Health Smart City towards improving Public Health and Citizen Engagement

Abstract

Abstract Climate change is modifying weather patterns, producing far-reaching effects on the environment, the economy and society as a whole, endangering global livelihoods, health, food and energy security, and water resources. Europe will not escape its effects, aggravating risks and threats to public health (PH). Today cities are leading the effort to tackle climate change. Cities are embracing digitalization and establishing smart cities (SC). SC should address people mobility, but also the impact of extreme weather phenomena. The degradation of the environment will foreseeably create security and health crisis that could benefit with digital technologies. The development of urban policies should be guided by evidence-based PH practices. The inclusion of PH into the pillars of the SC will contribute toward mitigating PH crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Design Science Research Methodology was used to elicit a Smart Public Health City (SPHEC) framework. A set of PH and SC experts participated in the process, using diabetes as a case study. The European Green Deal served as a blueprint toward a healthier and more sustainable city. The SPHEC framework was defined by elucidating the PH functions within a SC, with the identification of a set of digital PH services that are required to support the SPHEC framework. This allows to assess the benefits obtained with the digital PH services, and provides evidence for guiding decision-making. The role of digital PH services emerges from the analysis of the framework, through the development of proper digital PH services, strengthening capacity and resilience in future climate emergencies, and motivating policy makers to endorse this challenge. Climate change is a serious threat with impact in PH and cities need to be prepared to tackle it. The use of the SPHEC framework enable to understand the role of both digitalization and the green deal in supporting public policies to tackle chronic diseases like diabetes.