Spatialized composite indices to evaluate environmental health inequalities: Meeting the challenge of selecting relevant variables

Abstract The wide range of factors involved in environmental health and the complexity of interactions between all environmental determinants require the validation of multidimensional approaches. While the development of composite indices is receiving growing attention by scientists and public authorities, the concept continues to lack transposability and robustness partly due to varying conceptualizations and/or methodologies. This review aims to promote harmonizing practices governing the first step of development of composite index, namely identification and characterization of the dimensions and variables that are included in environmental health indices. A review of available literature (more than 1500 studies) was conducted to identify the composite indices developed to assess territorial determinants from an environmental health perspective. This process made it possible to identify 23 spatialized composite indices and to assess a total of 329 variables. This diversity highlights that the absence of a common framework can lead to a strong subjectivity and limit comparisons between different environmental health indices. The specificity and the availability of certain variables would limit the transposability of indices. In light of current knowledge, this review proposes a consolidated methodological framework based on a categorization of variables into dimensions and sub-dimensions related to heath, environment, social, economics, services and policy. To characterize the sub-dimensions, several variables are possible and can be chosen according to the availability and/or accessibility of the data. The adaptation of a composite index to a specific territory or to a specific issue would then be effective through the included variables. This also aims to be transposable to any spatial unit (country, region, census tract). This work is a first step towards a proposal of guidelines designed to provide a consensual framework that could facilitate the exploitation of environmental health indices. This transparency could also increase the understanding and adoption of these tools by public authorities and general public.

[1]  Giangiacomo Bravo,et al.  The Human Sustainable Development Index: New calculations and a first critical analysis , 2014 .

[2]  Yuji Murayama,et al.  Landscape pattern and ecosystem service value changes: Implications for environmental sustainability planning for the rapidly urbanizing summer capital of the Philippines , 2013 .

[3]  N. Owen,et al.  Environmental factors associated with adults' participation in physical activity: a review. , 2002, American journal of preventive medicine.

[4]  R. O'Neill,et al.  The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital , 1997, Nature.

[5]  A. Fekete,et al.  Societal resilience indicator assessment using demographic and infrastructure data at the case of Germany in context to multiple disaster risks , 2018, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.

[6]  Johannes Flacke,et al.  Environmental Health Related Socio-Spatial Inequalities: Identifying “Hotspots” of Environmental Burdens and Social Vulnerability , 2016, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[7]  A. Comber,et al.  Using a GIS-based network analysis to determine urban greenspace accessibility for different ethnic and religious groups , 2008 .

[8]  N. Crossman,et al.  Global estimates of the value of ecosystems and their services in monetary units , 2012 .

[9]  Ana Monteiro,et al.  Assessing and monitoring urban resilience using COPD in Porto. , 2012, The Science of the total environment.

[10]  Simon Kingham,et al.  Deprived yet healthy: neighbourhood-level resilience in New Zealand. , 2013, Social science & medicine.

[11]  Exposition à la pollution atmosphérique liée au trafic routier et risques sanitaires , 2013 .

[12]  M. Jerrett,et al.  An index for assessing demographic inequalities in cumulative environmental hazards with application to Los Angeles, California. , 2009, Environmental science & technology.

[13]  S. Greco,et al.  On the Methodological Framework of Composite Indices: A Review of the Issues of Weighting, Aggregation, and Robustness , 2019 .

[14]  Grégoire Rey,et al.  Ecological association between a deprivation index and mortality in France over the period 1997 – 2001: variations with spatial scale, degree of urbanicity, age, gender and cause of death , 2009, BMC public health.

[15]  D. Briggs,et al.  A framework for integrated environmental health impact assessment of systemic risks , 2008, Environmental health : a global access science source.

[16]  S. Galea,et al.  Measuring Capacities for Community Resilience , 2010 .

[17]  Thomas Wiedmann,et al.  Integrating ecological, carbon and water footprint into a "footprint family" of indicators: Definition and role in tracking human pressure on the planet , 2012 .

[18]  Jacques Teller,et al.  La qualité du logement comme variable environnementale : l'exemple de la région urbaine de Liège (Wallonie) , 2012 .

[19]  M. Griffin,et al.  A countryside for health and wellbeing: the physical and mental health benefits of green exercise. , 2005 .

