Abstract

An increasing number of people around the world are coming to live in urban areas. Urbanization and the lifestyle changes it entails are in turn contributing to the increased importance of non-communicable diseases as causes of morbidity and mortality. This phenomenon is not limited to Western societies; chronic physical and mental health problems are major problems in all parts of the world (Desjarlais et al. 1995). Moreover, urbanization is proceeding in countries and regions of the world where households and societies have relatively few economic resources to protect them from adverse consequences (Desjarlais et al. 1995; Vlahov and Galea 2002).