Healthy city is a term used in public health and urban design to stress the impact of policy on human health. 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.[1] Its modern form derives from a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative on Healthy Cities and Villages in 1986, but has a history dating back to the mid 19th century.[2] The term was developed in conjunction with the European Union, but rapidly became international as a way of establishing healthy public policy at the local level through health promotion.[3] It emphasises the multi-dimensionality of health as laid out in WHO's constitution and, more recently, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion.[4] An alternative term is Healthy Communities, or Municipios saludables in parts of Latin America.
- ^ Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 336.
- ^ Niyi Awofeso. The Healthy Cities approach — reflections on a framework for improving global health. Bull World Health Organ 2003; 81(3).
- ^ O'Neill M, Simard P. Choosing indicators to evaluate Healthy Cities projects: a political task? Health Promotion International 2006; 21(2): 145-152.
- ^ World Health Organization.Healthy Cities and urban governance. Archived 2009-12-05 at the Wayback Machine Copenhagen: WHO Europe.