This series interrogates the critical intersection of environmental health, urban planning, economics, politics and legislation, dismantling the myth that major infrastructure projects and brownfield developments can be engineered into health-neutral territories through simple remediation or symbolic greenwashing. Across developed and emerging economies, it exposes a systemic degradation of public health, revealing how the relentless pursuit of growth is sustained by a collective amnesia about long-term biological, environmental and health costs. At the heart of this inquiry is the argument that our prevailing economic models are built upon a flawed biological ledger; one that systematically discounts both physical and mental health in favour of immediate fiscal gain.