The health impacts and related economic costs of air pollution are highly site-specific and not evenly distributed: they vary depending on regional and local emission sources, atmospheric dispersion, and population exposure patterns. The EVA model system (Economic Valuation of Air pollution) integrates air pollution data from atmospheric models —capturing atmospheric dispersion, and chemical transformation of the pollutants— with population data (density, age distribution) to estimate human exposures. As part of the MARCHES project, the EVA model will provide unit damage costs for 37 European countries.

Poor environmental quality significantly reduces well-being by harming health, disrupting daily life, and creating social and economic burdens.

This brochure, available in multiple languages, outlines how MARCHES is assessing scientific evidence on the specific health impacts of different pollutants.

Environmental health impact assessments (HIA) on green space, air pollution (fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) or nitrogen dioxide (NO₂)), and noise use exposure–response functions (ERF) based on single-exposure models from epidemiological studies, not accounting for potential confounding by other commonly correlated exposures. UBDPolicy assessed differences in ERFs between single- and multi-exposure models for calculation of joint health impacts in HIA.

As global urbanisation accelerates, alongside declining environmental quality and increasing climate challenges, it is increasingly vital for urban planners and policy makers to integrate health and wellbeing considerations into urban planning. This study introduces the Healthy Urban Design Index (HUDI), a high-resolution spatial index developed for European cities.

The number of studies on the health impacts of urban environmental stressors has been growing. However, research for South-Eastern Europe remains limited. UBDPolicy conducted a baseline Health Impact Assessment for Sofia, Bulgaria, focusing on air pollution, green space, road-traffic noise, and urban heat island (UHI) exposure aiming to promote discussions on sustainable, health-centric urban and transport planning policies.

75% of the EU population lives in cities, yet most cities were built as compact areas with a high population density and few green spaces. With climate change increasingly impacting urban residents, green areas such as parks are a key solution for climate mitigation and adaptation. In addition, increasing the share of green spaces is beneficial for residents’ physical and mental health. 

A new briefing, published by the EU funded research project The Urban Burden of Disease Estimation for Policy Making (UBDPolicy), summarises the key health benefits of green spaces in cities and highlights best practices from 12 European cities. The briefing also includes science-based recommendations for local and European decision makers considering increasing the share of green spaces in cities.

Nitrate is a common drinking water pollutant worldwide, typically due to leaching of nitrogen fertilizers from agriculture. In addition to negative consequences on surface water ecosystems, contaminated surface or groundwater can reach people through drinking water. In particular, shallow groundwater wells can have very high nitrate levels if the groundwater sources are not sufficiently protected. This affects private well users, but also public supplies in areas where the geological conditions do not allow groundwater sourcing from deeper, nitrate-free aquifers. In Europe, drinking water should not exceed a maximum threshold of 50mg nitrate per litre, according to the European Union (EU) Drinking Water Directive.

Air pollution is a major global health issue. It is not limited to urban areas, but is pervasive in nearly all cities, with the negative effects spilling over to ecological and economic systems. Pollutants like particulate matter (PM), specifically PM2.5 and PM10, NO2 and ozone are linked to higher rates of chronic diseases. Short-term effects include coughing, headaches, and asthma, while long-term exposure can damage vital organs and contribute to non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer, pulmonary disease, diabetes, and even mental health conditions. Although air pollution levels have declined over the past decades in Europe, only a handful of regions meet the safe concentration levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021.

The Green Corridors Plan (Eixos Verds Plan), proposed by the Barcelona City Council, aims to enhance urban well-being, environmental sustainability, and resilience by transforming one in every three streets into green corridors. Although initially designed for city-wide implementation, only the first phase, focused on the centric Eixample district, has been completed, and the overall plan implementation has been postponed. This study evaluates the health co-benefits of implementing the Green Corridors plan citywide, focusing on the direct effects of increased exposure to greenness and the impact of temperature reduction on mortality.