Event: Chinese Real Estate Congress 2019 Annual Conference (GCREC 2019)
Title of presentation: We Are Where We Live: Built Environments and Health
My research is a population-based study using health data (hospital admitted patient data) to analyse the effects of neighbourhood social and built environment risk factors through a multilevel approach. The aim is to guide future urban planning for building sustainable and healthy cities. The study is the first population-based study establishing the links between ‘Place’ and ‘Health’ in terms of osteoarthritis condition in the Australian context. It has tangible potentials to be translated into initiatives and practices in urban planning and renewal for future city development.
The conference provided an excellent venue for me to disseminate the health research findings in the domain of urban planning and real estate development domain. This has not only added to the existing evidence of the links between environment and health and made a higher societal impact in a wider context, but also raised awareness of the importance of considering the impact on health while designing our urban environment. This addressed the challenges and issues in promoting sustainable development of urban space to encourage healthy eating living and improve health. This is particularly relevant to policymakers and urban developers during planning and renewal for future cities and has an impact on everyone’s life.
The conference has also provided me with an unrivalled opportunity to network with the leading researchers in this field: I have established collaborative opportunities with researchers in Qinghua University, Taiwan, and Harvard University in the U.S. I have also acted as an ambassador for RSA to promote the various opportunities it offers to researchers to participate in internationally renowned conferences and conduct research. It has helped me to extend my research with the newly-developed networks and contribute further to the scientific knowledge and excellence in this field.