The transdisciplinary project “Heat-Health Action Plan for Elderly People in Cologne” addresses the most heat-vulnerable risk group, people over 65 years of age. A quantitative study aimed to better understand heat perception and coping strategies of elderly people during heat waves to inform heat-health action plans. We conducted a representative quantitative survey via structured interviews with 258 randomly chosen people over 65 years old, living in their own homes in four areas of Cologne, Germany. These areas varied, both in terms of social status and heat strain. Data regarding demographics, health status, coping strategies, and heat perception were collected in personal interviews from August to October 2019. The majority of the participants perceived heat strain as moderate to very challenging. Women, people with a lower monthly income, and those with a lower health status found the heat more challenging. We found that participants adapted to heat with a number of body-related, home-protective, and activity-related coping strategies. The number of coping strategies was associated with perceived personal heat strain. There is a definite underuse of water-related heat adaption strategies among the elderly. This is of increasing relevance, as rising heat impact will lead to more heat-related geriatric morbidity. Our results are seminal to inform elderly-specific, socio-adapted local heat-health action plans.

Water pollution is a major issue in Ghana with direct impacts on human health. However, the underlying drivers of exposure and risks are not comprehensively explored and understood, while the diseases continue posing huge burdens. The key question addressed is: what are the key drivers influencing the water–health nexus, particularly water-borne disease risks in the Odaw River basin, Ghana? Multiple approaches were integrated: qualitative system dynamic modeling and urban land-use change assessment. Multi-level stakeholder participation, including household surveys, focus group discussions, and workshops were employed in developing and identifying indicators and feedback loops. The results revealed that communities have access to water and sanitation, but water-borne diseases are still prevalent. Flooding influenced by poor land use planning and solid waste disposal are key risk factors, contributing to water pollution and disease outbreaks. The major land-use change is the conversion of natural to built-up areas, resulting in decreased urban vegetation cover and increased soil sealing, partly contributing to flood risk. Complex linkages and multiple feedback loops between land use, flooding, water pollution, and water-borne disease risks were identified. In addition to supplying safe drinking water and sanitation, multi-sectoral collaborations are required to co-design and implement integrated interventions, including flood risk reduction, urban land use plans, and improved waste management to reduce disease risks and promote health.

Context: Providing accessible urban green spaces is crucial for planning and ensuring healthy, resilient, and sustainable cities. The importance of visually accessible urban green spaces increases due to inner urban development processes. Objectives: This article proposes a new index, the Green Window View Index (GWVI) for analyzing and assessing visible vegetation, that promotes an integrated planning of urban green spaces and buildings at different scales and levels. It is defined as the proportion of visible vegetation area in a field of view when looking out of a specific window with a defined distance to the window. Methods: The method for estimating GWVI consists of three steps: (a) the modeling of the three-dimensional environment, (b) the simulation of the two-dimensional window views using modern rendering engines for three-dimensional graphics, (c) the computation of the GWVI. The method is proposed and tested through a case study of the urban area of Bonn, Germany, using a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), CityGML-based semantic 3D City Model at level of detail (LoD) 2, airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data, and 2D land use data from the official German property cadaster information system (ALKIS). Results: With an average processing time of 0.05 s per window view, an average GWVI of 26.00% could be calculated for the entire study area and visualized in both 2D and 3D. Conclusion: The proposed engine generates multi-scale visibility values for various vegetation shapes. These values are intended for use in participatory citizenship and decision-making processes for analysis by architects, real-estate appraisers, investors, and urban as well as landscape planners.

Human interactions with surface water systems, through land-use dynamics, can influence the transmission of infectious water-related diseases. As a result, the aim of our study was to explore and examine the state of scientific evidence on the influences of these interactions on water-related infectious disease outcomes from a global perspective. A systematic review was conducted, using 54 peer-reviewed research articles published between 1995 and August 2019. The study revealed that there has been an increase in the number of publications since 2009; however, few of these publications (n = 6) made explicit linkages to the topic. It was found that urban and agricultural land-use changes had relatively high adverse impacts on water quality, due to high concentrations of fecal matter, heavy metals, and nutrients in surface water systems. Water systems were found as the common “vehicle” for infectious disease transmission, which in turn had linkages to sanitation and hygiene conditions. The study found explicit linkages between human–surface water interaction patterns and the transmission of water-based disease. However, weak and complex linkages were found between land-use change and the transmission of water-borne disease, due to multiple pathways and the dynamics of the other determinants of the disease. Therefore, further research studies, using interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to investigate and enhance a deeper understanding of these complexities and linkages among land use, surface water quality, and water-related infectious diseases, is crucial in developing integrated measures for sustainable water quality monitoring and diseases prevention.

Zusammenfassung: Um die urbanen Gesundheitsrisiken des Klimawandels nachhaltig zu reduzieren und zu managen, sind Klimaschutz und Klimaanpassung als komplementäre Strategien dringend erforderlich. Seit Jahrzehnten sind vielfältige positive Wirkungen von Stadtgrün und Stadtblau auf die physische und die mentale Gesundheit bekannt. Allerdings gibt es in den meisten Städten eine intensive Konkurrenz um die Nutzung von Flächen. Im Sinne der europäischen Aalborg-Charta von 1994 verlangt das deutsche Baurecht in diesem anspruchsvollen Kontext, dass Bauleitpläne eine nachhaltige städtebauliche Entwicklung gewährleisten sollen. Die menschliche Gesundheit ist dabei ein Belang von zentraler Bedeutung. Die Realität bleibt aber herausfordernd: Zwar gibt es inzwischen eine ganze Reihe von best practice-Beispielen. Nach wie vor besteht aber ein großer Forschungsbedarf zur Bedeutung urbaner Grün- und Blauräume für die menschliche Gesundheit und das gesundheitliche Wohlbefinden. Zudem müssen alle relevanten Politikfelder und Verwaltungseinheiten ein Bewusstsein für die Bedeutung von Grün und Blau für urbane Lebensqualität und Gesundheit entwickeln, um „Gesundheit“ in städtischen Entscheidungsprozessen adäquat und sozial sensibel zu berücksichtigen.