Health and Health Care in BRIC Cities: Ideas for Collaborative Research

Available on SSRN database here.

The largest cities in the wealthy nations all face an unprecedented challenge: how to meet the needs of a population that lives longer, has a declining birth rate, is generally healthier, but also increasingly beset by the rise of chronic illness. The World Cities Project (WCP) has produced two books and numerous articles based on comparisons among, and within five of the world's most dynamic cities: New York, Paris, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. These cities are centres of economic growth and finance, culture and media, sophisticated transportation systems and innovations of all kinds. They are renowned for their centres of excellence in medical care, top-ranking medical schools, institutes of bio-medical research, and public health infrastructure. Likewise, they attract some of the wealthiest, as well as the poorest populations of their nations, which forces their health care systems to confront the challenge of confronting glaring inequalities and redesigning their health care systems.