Environmental Health and Justice in a Chinese Environmental Model City

This article uses township-level mortality registry databases to examine environmental health disparities in Dalian, China, and potential associations with geographic, social, and economic factors. It is the first time that these Chinese databases have been used for research in environmental health. The findings highlight the fact that environmental health risks and benefits of urban development are unequally distributed between urban centers and their suburbs. Consequently, environmental conditions have been drastically degraded in the suburbs. Furthermore, associated death rates and cancer mortality rates (CMR) have increased. A link between high CMR and industrial pollution was discovered through space-time clusters and statistical analyses. In addition, population aging was found to be a factor in understanding the spatial inequalities of cancer and death. This article suggests that Environmental Model Cities should be required to have no negative impact on environmental health in other areas.