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Healthy city is a term used in
public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
and
urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban d ...
to stress the impact of policy on
human health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
. It is a municipality that continually improves on a physical and a social level until environmental and pathological conditions are reached establishing an acceptable morbidity rate for the population. Its modern form derives from a
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
(WHO) initiative on Healthy Cities and Villages in 1986, but has a history dating back to the mid 19th century. The term was developed in conjunction with the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
, but rapidly became international as a way of establishing healthy public policy at the local level through health promotion. It emphasises the multi-dimensionality of
health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...
as laid out in WHO's constitution and, more recently, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion.World Health Organizatio
Healthy Cities and urban governance.
Copenhagen: WHO Europe. An alternative term is Healthy Communities, or ''Municipios saludables'' in parts of Latin America.


Approaches

Many jurisdictions which have healthy community programmes and cities can apply to become a WHO-designated "Healthy City". WHO defines the Healthy City as:
"one that is continually creating and improving those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and in developing to their maximum potential."
Measuring the indices required, establishing standards and determining the impact of each component on health is difficult. In some regions such as Europe, a health impact assessment is a required piece of
public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public ...
development. There are many networks of healthy cities, including in Europe and internationally, such as the Alliance for Healthy Cities. A key feature is ensuring that the social determinants of health are taken into consideration in urban design and urban governance. For example, "
urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly th ...
and health" was the theme of the 2010 World Health Day. One tool in developing healthy cities is social entrepreneurship.Evelyne de Leeuw
Healthy Cities: urban social entrepreneurship for health.
''Health Promotion International'' 1999; 14(3): 261-270.


See also

* 15 minute city * Carfree city * Co-benefits of climate change mitigation * Health promotion ** Alliance for Healthy Cities * * * * Primary health care ** Health for all *
Public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
* * Social influences on fitness behavior * *
Urban vitality Urban vitality is the quality of those spaces in cities that are capable of attracting heterogeneous people for different types of activities throughout varied time schedules. The areas of the city with high vitality are perceived as alive, live ...
* Zero-carbon city


References


Further reading

*Kenzer M
Healthy cities: a guide to the literature.
''Environment and Urbanization'', 11(1), April 1999. *Boonekamp GMM et al
Healthy Cities Evaluation: the co-ordinators perspective.
''Health Promotion International'' 14(2): 103, 1999.
Special Supplement on European Healthy Cities.
''Health Promotion International'', Volume 24, Supplement 1, November 2009. * J Ashton, P Grey, K Barnard
Healthy cities — WHO's New Public Health initiative.
''Health Promotion International'', 1(3): 319-324, 1986. *


External links




The Health City
{{Land-use planning, CTM Environmental social science concepts Public health World Health Organization Environment by city