The Built World and Health

Abstract

Environmental pathways shape human physiological and psychosocial development and the types of environmental exposures and associated health risks experienced by individuals and populations. The Built World is the result of the consciously manufactured designs created by humans that exists in both harmony and conflict with the natural world. Nature is continually being formed and shaped by a series of organically occurring forces affecting the surface, oceans, and the atmosphere of our planet. Forming a better understanding of the nature of the built environment allows us to see how these artificially designed formations accommodate and impact the people, animals, and other life forms that inhabit our communal shared spaces. Current threats to the Built World by environmental hazards, natural disasters, resource losses, and remediation strategies are described, as well as how these threats work singularly and in unison to impact human life and the stability of the planet.