3.2.2. Spatial Distribution of Environmental Health Events

A series of environmental health events caused by environmental pollution occurred during the urbanization of Changzhou. These environmental health events were mainly scattered in 77 places, among which 11 places suffered the occurrence of cancers, according to web media reports. Most of these environmental health events (62.67%) were distributed in the urban districts of Changzhou. Jintan also saw multiple occurrences of severe environmental health events. Field surveys and high-resolution image interpretation showed that all of the places that experienced environmental events were adjacent to high-polluting enterprises or brownfields. Several significant environmental health events and their locations are shown in Figure 6, revealing the spatial relationship between industrialized urban expansion and environmental health. Locations (1) and (2) show that high-polluting

enterprises in the exurb area of Changzhou were correlated with the occurrence of cancer events. Xinbei first reported the occurrence of cancer events in 2003. In 2008, it had one of the highest rates of cancer. Reports indicated that 90 in 750 people were afflicted with cancer in Henshanqiao village in Wujin (location (2)) in March 2013. Location (3) shows that the high-polluting enterprises in the suburban areas of Changzhou caused residents to feel unwell frequently. (4) shows the location of a commercial residential building built on the site of several decommissioned chemical plants. (5) shows the location of student poisoning events at the Changzhou foreign language school. These generated a lot of press coverage in April 2016.

**Figure 6.** Locations with environmental health event reports. Note: the points do not represent accurate geographical coordinates of the events, but refer to the approximate locations and their adjacent regions according to the media reports; general events refer to the events which cause uncomfortableness or health ailments in humans, and cancer events refer to the events which are mainly related to cancer and cancer risks.
