Health-Oriented Urban Planning in Germany

Abstract

Up to the end of the 20th century, in the European and German city, urban planning concepts were based mainly on a pathogenetic understanding of health. Since the Ottawa Charter of the First Global Health Promotion Conference in 1986 it has become clear that health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond a healthy lifestyle to wellbeing. So a shift to a salutogenetic understanding of health, focused on wellbeing, has recently been influencing German urban planning research and practice. This chapter shows that there is an increasing gap between disadvantaged and better-off neighborhoods in German cities. Processes and decisions of social policy, including in relation to the environment, transport, education, and, more broadly, society and the economy, are promoters of healthy living conditions as well as the (built) environment itself. The North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin case studies are examples of both aspects. The chapter sheds light on health-oriented city planning and urban design practice by examining its different aspects and action areas in the context of urban Germany.