Handbook of Urban Health: Populations, Methods, and Practice

Foremost in today's fast-paced technological progress is the facility to access information. Health, no doubt, features prominently among any individual's areas he or she wants to keep informed about. One particular area is how the urban environment might affect his and his family's health. For obvious reasons comprehensive and satisfactory information in this regard is not readily available in the mass media. In the "Handbook of Urban Health" over forty specialists in this field treat this subject from a number of angles and make it possible, even for the layman, to grasp all the intricacies connected with health problems prevailing in today's cities. For the most part these research reports are quite readable. This is no easy task considering the complex make-up of today's urban populations. I highly recomend it.

This book is extremely well-planned and presented. The introductory chapter expounds the new concept of "Urban Health" both for the professional and the aspiring student. It also sets the scope of the book as being a "bridge between urban health inquiry and public health practice." This is achieved by the introduction of the Integrative Chapters which come at the end of each of three parts i.e. Populations, Methods and Practice. These integrative chapters are short and written in an easy to read, fluent style. They are excellent introductory pieces for those outside the field who want to have a quick overview of the book, and for the student who expects a non-biased commentary on the ideas expounded on in the previous chapters As well, they also form the thread which links such divergent topics as urban planning, legal frameworks, cost effectiveness, urban health in developing countries, in one particular city and in huge cities in general, in the environment and in the customs and practices of the populations who inhabit these environments. This book is recommended both for the general reader and as a textbook for the newly emerging science of Urban Health.

This book is particularly well written and organized, providing an overview on the health of cities. It has information on the U.S., but also some especially well constructed chapters on urban health in developing countries. The book covers health issues for special populations such as the elderly and children, but then also goes on to discuss methods for assembling or being a consumer of relevant health information. Finally, the book has a section for public health practice that was put together by some of the most experienced experts in the country. While unique as a reference book for those working on the issues of health in cities, this also can be a good text book.