Urban built environment, a subset of the physical environment, interacts with public health in an intricate way. Indeed, this relationship, which is highly pertinent to policy-making, has fostered interesting academic explorations in recent years. However, simply based on traditional data and approaches, many relevant issues remain to be addressed. With rapid development of science and technology, more accurate built environment/health metrics can be assessed with open/big data or advanced instruments; more advanced modeling approaches can be tested and applied into the research field; new/traditional theories can be supported or refuted with stronger empirical evidence; and richer insights for practice can be discussed with more consistent or contradictory findings, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, it is urgent and important to propel the research field of the effects of the urban built environment on public health. This can provide us with a comprehensive understanding of the health effects of the urban built environment as well as profound theoretical, methodological, and practical implications.

This Research Topic is a platform to share the latest insights and findings about the effects of urban built environment on public health, especially those related to new theory, data, variable, model, site, and insight. It is also an essential and enriching memo to decision-makers, health researchers, caregivers, etc. The Research Topic also aims to raise attention from all elements of society, such as governments, researchers, business, industry, and individuals, to our topic and stimulate wider, more in-depth discussions on the effects of urban built environment on public health in both developed and developing countries. Besides, it calls for collective action by all elements of society as we strive toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which entails consensus, collaboration, and innovation.

We welcome submissions of Original Research articles, Review, and Mini-Review covering, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Use of new fine-grained data (e.g., street greenery, wearable sensors, and eye-tracking system) to assess environmental exposures and/or health outcomes
• Advances in frontier theory of the built environment and health (BE-health) relationship (e.g., spatial lifecourse epidemiology)
• Effects of new matters (e.g., bike-sharing, E-bike) on public health
• Use of new modeling approaches (e.g., machine learning technique) to elucidate the built environment and health (BE-health) relationship
• The built environment and health (BE-health) studies in under-studied sites (e.g., cities and countries in the Global South)
• Non-linear and threshold effects of the built environment on health outcomes
• Socioeconomic inequalities in the built environment and health (BE-health) relationship and its implications (e.g., equigenesis theory)

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Frontiers in Public Health

Participating Journals

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