Integrating health into urban and transport planning – New governance structures in urban regional transport corridors

Objectives of the GeSGo junior research group:

  • Investigation of disease burden and social structures in south-west Hamburg, also taking into account specific infrastructure features
  • Analysis of objective and subjective stress factors in the residential environment and their impact on health and quality of life
  • Investigation of mobility and commuting behaviour in urban transport corridors and the links to health-related quality of life
  • Identification of conflicts of interest between health and quality of life as well as transport and urban development, taking social inequalities into account
  • Development of recommendations for integrating health and quality of life into transport and urban planning

Project Description:

The central theme of the GeSGo project is the investigation of health-related questions, with a particular focus on transport infrastructure and pollution in residential areas. In addition, the project examines health-related quality of life, a topic that has received relatively little research attention to date, as well as the subjective perception of pollution in the immediate residential environment. This is based, among other things, on spatial analyses of social disadvantage, location-specific (multiple) pollution, and the health status and quality of life of the local population. The topic of environmental justice is also taken into account. With regard to the interconnectedness of the city and the region, the effects of commuter mobility on health-related quality of life will also be examined.

The spatial focus of the project is the urban-regional transport corridor in south-west Hamburg and the neighbouring district of Stade (Lower Saxony). The former is characterised above all by high traffic volumes on parallel transport axes and, on the other hand, by a pronounced heterogeneity of socio-spatial and infrastructural conditions. In addition to analysing the content of the sub-questions, there is a particular focus on linking the disciplines of urban and transport planning, health geography and public health, taking into account administrative and management-related processes – keyword: health in all policies – in order to promote interdisciplinary exchange.

Project period: 2025-2027

Approach / implementation / methodology:

The project is divided into three sub-areas, each with its own disciplinary focus:

  1. Population-based analyses (Department of Health Geography, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf)
    • Analysis of the current state of health based on objective health and health-related quality of life in south-west Hamburg, taking into account the social situation and the natural and built environment.
    • Analysis of the relationships between objective environmental exposures and health outcomes, as well as the role of subjective perceptions of stress in the living environment as a mediating factor.
    • The data is based on the Hamburg City Health Study, a population-based cohort study, and a primary data collection conducted specifically in south-west Hamburg.
  1. Natural space and infrastructure analyses (Department of Urban and Transport Planning, Hamburg University of Technology)
    • GIS-analyses of environmental pollution and resources
    • Statistical analyses of mobility behaviour and commuting pollution based on secondary statistics and our own empirical social research
  1. Actor analyses on the topic of health and administrative planning (Department of Public Health, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences)
    • Structured document analysis of political/administrative structures with regard to the anchoring of health in policy areas, in particular transport and social policy
    • Policy area analysis as problem area analysis based on a socio-economic approach
    • Conducting guided expert interviews

Research group and sub-projects:

  • PD Dr. Jobst Augustin1 Health and Quality of Life, Project Management
  • Dr. Susanne Busch2 Health and Planning
  • Dr. Carsten Gertz3 Transport and Infrastructure
  • Mattis Helmrich (M.Sc.)3 Transport and Infrastructure
  • Lasse Jenner-Nissen (M.Sc.)2 Health and Planning
  • Katharina Schulze (M.Sc.)1 Health and Quality of Life
  • Linda Völtzer (M.Sc.)2 Health and Planning

1University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Institute for Health Services Research in Dermatology and Nursing Professions, FG Health Geography
2University of Applied Sciences (HAW), Competence Centre for Health (CCG)
3Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute for Transport Planning and Logistics

Project partners:

  • Prof. Dr. Jörg Pohlan, Urban Development and Quantitative Methods in Urban and Regional Research, Hafen City University Hamburg
  • Hamburg Consortium for Health Promotion Association (HAG e.V.)

News and Publications:

To be continued…

Contact:

PD Dr. Jobst Augustin (jo.augustin@uke.de)