Where we now go

The Biological InEquity Index tracks the environmental data and deprivation trends that are the result of urbanisation:

• air pollution (pm2.5),

• noise pollution (road, rail, air),

• light pollution (radiance at night),

• heat (heatwave data),

• deprivation statistics.

This index uses neuroscience research into how our stress response system engages with these metrics’ values to paint a picture of whether a given place is high in stressors that increase biological risk. Chronic exposure to these stressors can act as a pathway to dysregulation of our biological systems such as our immune, endocrine and metabolic functions, making us more susceptible to a host of illnesses, disorders and diseases.

Rather than using downstream outcome based data and companies “doing good” policy writers should be responsible for their actions, the accumulation of pollutants, stressors and resources. As a baseline we can add socio-demographic data on top to observe how certain marginalised groups may be at a greater biological inequity that others. This means we can start asking questions such as:

If an area has a propensity to be high in heat stress, what measures are taken to create shade and lower exposure to older people?

If an area is high in air pollution, what efforts are being taken to regulate polluters such as incinerators, factories, and multiple delivery based businesses?

If an area is high in noise pollution, (a) are walls and windows sufficiently insulated to prevent noise from trespassing into homes, impacting pregnant people’s sleep, and (b) what traffic, delivery, urban management and design decisions are being made to lower the noise output levels?

If an area is high in deprivation, what investments can be made through urban development to make marketable differences?

Direct questions about the built environment, that can be changed through urbanisation, and link them to improving health outcomes.

This index gives these people a chance to deliver social impact through the environment and for the rest of us to hold them accountable to the meaningful changes that will no longer make the places we live a predictor of our health outcomes.

It’s time that those within the system start working for the people they claim to be: current and future generations. The solutions to health places are all there, it’s the organising of actions through a framework is what’s needed.

Peter Drucker famously said, “If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.” Well, we can now measure the built environment’s outputs as pathways to population health, so we can now manage it too.

By acting on the truths of human biology and urbanisation we can create justice for all, and for those yet to be born.

Here are some truths from the data at MSOA level for the regions of England, Scotland, and Wales.