"The city is both a necessity for human safety and a danger for its inhabitants' health because of the concentration of polluting activities, the quantity of waste to be treated and poor traffic and housing conditions. In the past, atmospheric pollution has led to catastrophic episodes with high mortality rates. As soon as the health costs of these pollution episodes were quantifi ed, preventive measures were implemented to limit the emission of atmospheric pollution. The efficiency of these measures was remarkable, resulting in improved public health before medicine managed to find eff ective solutions. These and other successes led to the erroneous belief that the problems were under control. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Decreasing the level of risk and the time lapse between exposure to pollution and the appearance of diseases simply maintained a sort of'invisibility of risk.' Atmospheric pollution remains one of the main challenges facing cities. In a context of growing demographic pressure, even small risks at the individual level can have a major health impact insofar as they concern tens of millions of people. Society's demand for sustainable development makes it essential to adopt new approaches to the use of energy, particularly in urban transportation and housing. For the city to remain a positive environment for people, several conditions must be met: putting health at the core of urban policy, developing risk assessments and health impact studies, systematizing epidemiological surveillance, training competent hygienists, promoting sociotechnical democracy, and developing new technology in the housing, transportation and waste sectors.
The city is the premier environment for modern man, and is destined to become a crucible for the promotion of health."
