Whose Health in Whose City? A Systems Thinking Approach to Support and Evaluate Plans, Policies, and Strategies for Lasting Urban Health

Silvio Cristiano,Samuele Zilio

doi:10.3390/su132112225

Abstract

An increasing interest has been present in scientific literature and policy making for the links between urban environments and health, as also learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic. Collaboration between urban planning and public health is therefore critical for enhancing the capabilities of a city to promote the well-being of its people. However, what leverage potential for urban health can be found in existing plans, policies, and strategies that address urban health? Starting from the relationship between urban systems and health issues, the purpose of this contribution is to broaden the systemic knowledge of urban systems and health so as to try to figure out the impact potential of local urban governance on public health. Considering the systemic nature of health issues, as defined by the World Health Organisation, this is done through a systems thinking epistemological approach. Urban health proposals are studied and assessed in four European cities (Copenhagen, London, Berlin, and Vienna). Current criticalities are found, starting from the guiding goal of such proposals, yet a systemic approach is suggested aimed at supporting and evaluating lasting and healthy urban planning and management strategies.

Highlights

Public health has had a crucial role in the development of modern and contemporary urban planning
The punctual explanation of specific feedbacks and triggers is offered in the lines; direct reference to the case studies is provided in the subsections specially dedicated to Copenhagen’s, London’s, Berlin’s, and Vienna’s plans and strategies; far from being a Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW
A city’s life and economy have already direct impacts onto the health and well-being of its people—and healthcare can be meant as a part of local life and economy—yet other health determinants can be addressed separately, as outlined in the selected case studies that are addressed in the present manuscript

Summary

Introduction

Public health has had a crucial role in the development of modern and contemporary urban planning. In the first industrial cities, sanitation improvement was the most urgent demand of several strata of society for the betterment of their poor living conditions [1]. The necessity of addressing this issue pushed local administrations to adopt new and innovative plans and policies that radically changed the built environment (see Haussmann’s renowned renovation of Paris). During the last fifty years, urban planning has drifted away from its roots [2]. The dynamics of globalisation have affected the way cities are planned: from a health-driven perspective to a profit-driven perspective [3]. We are witnessing a renewed interest in urban planning as an enabler of public health [4], which was definitely magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic

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