• Posted August 18, 2025

Urban Dwellers Have Higher Odds Of Asthma

Urban dwellers have a higher risk of developing asthma, thanks to dirty air and lower amounts of green space, a major new study says.

In fact, better urban planning could prevent more than 1 in 10 new cases of asthma, researchers estimated recently in The Lancet Regional Health-Europe.

"This study provides strong evidence for the need to rethink our city model,” researcher Rafael de Cid said in a news release. He’s scientific director of the GCAT/Genomes for Life project at the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain.

“Incorporating environmental criteria into urban planning can significantly reduce the incidence of chronic diseases and improve population quality of life,” de Cid added.

The new study involved nearly 350,000 children and adults participating in 14 European health research projects. Countries represented included Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain and Estonia.

Researchers used satellite mapping data to estimate each person’s exposure to environmental factors that could increase risk of asthma or other chronic diseases.

These factors included air pollution, green space, built surface density, artificial night-time light and average annual temperature.

Results showed that adults exposed to high levels of air pollution — particle pollution and nitrogen dioxide — had 13% greater odds for asthma.

Likewise, both children and adults had a 36% and 15% increased risk of asthma if they lived in highly developed urban areas with little green space.

Overall, the risk of asthma increased about 13% in children and 15% in adults for every 20% increase in a combined environmental risk score representing higher air pollution, heavily built-up area and lower levels of green space, results show.

Finally, researchers estimated that nearly 12% of new asthma cases could be prevented if steps were taken to lower air pollution and introduce more green space into heavily developed places.

“Our results underscore the importance of incorporating multiple environmental exposures into urban planning, including the identification of local ‘hotspots’ where harmful exposures overlap,” researchers wrote.

They said future studies also might factor in other urban features that could affect health, including road traffic noise and walkability.

More information

The American Lung Association has more on asthma causes and risk factors.

SOURCES: Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute, news release, July 23, 2025; The Lancet Regional Health-Europe, May 15, 2025