Urban Health Platform

Index of Determinants of Well-being and Health (IDBS)

The Index of Determinants of Well-being and Health (IDBS) integrates environmental, social, climatic, ecological and economic variables to evaluate urban well-being at the neighborhood, commune or municipality level, allowing the identification of critical areas and guiding intervention policies.

The index has three main objectives:

To measure and compare urban well-being between areas within the same city.
Identify critical areas for climate adaptation, urban health, mobility, and ecology interventions.
Guide public investments and multilateral programs (e.g., Amazonia Forever, C40 Air Quality & Health, UN-Habitat UMF, PAHO Belém Health Action Plan) based on health co-benefits.

The IDBS consists of five dimensions, each constructed using standardized sub-indicators (0–1) and weighted according to scientific evidence, operational relevance, and international scalability.

Index dimensions:

Health
Climate Comfort
Social Services and Mobility
Ecological Environment
Economic Dynamics

Added value

High spatial resolution: 100–1000 m. Enables neighborhood-scale analysis and direct support for local decision-making.
PM₂.₅ Downscaling to a 1km pixel resolution. Multi-dataset model (DEM, NO₂, PM coarse, population density, NTL).
R² = 0.861, sufficient accuracy for operational air quality monitoring.
Automatic identification of critical zones. Prioritization of areas with the highest simultaneous exposure to pollution, heat, low accessibility, and ecological deficit.
Intervention recommendations. Direct integration with urban health, climate resilience, and health sector adaptation agendas, consistent with the priorities of C40, COP30, and PAHO.
Fully replicable for dozens of Latin American cities, including those linked to Amazonia Forever, C40, and Healthy Municipalities networks supported by PAHO.