There are some simple measures to cope with health risks, particularly dealing with infectious diseases: tap water provision (avoiding crowds around water delivering points if tap water where not available) , good sewage system, population sanitary education, particularly concerning hand washing and mosquito proliferation sites or areas, as well as well distributed market places.

Good evening

There should be a fair amount of work on the subject, although I am not familiar with specific work related to sub-saharan Africa.

Some aspects go back to the second half of the 19th Century and the work of Dr John Snow and Sir Joseph Bazelgette which lead to the introduction of the improved sewer system in London.

Following the World War Two, there was a lot of emphasis on natural insolation and ventilation of the properties (in some countries, like SFR Yugoslavia, there was a requirement for new housing to be designed in such a way to facilitate for a minimum of 2 hours insolation a day in winter months.

In the second half of the last century there was a fair amount of emphasis on deling with owecrowding and improvment in space standards supported by the resaerch in environmental psychology and related fields.

Towards the end of the last century with the emphasis on energy efficiency the quality of indoor air become an issue due to the draft proofing of the buildings that lead to dampness, mould, etc.  Recent research suggest that the next forthcoming stage in sustainable design will focus on the healthy environments,

Development of so call Bariatric Architecture is in response to the obesity 'epidemic' around the world.

There is a big drive in improving urban environment to promote physical activity.

Initiatives for age friendly and dementia friendly cities are related to the aging and dementia issues and so on,

Recently, the there is an emphasis of dealing with 'urban canyons of pollution' where tall and narrow urban enviroments increase air pollution with the associated ill health effects, etc.

I hope that this provides at least indication of some of the themes considered in the past and more recenty.

With best wishes

Vladimir

This is a very interesting topic. I don't know how far you are in your study but one way is to inquire about the criteria urban authorities use to approve/plan for structures and buildings. Actual minutes of planning meetings will show whether health experts were represented or agreements between planning departments and health departments or research institutions like universities. WHO Europe have a great program called "Healthy Cities" that links urban planning to public health evidence and is working towards creating cities that foster healthy living based on scientific evidence. Copenhagen has also been on the fore front of healthy cities and there is a great team at Copenhagen School of Global Health that is doing research on urban planning and health.

With best regards,

Pascal