By Caroline Steer & Elizabeth Davila
Email: cbsteer@gmail.com & lizbethd@umich.edu
Geo 111; Lab Sec 006
Health Effects of Urbanization on New York City Children
Health risks remain one of the most urgent issues arising out of the rapid urbanization of cities. In
particular, children in urban areas are at the greatest risk for negative health effects stemming from urbanization.
One of the most obvious indicators that New York City children suffer from urbanization is that they
have nearly three times as many hospitalization rates for asthma than the national average of "4.2 per 1000
persons" do (Corburn, J., Osleeb J., Porter, M., "Urban asthma and the neighborhood environment in New York
City," Health & Place, Vol. 12, Issue 2, pp. 167-179, June 2006). One cause of this asthma-induced
hospitalization can be linked to exposure from ambient air sulfur dioxide, which is produced by the burning of
fossil fuels and other industrial processes that take place in urban areas (Lin, S., Hwang, SA, Pantea, C., Kielb,
C, Fitzgerald, E., 2004). Increased truck traffic volumes near inner-city homes, caused by urbanization in New
York City, also results in high hospitalization rates of children with asthma (Lin, S., et al., "Childhood asthma
hospitalization and residential exposure to state route traffic," Environmental research, Vol. 88, Issue 2, pp. 7381, Feb. 2002).
Another one of the main effects of urbanization within NYC is the deterioration and dilapidation of
housing often found in inner city areas. Such housing is often found in inner city areas with a predominately
minority population (Aligne, C.A., Auinger, P., Byrd, S.R., Weitzman, M., "Risk factors for pediatric asthma,"
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Vol. 162, Issue 3, pp. 873-877, Sept. 2000).
These poor living conditions increase a child’s susceptibility to asthma and their exposure to allergens such as:
rodent and cockroach allergens, mold, mildew, and dust mites (Corburn, J., Osleeb J., Porter, M., "Urban asthma
and the neighborhood environment in New York City," Health & Place, Vol. 12, Issue 2, pp. 167-179, June
2006). Because of the high density of residences and businesses in the inner-cities of New York City and due to
poor ventilation in these homes, children with asthma are more susceptible to allergens caused by cigarette
smoke (Wallace, L.A., et al., "Particle concentrations in inner city homes of children with asthma: the effect of
smoking, cooking, and outdoor pollution," Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 111, Issue 9, pp. 12651272, July 2003) and rodents (Chew, G.L., et al., "Distribution and determinants of mouse allergen exposure in
low income New York City apartments," Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 111, Issue 10, 1348-1351,
Aug. 2003).
These unsanitary environments that result from urbanization not only cause negative health effects such
as repeated diarrhea, worm infestations, skin infections, chronically challenged immune systems (Bartlett, S.,
"Water, sanitation, and urban children: The need to go beyond ‘improved’ provision" Environment and
Urbanization, Vol. 15, Issue 2, pp. 57-70, Oct. 2003) and asthma (as previously mentioned), but they also
produce a dichotomy between socioeconomic classes and races. For example, while children in economically
disadvantaged urban areas are being physically affected by asthma many are often unable to pay for the most
advanced treatments for asthma, and therefore must rely on older medicinal technologies that can actually cause
worsened asthma in the long run (Bonner, S., Matte, T., Rubin, M., Fagan, J.K., Ahern, J., Evans, D., "Oral
beta(2)-agonist use by preschool children with asthma in East and Central Harlem in New York," Journal of
Asthma, Vol. 43, Issue 1, pp. 31-35, Feb. 2006).
Pollutants caused by industrial urbanization such as lead, radiation, PCBs, and PAHs are even greater
risks to fetuses and infants which can potentially lead to developmental disorders, cancer, and/or genetic damage
(Perera, P.F., et al., "The challenge of preventing environmentally related disease in young children:
community- based research in New York City," Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 110, Issue 2, pp. 197204, Feb. 2002). See table below:
One form of lead pollution in inner city urban areas stems from the use of lead based paint, which is often used
to paint lane divisions on streets and traffic signs. As the paint deteriorates it leaves lead residue on the ground,
which can then be inhaled and later result in lead poisoning more readily among children (Blaise, M.J.,
Caravanos, J., Jaeger, R.J., Weiss, A.L., "A survey of spatially distributed exterior dust lead loadings in New
York City," Environmental Research, Vol. 100, Issue 2, pp.165-172, Feb. 2006).
It can be seen that through the urbanization of cities, negative health effects can result, especially for the
children of these cities. In New York City especially, poor-quality housing, a high density of people, residences,
and businesses, high levels of pest and rodent allergens, and pollutants are clearly active factors in the failing
health of children in rapidly urbanizing areas.