The Planetary Health Philippines (PH2) explored the interrelationship between the urban environment, transport, and health in the second webisode of the PH2 Webinar Series. PH2 invited Dr. Marie Danielle Guillen, an independent consultant specializing in policy and planning (regional and urban planning) sciences, specifically transport, and climate change.
During the webinar, Dr. Guillen discussed challenges that affect the liveability of urban areas, which include the urban heat island (UHI) effect, air pollution, and poor accessibility to transportation. She further elaborated on transport-related issues in the country, such as the underreporting of road incidents and the lack of mass transit modes such as buses. She discussed how these issues affect people’s health, increasing the risks of heat-related health conditions, non-communicable diseases, road injuries, and deaths.
Additionally, she underlined urban inequalities, highlighting the disproportionate challenges faced mostly by the poor, especially when it comes to urban mobility. Moreover, poor environmental quality has resulted in higher mortality rates among children living in urban slums. She emphasized that these are issues rooted in urban planning. “When we have informal settlers, that’s an issue of housing. I hope we don’t forget that’s really an urban planning issue also,” she stated.
Dr. Guillen also presented the concept of a “15-minute city,” an ideal urban scenario where basic needs and services are within a short walking distance. “Because if it’s not walkable then we have to walk forward, we have to work together. Let’s start with walking because that’s the most basic mode of transportation that we have,” explained Dr. Guillen.
Further, she underscored the importance of the road transportation system. “We start with the road. Why the road? Because everything starts from the road. You can’t go to the airport, you can’t go to the seaport without understanding the road network. If the environment is the body, this is like the route. This is where your blood flows.”
You can watch the webinar recording here.
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