title: Climate Change and Health in the Urban Context: The Experience of Barcelona.
abstract: Climate change poses huge challenges for public health, and cities are at the forefront of this process. The purpose of this paper is to present the issues climate change poses for public health in the city of Barcelona, how they are being addressed, and what are the current major challenges, trying to contribute to the development of a baseline understanding of the status of adaptation in cities from a public health perspective. The major issues related to climate change faced by the city are common to other urban centers in a Mediterranean climate: heat waves, water availability and quality, air quality, and diseases transmitted by vectors, and all are reviewed in detail with empirical data. They are not a potential threat for the future, but have actually challenged the city services and infrastructure over the last years, requiring sustainable responses and rigorous planning.
authors.affiliation: Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Barcelona, Spain Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Climate Healthy Cities Project, Barcelona, Spain jrvillal@aspb.cat.
authors.forename: Joan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Villalbí
authors.affiliation: Climate Healthy Cities Project, Barcelona, Spain Oficina de Sostenibilitat, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ventayol
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control; D002947:Cities; D002958:City Planning; D057231:Climate Change; D006285:Health Planning; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000517:prevention & control; D013030:Spain; D014504:Urban Health; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control
keywords: adaptation; cities; climate change; evaluation; public health