Unhealthy Cities
Cities of Consumption: The Impact of Corporate Practices on the Health of Urban Populations by Freudenberg and Galea
Urban cities find it difficult to provide quality health care services. This caused by the fact that there has been an increased rate of people moving from rural areas. Such migration patterns make the urban population in greater threat in terms of health since it increases corporate practices and creates an opportunity for enhancing global health. These concepts of health threats associated with increased urban population are demonstrated in the Impact of Corporate Practices on the Health of Urban Populations article, which is the primary topic. In the analysis, the authors analyze the impact of corporate practices on urban population health.
Freudenberg and Galea argue that through intersecting the two vital well-being social determinants, they elucidate various mechanisms that impact the health aspect of the urban population. Upon reviewing the historical corporation’s impact in cities and how they are changing, they focused on consumption growth to be the primary cause of morbidity and mortality as well as they described ways on which the automobiles, tobacco, food, among others, promote unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors in urban areas. Also, the cities are used as sites for the development of unhealthy corporate practices alternatives.
Freudenberg and Galea argue that strategies have to be used in modifying the practices that harm. Among the approaches the authors proposed included developing housing codes that required developers to attain various health standards, creating the Food and Drug Administration to monitor food industries and establishing environmental pollution and occupational safety standards. The strategies will aim at protecting the health of the entire population.
Discussion post
Urban populations face challenges in terms of health care. Thus there is a need for creating a coherent and unified political agenda, get educated on ways of framing issues to generate coalitions that synthesize better evidence of the consequences and causes of unhealthy corporate practices. Additionally, effective strategies have to be enacted to create healthier cities.
Reference
Freudenberg, N., & Galea, S. (2008). Cities of consumption: the impact of corporate practices on the health of urban populations. Journal of Urban Health, 85(4), 462-471. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2443242/