Healthy urban planning in practice: experience of European cities [antikvár]

ForewordThis publication is based on the experiences andwork of a group of member cities of the WHO Eu-ropean Healthy Cities Network, which has madeefforts to introduce healthy urban planning intopractice. This is an exciting and challenging areaof work requiring the active engagement of urbanplanners and architects. After Healthy urban plan-ning - a WHO guide to planning for people was pub-lished in 2000, WHO set up the WHO City ActionGroup on Healthy Urban Planning. Planners from12 diverse members of the WHO EuropeanHealthy Cities Network agreed to work togetherfor 3 years. The City of Milan supported the workof the Group. Participants were convinced of theimportance and the potential benefits of integrat-ing health into planning processes and practicesand therefore attempted to explain, promote andapply these ideas in their cities. The Group be-came thus a forum for sharing and learning.Technical documents must be based on evi-dence. The knowledge acquired from testing newideas in practice can be an invaluable source oflearning and inspiration. Integrating health andquality of life considerations into planning prac-tices implies a cultural shift in how people under-stand and deal with space and human needs. TheGroup's work demonstrated that healthy urbanplanning is worth developing and exploring fur-ther. The case studies are concrete examples ofhow health concerns can influence planning deci-sions. These are glimpses into the richness of thepractical implications of healthy urban planning.WHO is giving high priority to healthy urbanplanning. Healthy urban planning and health im-pact assessment are core developmental themesfor the fourth phase (2003-2007) of the WHO Eu-ropean Healthy Cities Network. Thus, many citieswill achieve the political legitimacy and the tech-nical support to work systematically and to inno-vate in urban planning and health. The lessonslearned by the Group will be useful for the new-comers. Healthy urban planning should be in-creasingly recognized as a key domain for publichealth policy.Agis D. TsourosHead'., Centre for Urban HealthHealthy Cities and Urban Governance programmeWHO Regional Office for Europe