Building Strategic Approach to Support Urban Health for All

Our living environment significantly determines our health, wellbeing, and development. In light of ever-rising urbanization, what measures are needed to strengthen urban health for all?

Understanding Urban Health

Over half of the world’s population resides in urban areas. These areas are projected to house 68% of the global population by 2050. This continuous growth urges the need to create safe spaces and strong infrastructure to support the health of their residents.

Urban health involves complex interactions among multiple factors that shape the areas, from transport to design. Addressing urban health means understanding how these factors shape the lives of urban crowds and the challenges they pose.

For instance, limited urban green spaces and safe, accessible transport infrastructure can contribute to unhealthy living and working conditions. The World Health Organization underscores the rising risk of noncommunicable diseases associated with this lifestyle, which will also add to the already high government health expenditure.

Other than physical health, the lack of communal spaces can also limit social connections and affect mental wellbeing. Furthermore, a lack of walking and cycling infrastructure can lead to injuries and crimes, which affect particularly vulnerable groups like children, women, and older people.

These risks are even more significant for those who live in low-income, informal settlements, whose number is likely to reach 3 billion by 2050. The communities there face greater exposure to multiple hazards, such as air pollution and contaminated water, increasing the risk of contracting infectious diseases.

Keys for Strategic Approach

With the multitude of factors shaping urban life, strengthening the health sector requires a strategic, integrated approach rooted in inclusivity. A WHO guideline presents several strategies for governments to address challenges and unlock opportunities in urban health.

A crucial step is to recognize and manage this very complexity of the urban landscape. Government officials and urban health practitioners must have the capacity to understand this intricacy and integrate it into decision-making processes and project implementation.

Next, governments must identify initial key steps to execute, which later can serve as a stepping stone for broader actions and a strategic approach. Examples involve setting urban policies at national and city levels to establish political commitment to urban health. The report also highlights the urgency of finding the right timing and opportunity to bring the issue to a broader political and economic scale. One of which is by tracking cross-cutting issues related to urban health, such as WASH and housing.

Furthermore, enabling frameworks and collaboration are central to strengthening health interventions in urban areas. Some key actions include building data systems and adopting partnership models to deliver needs. Embracing participation as a core value of public-sector action is also crucial.

Health and Wellbeing for All

Ultimately, safeguarding health and wellbeing for all must be central to government agenda at all levels, especially with heightened risks of environmental crisis and socio-economic turmoil. Effective, efficient, and inclusive interventions can be realized by recognizing the needs of all urban dwellers and by collaborating with key stakeholders across business, academia, and civil society organizations.

Editor: Nazalea Kusuma