About the project
This project was led by Principal Investigator Dr Moonisah Usman. It was funded by the Sustainable Cities and the Urban Environment Research Community Fund, £12,500.
One of the biggest challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic is the heterogeneity in disease severity exhibited amongst patients. While some infected individuals are asymptomatic, others experience mild respiratory symptoms or more severe complications associated with an inflammatory ‘storm’. At present, COVID-19 has been linked to approximately 21 million cases and over 172,000 deaths in the United Kingdom.
Among multiple factors, latest studies suggest vitamin D deficiency and pre-existing health conditions to be major contributors to death from COVID-19. Vitamin D is an anti-inflammatory hormone synthesised upon exposure to the sun. It is known that the physical configuration of the built environment can impact sun exposure and consequently, vitamin D levels. Furthermore, long-term exposure to air pollution can play an independent role in vitamin D deficiency as there is evidence to suggest air pollution may interfere with sunlight reaching the earth.
Currently, over half of the world's population live in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to grow by 2.5 billion by 2050. It has also been reported that approximately half of the global population have insufficient vitamin D levels. Against this backdrop, the current health crisis necessitates research to increase the capability of our cities in order to facilitate the prevention of disease and optimise health. The aim of our research is to explore the link between urban form configuration, air quality and vitamin D status across multiple urban scales. So far, we have conducted a correlational analysis of urban form and air quality in relation to the demographics and COVID-19 cases and mortality rate across 32 London boroughs1. We found deaths from COVID-19 to be negatively correlated with mean percentage of households with access to total open space and positively correlated with total road length and four-year average PM10 μgm-3. Our findings link COVID-19 prevalence and mortality across London with aspects of built environment and air quality linked to vitamin D deficiency.
Further research is underway in collaboration with the UK Biobank, considering vitamin D levels of approximately 500,000 participants in relation to local urban form factors and air pollution levels. Ultimately, this research project may inform policy rethinking around the neighbourhood needs of appropriate outdoor spaces, to maximise the safe exposure to sunlight; optimising vitamin D synthesis and reducing the impact of possible future viral outbreaks.
ProBE team
- Principal Investigator: Dr Moonisah Usman (Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation)
- Co-Investigator: Dr Emanuela Volpi (School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences)
- Co-Investigator: Dr Rosa Schiano (School of Architecture and Cities, College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries)
- Co-Investigator: Mehrdad Borna (School of Architecture and Cities, College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries)
Contact
For more information contact Dr Rosa Schiano-Phan at [email protected].
Featured project publication
Borna, M., Woloshynowych, M., Schiano-Phan, R., Volpi, E.V. and Usman, M., (2022) A correlational analysis of COVID-19 incidence and mortality and urban determinants of vitamin D status across the London boroughs. Scientific Reports, 12(1), pp.1–11.