Urban green spaces, active transportation, reduced air pollution… Santé publique France assesses their health benefits

cp_eqis_20241205.pdf

Published on 5 December 2024

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Santé publique France
presse@santepubliquefrance.fr

Stéphanie Champion: 01 41 79 67 48
Marie Delibéros: 01 41 79 69 61
Camille Le Hyaric: 01 41 79 68 64

Santé publique France is releasing today the results of an initial quantitative health impact assessment (EQIS) that estimated the health benefits associated with the development of urban green spaces and active transportation (particularly walking and cycling), as well as with reducing the population’s exposure to air pollution, traffic noise, and heat.

Conducted in collaboration with three metropolitan areas—the European Metropolis of Lille, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, and Métropole Rouen Normandie—this study confirms that ambitious actions addressing each of these environmental determinants would result in positive health impacts. Thus, these essential actions in the fight against climate change and the preservation of biodiversity also help protect the health of current and future generations.

Increasing urban green spaces, promoting active mobility, and taking action against air pollution, transportation noise, and heat: significant health benefits

It is well known that public exposure to heat, air pollution, and transportation noise is harmful to public health, whereas green spaces and active modes of transportation such as walking or cycling, on the other hand, have beneficial effects on health. All these factors depend largely on the land-use policies implemented by local authorities.

While the quantitative health impact assessment (EQIS) approach is traditionally applied to air pollution, Santé publique France has, for the first time, evaluated the relevance and feasibility of an EQIS that simultaneously expands the scope of application to other environmental determinants of health.

This tool enables the assessment of the health benefits of various scenarios involving concrete actions, intended for local authorities. These conclusions should be considered in conjunction with all the actions already undertaken by these authorities to improve urban and peri-urban land-use planning practices.

Thus, public policies aimed at increasing the number of urban green spaces, promoting active mobility (walking and cycling), improving air quality, and reducing transportation noise and urban heat would result in significant annual health benefits for all residents of each metropolitan area, in terms of mortality, morbidity, healthcare utilization, and discomfort.

A Look at Some Results

By increasing green spaces, mortality could be reduced by 3 to 7% depending on the city, or by 80 to 300 deaths per year.
If every resident aged 30 and older walked 10 minutes more each day of the week, mortality could decrease by 3%, or 100 to 300 deaths per year, depending on the city.
If every resident aged 30 and older cycled 10 minutes more each weekday, mortality could decrease by 6%, or 200 to 600 deaths per year, depending on the city.
Regarding air pollution, by adhering to the WHO’s recommended limit for exposure to PM2.5 fine particulate matter, mortality could decrease by 7 to 12% depending on the city, or by 300 to 1,000 deaths per year.
Adhering to the WHO’s recommended guidelines for transportation-related noise would improve sleep for several thousand people per year in each major city.
Exposure to high temperatures was responsible for 1% of mortality observed during the summer, or 35 to 90 deaths per year depending on the city.

For regions committed to urban planning that promotes health

This study highlights the health benefits resulting from public policies aimed at reducing air pollution and transportation-related noise. It thus reinforces the need to strengthen these public policies and, beyond that, the need to promote health-friendly urban planning by integrating vegetation into residential areas, encouraging active mobility, and adapting spaces to climate change and heat management.

The EQIS approach appears relevant and effective for quantifying the health benefits of interventions related to urban planning projects, thereby moving toward health-promoting urban planning.

This initial study opens up new avenues that require, on the one hand, collaboration with the scientific community to conduct further research to consolidate and extend this approach to other regions, and on the other hand, engagement with local authorities to raise awareness and foster adoption of this approach.

Santé publique France provides stakeholders with several useful resources, including:

Methodological guides for implementing an EQIS on air pollution
“Health in Action” dossiers:
- Urban Planning for Health (March 2022, No. 459)
- Preserving nature to protect public health (October 2024, No. 467)

"This EQIS study examines, for the first time, environmental factors other than air pollution, such as the availability of green spaces, traffic noise, and physical activity resulting from active transportation. Cars are still widely used, even for very short trips; if 90% of trips under 1 km were made on foot, between 2% and 3% of deaths could be prevented—that is, between 100 and 200 deaths per year, depending on the city. Developed in close collaboration with the departments of three metropolitan areas, this first study highlights the benefits of specific urban planning choices and helps guide decision-making by local stakeholders toward implementing urban designs that promote the health of the French population. Addressing these factors requires significant transformations of the built environment, which must be coordinated and planned to ensure they are sustainable and equitable.”

Dr. Caroline Semaille, Director General of Santé publique France

Download

Taking Action on Green Spaces, Active Transportation, Heat, Air Pollution, and Noise: What Are the Health Benefits? (Methodological Report)
Results of a quantitative assessment of health impacts for residents of the European Metropolis of Lille (report and summary)
Results of a quantitative assessment of health impacts for residents of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole (report and summary)
Results of a quantitative assessment of health impacts for residents of the Rouen Normandy Metropolis (report and summary)

Air

thematic dossier

29 January 2025

Air pollution affects the entire population. The levels of pollutants found in the atmosphere are linked to health risks, and any reduction in exposure to these pollutants would be beneficial.