The HHH Project — Heart Healthy Hoods — is a public-facing resource exploring the relationship between urban neighbourhoods and cardiovascular health in Europe. Its purpose is to translate research from epidemiology, social geography, and public health into clear, accessible English-language writing for readers who are curious about why heart disease rates vary so dramatically from one neighbourhood to the next.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in Europe, accounting for roughly 45 percent of all deaths each year. That burden is not evenly distributed. Where a person lives shapes their cardiovascular risk in ways that go well beyond individual choices about diet, exercise, or smoking. Neighbourhoods determine access to green space and safe infrastructure for physical activity, the density of tobacco and alcohol retail outlets, the quality and variety of food options, exposure to air pollution and noise, levels of chronic socioeconomic stress, and the social capital that buffers against health-damaging isolation. These factors interact with income, housing quality, education, and healthcare access to produce the cardiovascular inequalities that researchers can trace on a city map with uncomfortable precision.
The research behind this site was conducted across European cities — including Madrid and Edinburgh — where studies have documented sharp health gradients between neighbouring districts separated by only a few kilometres. The work draws on epidemiology, spatial analysis, and participatory methods including photovoice, a technique in which community members photograph and discuss their own built environment, surfacing evidence that statistics alone cannot capture.
This site does not offer medical advice. It is written for public health students, health journalists, policy-interested readers, and anyone who wants to understand the social and environmental dimensions of cardiovascular disease in European cities. For enquiries, visit the contact page.