Regreening cities and promoting walking and cycling could save hundreds of lives each year, a study by France's public health body has found.
The three-year study by Public Health France was carried out in Lille, Rouen and Montpellier.
It used local and national data from 2015 to 2019, but did not take into account the years of the Covid-19 pandemic, which were considered "atypical".
The negative impact of city life on health – with factors including exposure to heat, air pollution and noise – is well documented, but less is known about the benefits of increasing green spaces and active modes of transport.
The report, published on Thursday, highlights that city planning policies are paramount to providing health benefits for citizens.
Mélina Le Barbier, deputy director of the Health, Environment and Work department of the public health agency, said that urban greening "can save many lives".
Researchers found that "between 80 and 300 deaths per year" could be avoided thanks to "an increase in vegetation in cities depending on the location".
In terms of air pollution, the agency estimated that reaching the levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for fine particles could prevent between 300 and 1,000 deaths per year.
Ozone pollution linked to increased risk of serious heart disease
Noise pollution
As for active transport, 3.4 percent of deaths could be prevented if "each resident increased their walking time by 10 minutes per day", the report showed.
The benefits linked to cycling are even "greater than the benefits linked to walking", according to Mathilde Pascal, who leads scientific projects at the Work Environment Health Directorate at Public Health France.
"If each resident aged 30 and over cycled 10 minutes more every day of the week, between 200 to 600 lives could be saved."
Another finding from the study is the benefits of reducing noise pollution.
By respecting the noise levels recommended by the WHO, quality of sleep would significantly improve for several thousand people per year and avoid 20 to 90 hospitalisations annually for cardiovascular disease.
Paris and its suburbs exposed to excessive air-noise pollution, research shows
The public health body hopes to help guide policymaking by local authorities in the future, and make the decision-making process more democratic.
In the three cities that participated in the study, "action plans are under way or already voted on to modify town planning and increase green spaces or mobility, and these results illustrate the interest in this process," Le Barbier said.
Overall, any action big or small in the fight against climate change and the preservation of biodiversity, can contribute to making everyone's lives better, the agency said.
In conclusion, the study stressed the importance of designing future urban spaces with health benefits in mind, as well as better using quantitative assessment to measure the positive impact of key factors such as green spaces and alternative modes of transport.
(with newswires)
