Dense Cities With Low Emissions Suffer Most From Air Pollution, Study Finds
Europeans in the biggest cities have the smallest carbon footprints. But new research finds that compact urban living can come with health trade-offs.
The city of Uppsala in Sweden is the kind of less-dense urban area in Europe where carbon emissions are far higher — but air pollution is lower.
Photographer: Marcus Lindstrom/E+ via Getty Images
Europeans living in the densest cities suffer from poorer air quality, higher mortality rates and worse heat island effects than residents of sparser urban areas on the continent. But those compact cities also produce fewer carbon emissions per person, according to a recent study in The Lancet by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.
The research exemplifies a growing tension for big cities: While building denser housing can help cities become more sustainable, affordable and transit-friendly, it can still come with health costs that city leaders must work to counteract.