Year: 2018

Author(s): Jun Yang, José G Siri, Justin V Remais, Qu Cheng, Han Zhang, Karen K Y Chan, Zhe Sun, Yuanyuan Zhao, Na Cong, Xueyan Li, Wei Zhang, Yuqi Bai, Jun Bi, Wenjia Cai, Emily Y Y Chan, Wanqing Chen, Weicheng Fan, Hua Fu, Jianqing He, Hong Huang, John S Ji, Peng Jia, Xiaopeng Jiang, Mei-Po Kwan, Tianhong Li, Xiguang Li, Song Liang, Xiaofeng Liang, Lu Liang, Qiyong Liu, Yongmei Lu, Yong Luo, Xiulian Ma, Bernhard Schwartländer, Zhiyong Shen, Peijun Shi, Jing Su, Tinghai Wu, Changhong Yang, Yongyuan Yin, Qiang Zhang, Yinping Zhang,

Yong Zhang, Bing Xu, Peng Gong

Abstract: Over the past four decades, rapid urbanisation in China has brought unprecedented health benefits to its urban

population, but has also created new challenges for protection of and promotion of health in cities. With the shift from rural to urban living, more people than ever enjoy the health advantages that cities can provide, such as better access to health services and improved sanitation. For example, the average life expectancy of male urban residents in 2010 was estimated to be 7·09 years longer than that of of their counterparts in rural China; urban females lived 6·64 years longer. Other changes associated with rapid urbanisation–including large-scale migration, ageing, pollution, shifts in diet and lifestyle, and social inequality–have created new health challenges. For example, about 52% of people over 60 years old lived in urban areas in 2015 compared with 34% in 2000, thus increasing the burden of senior care in Chinese cities. Noncommunicable diseases have replaced infectious

diseases as the leading cause of death among urban residents; the percentage of years of life lost because of such diseases as a fraction of all-cause years of life lost increased from 50·0% (95% CI 48·5–53·0) in 1990 to 77·3% (76·5–78·1) in 2015. Health inequality also

increased in urban areas.

Journal: The Lancet

Permanent link:  https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30486-0