Urban Health in India: Chennai City as a Case Study

The urban population in Chennai city is expected to increase tremendously by 2030. Currently, a sizable proportion of the population in most urban area lives in slum areas. The increasing slum population in urban areas are seen an indication of worsening living conditions and increasing poverty in urban areas. The increasing concentration of population in slums and urban poverty has elicited a strong interest in urban health conditions in general and the health of slum dwellers and the urban poor in particular. The present study provides spatial-information on an extent of poverty by slum/non-slum residence according to the census; demographic and socio-economic characteristics of slum/non-slum residents and the urban poor; Household living conditions; health and health care for the Chennai city. The perceptional study has been adopted for the future planning of urban health/living conditions.