A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Abstract Humanity has chosen the urban environment as its habitat of preference, with a growing global population in towns and cities. Worryingly, having to a large extent understood how to design-out communicable disease in urban areas, we seem to lack knowledge about how to build human habitats without risk of non-communicable disease. We don’t deliberately build places to support healthy lifestyles and reduce health inequity. Planners, urban designers, transport practitioners and public health specialists are waking up to this reality. The evidence base is building and there is relevant experience in the European Healthy City Network and other cities. The solution lies in better understanding what elements of urban form support health, why cities develop in ways that undermine health; and then changing the ways we manage, renew and build urban environments. We need to form coalitions for healthier places, using a health lens across planning, transport and all other urban policy areas. Land use pattern, transport, greenspace and urban design are key for manipulation and design to better support urban health and health equity, and this includes planetary health. Spatial scale is important. At a strategic city and city-regional scale growth patterns, sprawl and long-term planning needs to be tackled. At the smaller scale, place-making with communities, in their local neighbourhoods can yield co-benefits across many of the Sustainable Development Goals. Effective action requires strong city leadership for health, broad coalitions for healthy city planning and a stronger link between what is happening in cities and public health research.
Abstract Humanity has chosen the urban environment as its habitat of preference, with a growing global population in towns and cities. Worryingly, having to a large extent understood how to design-out communicable disease in urban areas, we seem to lack knowledge about how to build human habitats without risk of non-communicable disease. We don’t deliberately build places to support healthy lifestyles and reduce health inequity. Planners, urban designers, transport practitioners and public health specialists are waking up to this reality. The evidence base is building and there is relevant experience in the European Healthy City Network and other cities. The solution lies in better understanding what elements of urban form support health, why cities develop in ways that undermine health; and then changing the ways we manage, renew and build urban environments. We need to form coalitions for healthier places, using a health lens across planning, transport and all other urban policy areas. Land use pattern, transport, greenspace and urban design are key for manipulation and design to better support urban health and health equity, and this includes planetary health. Spatial scale is important. At a strategic city and city-regional scale growth patterns, sprawl and long-term planning needs to be tackled. At the smaller scale, place-making with communities, in their local neighbourhoods can yield co-benefits across many of the Sustainable Development Goals. Effective action requires strong city leadership for health, broad coalitions for healthy city planning and a stronger link between what is happening in cities and public health research.
Planning for Healthy Cities
Grant, Marcus (author)
2018-07-14
30 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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