Heart health and urban planning in India
Background: Urbanisation and rising chronic diseases
On October 8, 2025, MoHUA observed World Habitat Day under the theme Urban Solutions to Crisis, highlighting PMAY-U and Smart Cities Mission.
A significant but less visible crisis underlies India’s urban development: rising cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes.
Cardiovascular ailments are now a major cause of urban deaths, with prevalence nearly double that of rural India, and affecting more people under 50 years.
Urban life factors — long commutes, air pollution, reduced green spaces, and high stress elevate health risks.
Healthcare distribution follows profit, not need: hospitals cluster in high-value areas, leaving poorer neighbourhoods underserved.
Fragmented planning and the health challenge
Traditional development has worked in silos:
Transport designed independent of housing
Green initiatives marginalised
Health seldom integrated into planning
Consequences include:
Sedentary lifestyles
Pollution and heat stress
Inequity in access to healthy environments
Integrated planning is now essential to prevent cementing unhealthy patterns into future urban growth.
Integrating heart health into urban planning
Key pillars of heart-healthy planning
Walkability and active mobility
Safe footpaths, cycle lanes and pedestrian zones encourage physical activity and reduce hypertension and diabetes.
Green infrastructure
Trees, parks and urban forests reduce heat stress, filter air, and lower pollution-linked cardiovascular risks.
Mixed land use
Compact neighbourhoods reduce commute times and car dependence, promoting daily movement.
Public transport systems
Affordable, clean-energy transport reduces emissions and decreases sedentary travel.
Healthy food ecosystems
Local markets, community gardens, restricting junk-food advertising encourage heart-friendly diets.
Together, these pillars create green, walkable, transit-oriented neighbourhoods that tackle pollution, poor diets and inactivity simultaneously.
Tackling invisible urban health threats
PM2.5 pollution from vehicles and industry triggers heart attacks and strokes.
Hyper-urbanised, concrete-heavy environments trap heat and contribute to cardiovascular stress.
Weak water and waste systems worsen metabolic disorders.
Asia may see a 91% rise in cardiovascular mortality by 2050 without intervention.
Solutions
Expanding tree cover improves natural ventilation and reduces heat.
Renewable energy adoption cuts emissions.
Modern water and waste infrastructure reduces toxic exposures.
Digital tools (AI-enabled heat and air-quality mapping, sensors, citizen-reporting platforms) help identify risks and improve planning.
Equity as the foundation of healthy urban development
Low-income groups face:
High pollution exposure
Poor connectivity
Limited access to green spaces
Poor healthcare access
India State-Level Disease Burden Study shows a 2.3-fold rise in CVD among marginalised groups.
Risk of green gentrification: parks can raise property prices and displace vulnerable communities.
Solutions:
Prioritise vulnerable areas in planning.
Conduct equity audits.
Engage communities in planning to ensure inclusiveness.
Aligns with campaigns like Tobacco-Free Youth 3.0 by making healthy choices easier through built environments.
Green gentrification is the process where the introduction of environmental amenities, like parks or green spaces, increases neighborhood property values and attracts wealthier residents, leading to the displacement of lower-income residents.
This can displace vulnerable populations physically through rising housing costs, and socially through a loss of community and sense of belonging. The phenomenon links urban planning, gentrification, and environmental justice, as it can exacerbate existing social inequalities.
India at an urban turning point
India must choose between:
Unchecked expansion → long-term unhealthy living patterns
Health-centred planning → resilient, equitable cities
Examples:
Delhi: shaded corridors reducing pollution exposure
Chennai: cycling routes addressing childhood obesity
Surat: compact transit-linked neighbourhoods reducing stress and emissions
With NUHM and the Asian Development Bank’s $10-billion urban investment plan (2025), heart health can be embedded in development policy.
Way forward
Collaboration across:
MoHUA
Health agencies
Academia
Civil society
Strategies:
Align land use, mobility and environment with measurable health outcomes.
Update planning curricula.
Conduct digital equity audits.
Engage youth through Urban October and related initiatives.
Insight
Cardiovascular disease is shaped more by how cities are designed than by individual willpower.
Urban planning decisions about air, mobility and shared spaces directly influence heart health.
World Habitat Day
Origin and purpose
World Habitat Day is observed every year on the first Monday of October.
Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1985 (Resolution 40/202) and first celebrated in 1986.
Purpose:
To reflect on the state of human settlements and the basic right to adequate shelter.
To remind the global community of its collective responsibility for creating sustainable, safe and inclusive habitats.
Themes and global focus
Each year, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) announces a theme.
For 2025, India observed the day with the theme Urban Solutions to Crisis, focusing on:
Climate resilience
Pollution
Urban heat
Inequity in access to health and services
Need for integrated urban planning
Prelims Practice MCQ
Q. What is the major concern associated with “green gentrification” in the context of urban health planning?
A. Green spaces increase local temperatures
B. Parks and greenways may displace vulnerable communities
C. Trees reduce air circulation in dense areas
D. Green infrastructure reduces real-estate value
Correct answer: B
Explanation: The passage highlights that new green spaces can raise property prices and displace the very communities they aim to benefit.