Healthy urban planning
Urbanization is a major public health challenge in the 21st century. For the first time in human history, the majority of the world’s population lives in cities. By 2030, it is estimated that about 60% of the world’s population will be urban dwellers, projected to rise to about 70% by 2050. Urbanization represents a great opportunity to improve people’s health, but also a complex challenge, especially in places where urbanization is outpacing the development of infrastructure, services, and other resources required to sufficiently meet the needs of the residents. Urban planning can play a role in making the impact of urbanization on health beneficial for people. Healthy urban planning is about creating healthy, equitable and sustainable cities.
In the area of healthy urban planning, WKC works to:
- build evidence of the impact of urban planning on health equity;
- adapt urban planning tools to promote health equity; and
- document specific experiences of urban planning interventions aimed on health equity, and derive lessons for policy‐makers.
Highlights
-
Walking to school in Japan and childhood obesity prevention:
new lessons from an old policy
- Article published in the American Journal of Public Health,
November 2012: Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan -
Healthy urban planning
Report of a consultation meeting, 10–11 March 2011, Kobe, Japan