Edinburgh and Madrid: What Two Very Different Cities Reveal About Heart Health Inequality
Edinburgh and Madrid have very little in common. One sits on a northern Atlantic coast, shaped by industrial heritage and…
Public Health Research
Heart Disease Starts in Your Neighbourhood
Research and plain-language writing on how where you live shapes your cardiovascular health. Exploring urban environments, social inequalities, and cardiovascular risk across European cities.
10 +
Research Articles Published
2
European Cities Studied
50 +
Peer-Reviewed Sources Cited
7 yr
Life Expectancy Gap by Neighbourhood
Research Driven by Real Communities
Rooted in fieldwork across Edinburgh and Madrid, the HHH Project translates public health research into writing that anyone can use.
Why the HHH Project
Why Neighbourhood Matters for Your Heart
Cardiovascular disease is Europe’s leading cause of death — but risk is not distributed equally. Where you live determines far more than your address. The HHH Project explains the neighbourhood factors most people never connect to heart health.
01
Evidence-Based Writing
Every article draws on peer-reviewed public health research from Edinburgh, Madrid, and across Europe.
02
Plain Language
Complex research made readable. No medical background needed to understand what the science says about urban heart health.
03
Urban Focus
We focus on neighbourhood-level factors: built environment, tobacco and alcohol retail density, green space, and social infrastructure.
04
Policy Relevant
Our research informs city-level public health policy, not just individual behaviour change.
What We Cover
Neighbourhood Factors and Cardiovascular Health
Urban Environments
Research Methods
European Cities
Prevention Policy
Latest Research
Heart Health Research & Analysis
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Read More →: Edinburgh and Madrid: What Two Very Different Cities Reveal About Heart Health Inequality -
Mapping Inequality: How Cartography Reveals the Hidden Geography of Heart Disease
Read More →: Mapping Inequality: How Cartography Reveals the Hidden Geography of Heart DiseaseWhen John Snow plotted cholera deaths on a map of Soho in 1854, he did something that changed public health…
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Tobacco Shops, Urban Poverty, and Heart Disease: The Geography of Addiction
Read More →: Tobacco Shops, Urban Poverty, and Heart Disease: The Geography of AddictionIn Madrid, tobacco is sold through a licensed network of estancos — specialist shops that hold an exclusive state concession…
Ready to Explore the Research?
Browse our articles on heart health, urban environments, and the social determinants of cardiovascular disease across European cities.
Key Findings
What the Research Reveals
CVD Mortality Inequality
45%
Neighbourhood Effect on Heart Health
Cardiovascular mortality in Edinburgh’s most deprived neighbourhoods is significantly higher than in its most affluent areas — a gap driven by the built environment, retail density, and social infrastructure, not individual behaviour alone.
“The data from Edinburgh and Madrid shows clearly that where you grow up and where you live shapes your cardiovascular risk in ways that no amount of individual lifestyle advice can fully overcome.”
— HHH Project Research Team
“Tobacco retail density in Villaverde is significantly above the Madrid city average. The concentration of outlets near schools and residential areas represents a cardiovascular risk exposure that residents cannot individually avoid.”
— HHH Project, Madrid Findings