[20]  Ling Yao,et al.  Indicators for Environment Health Risk Assessment in the Jiangsu Province of China , 2015, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[21]  Ignacio C. Fernández,et al.  When to use what: Methods for weighting and aggregating sustainability indicators , 2017 .

[22]  J. Maantay,et al.  Asthma and air pollution in the Bronx: methodological and data considerations in using GIS for environmental justice and health research. , 2007, Health & place.

[23]  R. Morello-Frosch,et al.  Playing It Safe: Assessing Cumulative Impact and Social Vulnerability through an Environmental Justice Screening Method in the South Coast Air Basin, California , 2011, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[24]  Tra My Pham,et al.  Missing data and multiple imputation in clinical epidemiological research , 2017, Clinical epidemiology.

[25]  I. Stewart,et al.  The uneven distribution of environmental burdens and benefits in Silicon Valley's backyard , 2014 .

[26]  The Better Life Index of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , 2011 .

[27]  Amit Prasad,et al.  Urban health indicators and indices—current status , 2015, BMC Public Health.

[28]  Emily Nicholson,et al.  Navigating uncertainty in environmental composite indicators , 2017 .

[29]  S. Cutter,et al.  Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Disaster Resilience Indicators for Benchmarking Baseline Conditions , 2011 .

[30]  William Becker,et al.  Weights and importance in composite indicators: Closing the gap , 2017, Ecological indicators.

[31]  Y. Murayama,et al.  A worldwide country-based assessment of social-ecological status (c. 2010) using the social-ecological status index , 2017 .

[32]  Yuji Murayama,et al.  Social–ecological status index: A preliminary study of its structural composition and application , 2014 .

[33]  J. Pearce,et al.  Environmental justice and health: the implications of the socio‐spatial distribution of multiple environmental deprivation for health inequalities in the United Kingdom , 2010 .

[34]  Rebecca E. Lee,et al.  Resources for physical activity participation: Does availability and accessibility differ by neighborhood socioeconomic status? , 2003, Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

[35]  M. Vega,et al.  HDPI: A Framework for Pollution-Sensitive Human Development Indicators , 2001 .

[36]  Ganlin Huang,et al.  Cumulative Environmental Vulnerability and Environmental Justice in California’s San Joaquin Valley , 2012, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[37]  J. J. Abellán,et al.  Methodologic Issues and Approaches to Spatial Epidemiology , 2008, Environmental health perspectives.

[38]  He Yongxiu,et al.  Comprehensive evaluation of global clean energy development index based on the improved entropy method , 2018 .

[39]  B. Brunekreef,et al.  Green space definition affects associations of green space with overweight and physical activity , 2018, Environmental research.

[40]  C. Webster,et al.  Urban environments and human health: current trends and future directions , 2017 .

[41]  Mario Biggeri,et al.  Towards a more ‘Sustainable’ Human Development Index: Integrating the environment and freedom , 2018, Ecological Indicators.

[42]  F. Carré,et al.  Building spatial composite indicators to analyze environmental health inequalities on a regional scale , 2015, Environmental Health.

[43]  M. Droomers,et al.  What Causes Environmental Inequalities and Related Health Effects? An Analysis of Evolving Concepts , 2014, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[44]  Aura Reggiani,et al.  Spatial Economic Resilience: Overview and Perspectives , 2015 .

[45]  T. Neset,et al.  Assessment of composite index methods for agricultural vulnerability to climate change. , 2015, Journal of environmental management.

[46]  Isabel-María García-Sánchez,et al.  A proposal for a Composite Index of Environmental Performance (CIEP) for countries , 2015 .

[47]  Annette Evans,et al.  Assessment of the Economic, Social and Environmental Dimensions of the Indicators for Sustainable Development , 2017 .

[48]  L. Montanarella,et al.  European Soil Data Centre: Response to European policy support and public data requirements , 2012 .

[49]  Baolong Han,et al.  Effective green equivalent-A measure of public green spaces for cities , 2014 .

[50]  Benjamin Beccari,et al.  A Comparative Analysis of Disaster Risk, Vulnerability and Resilience Composite Indicators , 2016, PLoS currents.

[51]  Johannes Flacke,et al.  Mapping Environmental Inequalities Relevant for Health for Informing Urban Planning Interventions—A Case Study in the City of Dortmund, Germany , 2016, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[52]  Valérie Angeon,et al.  Reviewing Composite Vulnerability and Resilience Indexes: A Sustainable Approach and Application , 2014 .