culture. A pyramid structure was found in each city when focusing on 2000–2009 data. The pyramid of Beijing is relatively similar to that of Tokyo, and the pyramids of New York and London are similar to each other. A general development trend in UPH is proposed and represented by different pyramid modes. As a basic conjecture, the UPH pyramid model can be verified and developed with data of more cities over a longer period, and be used to promote healthy urban development.

Suggested Citation

  • Meirong Su & Bin Chen & Zhifeng Yang & Yanpeng Cai & Jiao Wang, 2013. "Urban Public Health: Is There a Pyramid?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-9, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:2:p:490-498:d:23156
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/2/490/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/2/490/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Whiteis, David G., 1998. "Third World medicine in First World cities: capital accumulation, uneven development and public health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 795-808, September.
    2. Su, M.R. & Yang, Z.F. & Chen, B. & Ulgiati, S., 2009. "Urban ecosystem health assessment based on emergy and set pair analysis—A comparative study of typical Chinese cities," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(18), pages 2341-2348.
    3. Shafik, Nemat, 1994. "Economic Development and Environmental Quality: An Econometric Analysis," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 46(0), pages 757-773, Supplemen.
    4. Brown, Tim & Bell, Morag, 2007. "Off the couch and on the move: Global public health and the medicalisation of nature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(6), pages 1343-1354, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chiu, Chien-Liang & Chang, Ting-Huan, 2009. "What proportion of renewable energy supplies is needed to initially mitigate CO2 emissions in OECD member countries?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(6-7), pages 1669-1674, August.
    2. Elbert Dijkgraaf & Herman Vollebergh, 2005. "A Test for Parameter Homogeneity in CO 2 Panel EKC Estimations," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 32(2), pages 229-239, October.
    3. Sebri, Maamar, 2009. "La Zone Méditerranéenne Face à la Pollution de L’air : Une Investigation Econométrique [The Mediterranean Zone in front of Air pollution: an Econometric Investigation]," MPRA Paper 32382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Sinha, Avik & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2018. "Estimation of Environmental Kuznets Curve for CO2 emission: Role of renewable energy generation in India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 703-711.
    5. Badunenko, Oleg & Galeotti, Marzio & Hunt, Lester C., 2021. "Better to grow or better to improve? Measuring environmental efficiency in OECD countries with a Stochastic Environmental Kuznets Frontier," FEEM Working Papers 316226, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    6. Stern, David I. & Gerlagh, Reyer & Burke, Paul J., 2017. "Modeling the emissions–income relationship using long-run growth rates," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(6), pages 699-724, December.
    7. Mazzanti, Massimiliano & Montini, Anna & Zoboli, Roberto, 2006. "Municipal Waste Production, Economic Drivers, and 'New' Waste Policies: EKC Evidence from Italian Regional and Provincial Panel Data," Climate Change Modelling and Policy Working Papers 12053, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    8. C. Seri & A. de Juan Fernandez, 2021. "The relationship between economic growth and environment. Testing the EKC hypothesis for Latin American countries," Papers 2105.11405, arXiv.org.
    9. Anastasios Xepapadeas & Esma Amri, 1998. "Some Empirical Indications of the Relationship Between Environmental Quality and Economic Development," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(1), pages 93-106, January.
    10. Muhammad Uzair Ali & Zhimin Gong & Muhammad Ubaid Ali & Fahad Asmi & Rizwanullah Muhammad, 2022. "CO2 emission, economic development, fossil fuel consumption and population density in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh: A panel investigation," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 18-31, January.
    11. Kanjilal, Kakali & Ghosh, Sajal, 2013. "Environmental Kuznet’s curve for India: Evidence from tests for cointegration with unknown structuralbreaks," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 509-515.
    12. Matthew A. Cole & Robert J.R. Elliott & Jing Zhang, 2011. "Growth, Foreign Direct Investment, And The Environment: Evidence From Chinese Cities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 121-138, February.
    13. Rothman, Dale S., 1998. "Environmental Kuznets curves--real progress or passing the buck?: A case for consumption-based approaches," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 177-194, May.
    14. Indra de Soysa, 2022. "Economic freedom vs. egalitarianism: An empirical test of weak & strong sustainability, 1970–2017," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 236-268, May.
    15. Pei-Ing Wu & Je-Liang Liou & Hung-Yi Chang, 2015. "Alternative exploration of EKC for $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 emissions: inclusion of meta-technical ratio in quantile regression model," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 57-73, January.
    16. Maurizio Lisciandra & Carlo Migliardo, 2017. "An Empirical Study of the Impact of Corruption on Environmental Performance: Evidence from Panel Data," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 68(2), pages 297-318, October.
    17. Karp, Larry & Liu, Xuemei, 1999. "Valuing Tradeable CO2 Permits for OECD Countries," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt5dv5c8hr, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    18. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasreen, Samia & Ahmed, Khalid & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2017. "Trade openness–carbon emissions nexus: The importance of turning points of trade openness for country panels," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 221-232.
    19. Tamazian, Artur & Bhaskara Rao, B., 2010. "Do economic, financial and institutional developments matter for environmental degradation? Evidence from transitional economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 137-145, January.
    20. Costantini, Valeria & Monni, Salvatore, 2008. "Environment, human development and economic growth," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 867-880, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:2:p:490-498:d:23156. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.