The Impact of Environmental Quality on Population Settlement and Health in Baku

Abstract

The aim of the research is to assess the impact of environmental quality on the settlement and health of the population of Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as to identify key factors that contribute to the improvement of the quality of life. The article contains environment analysis and ecological index calculations and suggests adding the ecological index to the Human Development Index to assess the level of development in the area. The authors studied the health status of the population in contemporary densely populated Baku in relation to the ecogeographical environment, as well as the differences in the geographical distribution of respiratory diseases in the administrative districts of Baku caused by the emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere.  The research employed methods of statistical, comparative analysis, system-structural, cartographic, SPSS statistic and other methods using statistical collections published in recent years. The study established  a linear and positive statistically significant correlation between the morbidity in administrative districts and emissions of carbon monoxide (r = 0.80471, P < 0.005, CI (0.4180–0.9416)) and nitrogen oxide (r = 0.765992, P < 0.005, CI (0.3514–0.932)). In 2000–2022, there was a 10–12 % rise in the morbidity rate in districts where population is growing at a high rate, such as Khazar (1.8 times), Sabunchu (1.7 times), and Binagadi (1.5 times). If the population of the city continues to grow at a high rate, the burden of diseases may also increase rapidly.