Urban health across sectors
Urban life offers many opportunities, including access to jobs, education and services. But urban environments can also exacerbate health risks and introduce new hazards. The good health of all its citizens is one of the most effective markers of any city’s sustainable development. Yet many factors that influence health and well-being are determined by social, environmental and economic policies beyond the direct control of the health sector. Strategic decisions made in sectors such as housing, transport, energy, land use planning, urban agriculture and waste management all have significant impacts on the health of urban populations, as do policies related to education and services. Therefore, working closely with other sectors is a key strategy to deliver health through urban interventions. At the same time several important co-benefits can be achieved synergistically.
Cities with efficient solid waste management systems, energy-efficient infrastructure, sustainable transportation options and widely accessible green spaces can attract more investment and businesses, create more jobs, and offer more opportunity to people from all walks of life. To achieve sustainable, liveable and economically vibrant cities, urban decision-makers must apply a “health lens” – to fully assess the risks and opportunities posed by policies and measure their effects. Achieving truly sustainable urban development requires cross-sectoral coordination to protect and improve the health of vulnerable populations in the world’s fast-growing urban areas.
For instance, WHO guidance on housing provides practical recommendations to reduce the health burden due to unsafe and substandard housing for policy-makers and implementing actors who are directly involved in the construction, maintenance and demolition of housing. Well-designed transport policies and infrastructure investment priorities can lead to far-reaching reductions in traffic-related health risks from air pollution, noise stressors and injuries, while reducing climate-forcing greenhouse gas emissions. Efficient solid waste management systems can not only avoid air pollution but also reduce water, soil and food contamination.
Health is a unifying theme that can bring together a wide range of stakeholders, and actions to mitigate urban health risks and to create enabling environments for healthy living in an urbanizing world, can only be achieved through multisectoral work and have important co-benefits for multiple policy objectives.
