Temporal changes in mortality risk associated with PM10 across 143 cities in 26 countries: a multicountry, multicity time-series study
Choi, Y., Byun, G., Kim, H., Stewart, R., Song, Y., Heo, S., et al.
The Lancet Planetary Health, 10(5)
Urban data science and artificial intelligence
People, environment & health
We develop data-driven knowledge for healthier, more equitable and sustainable urban futures.
PEH
PEOPLEENVIRONMENTHEALTH
Projects
Ideas and evidence for healthier, more equitable and sustainable cities
Research
One urban system, six connected questions
PEOPLE
01
Population Dynamics
Mapping where people are, how urban populations change through time, and why static census surfaces are not enough for fast-moving cities.
View theme ↗02Human Mobility
Understanding movement between and within cities, and how mobility reshapes exposure, accessibility, transmission and urban resilience.
View theme ↗ENVIRONMENT
03
Environmental Mapping & Exposure
Measuring changing encounters with air pollution, green and blue space, heat, floods, wildfire and the three-dimensional built environment.
View theme ↗04Environmental Inequality
Identifying who benefits from environmental amenities, who bears environmental burdens, and how disparities vary across cities and populations.
View theme ↗HEALTH
05
Urban Health Sensing
Using digital traces, search behaviour and spatial signals to observe population health dynamics between conventional surveys and clinical records.
View theme ↗06Health Effects & Burden
Linking environmental conditions to mortality, respiratory health, mental well-being and unequal disease burdens across population groups.
View theme ↗Selected publications
Research through evidence
↗
Delineating Urbanicity and Rurality: Impact on Environmental Exposure Assessment
Song, Y., Deziel, N. C., & Bell, M. L.
Environmental Science & Technology
Unraveling Near Real-Time Spatial Dynamics of Population Using Geographical Ensemble Learning
Song, Y., Wu, S., Chen, B., & Bell, M. L.
International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 130, 103882
Contrasting Inequality in Human Exposure to Greenspace between Cities of Global North and Global South
Chen, B., Wu, S., Song, Y., Webster, C., Xu, B., & Gong, P.
Nature Communications, 13, 4636
Mental Health Dynamics during the National Quarantine in China
Song, Y., Ho, H. C., Chen, B., & Bell, M. L.
ISEE Conference 2022
Observed Inequality in Urban Greenspace Exposure in China
Song, Y., Chen, B., Ho, H. C., Kwan, M.-P., Liu, D., et al.
Environment International, 156, 106778
News
Latest updates
1 Sep 2026People
Running Chen, Siyuan Zhang and Zuhang Liu joined the group as PhD students.
2026Publication
New multicountry study examines changing PM10-related mortality risk across 143 cities.
2026–2027Project
Urban Systems Institute Fellowship supports a global assessment of urban fire vulnerability.
People
Principal Investigator
Yimeng Song
Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Design at The University of Hong Kong. His research connects urban informatics, environmental exposure, spatial inequality and population health.
Meet the team