Inequality in infrastructure access and its association with health disparities

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4652908
AutoresYing Tu (0000-0002-2240-5389, Center for Global Development), Бин Чэн (0000-0003-3496-2876, Hong Kong Baptist University, autor correspondente), C Liao (0000-0001-5468-6894, Cornell University, autor correspondente), Shengbiao Wu (0000-0003-4569-6366, Saint Francis University), Jiafu An (0000-0002-3025-3119, Saint Francis University), Chen Lin (0000-0002-5118-5573, Saint Francis University), Peng Gong (0000-0003-1513-3765, Saint Francis University), Bin Chen (0000-0003-3287-934X, Hong Kong Baptist University, autor correspondente), Hong Wei (0000-0001-7050-1941, Tsinghua University), B Xu (0000-0001-9159-2512, Beijing Institute of Big Data Research, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Volume9
Fascículo8
Páginas1669-1682
Data de publicação2025-05-22
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoNature Human Behaviour (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2397-3374 • E-ISSN: 2397-3374
EditoraSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1038/s41562-025-02208-3
PMID40404914
OpenAlexW4410604087
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas14
Referências citadas79

Economic, social and environmental infrastructure forms a fundamental pillar of societal development. Ensuring equitable access to infrastructure for all residents is crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, yet knowledge gaps remain in infrastructure accessibility and inequality and their associations with human health. Here we generate gridded maps of economic, social and environmental infrastructure distribution and apply population-weighted exposure models and mixed-effects regressions to investigate differences in population access to infrastructure and their health implications across 166 countries. The results reveal contrasting inequalities in infrastructure access across regions and infrastructure types. Global South countries experience only 50-80% of the infrastructure access of Global North countries, whereas their associated inequality levels are 9-44% higher. Both infrastructure access and inequality are linked to health outcomes, with this relationship being especially pronounced in economic infrastructure. These findings underscore the necessity of informed decision-making to rectify infrastructure disparities for promoting human well-being

Business · Critical infrastructure · Development economics · Economic growth · Economic inequality · Economics · Environmental health · Health care · Health equity · Inequality · Political science · Population · Public economics · Public infrastructure · Social inequality · Sustainable development · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Energy and Environment Impacts · Medicine · Urban Transport and Accessibility