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Urban Health Research: Study Designs and Potential Challenges

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Health in Megacities and Urban Areas

Part of the book series: Contributions to Statistics ((CONTRIB.STAT.))

Abstract

According to World Health Organization (1948), health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. In terms of this definition, urban health is referred to as the health of population living in the city or town (Galea and Vlahov 2005). More than half of the world population currently live in urban areas (approximately one-third of them are estimated to live in marginal settlements or slums (UN-Habitat 2003)) and virtually most of the world population growth from now on will be in cities (Leon 2008). For example, the urban population is projected to increase by 1.6 billion by 2030 while the rural population shrinks by 28 million. Although people migrate to cities for a better life and income (Cohen 2004), urbanisation is also considered as a health hazard for certain vulnerable populations. The demographic shift due to rapid and uncontrolled urbanisation also creates a humanitarian disaster (Patel and Burke 2009).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Medicine, School of Public Health, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

    Md. Mobarak Hossain Khan & Arina Zanuzdana

Authors
  1. Md. Mobarak Hossain Khan
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  2. Arina Zanuzdana
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Correspondence to Md. Mobarak Hossain Khan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fak. Gesundheitswissenschaften, Universität Bielefeld, Universitätsstr. 25, Bielefeld, 33615, Germany

    Alexander Krämer

  2. , Department of Public Health Medicine, School of Public Health, Bielefeld Unive, Bielefeld, 33501, Germany

    Mobarak Hossain Khan

  3. , Institute of Geography, Cologne University, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, Cologne, 50923, Germany

    Frauke Kraas

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Khan, M.M.H., Zanuzdana, A. (2011). Urban Health Research: Study Designs and Potential Challenges. In: Krämer, A., Khan, M., Kraas, F. (eds) Health in Megacities and Urban Areas. Contributions to Statistics. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2733-0_4

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