Foreword
We live on an urban planet of increasing interconnectivity and complexity. Cities
are the new melting pots of global development. Over half of the world’s population lives in cities, and this number is increasing by about 2% annually. More than
two billion urban dwellers are expected to be added over the next three decades, a
significant proportion of whom will be living in informal or slum settlements. Urban
areas are extremely complex environments in which environmental, social, cultural
and economic factors influence people’s health and wellbeing and have an impact
on planetary health. To cope with this complexity, understand it and find sustainable solutions, the Urban Health and Wellbeing (UHWB) programme has developed
the systems approach and promotes systems thinking for improving the health and
wellbeing in and of cities worldwide.
The Urban Health and Wellbeing Programme (UHWB) is a global science
programme and interdisciplinary body of the International Science Council (ISC,
previously ICSU), supported by the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH),
the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP). The overarching vision for UHWB are people
to develop aspired levels of wellbeing by living in healthy cities.
This book is a collection of policy briefs produced from research presented at the
16th Conference on Urban Health in Xiamen, China, November 4–8, 2019 under
the theme “People Oriented Urbanisation: Transforming Cities for Health and WellBeing”, co-organized by the Urban Health and Wellbeing (UHWB) programme of
the International Science Council (ISC).
The UHWB programme takes an interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral and systemic
view on issues of health and wellbeing in cities which include the urban economy
and finance systems, education, employment, mobility and transport, food, energy
and water resources, access to public services, urban planning, public spaces and
urban green, as well as social inclusion. Contributions to this book have been made
by scientists from multidisciplinary research fields.
The policy briefs in this volume present the background and context of an urban
health issue, research findings and recommendations for policy/decision-makers and
action-takers. In some cases they inform about relevant events and developments
from the science community or important opinion pieces which address health
emergencies, like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
v
We live on an urban planet of increasing interconnectivity and complexity. Cities
are the new melting pots of global development. Over half of the world’s population lives in cities, and this number is increasing by about 2% annually. More than
two billion urban dwellers are expected to be added over the next three decades, a
significant proportion of whom will be living in informal or slum settlements. Urban
areas are extremely complex environments in which environmental, social, cultural
and economic factors influence people’s health and wellbeing and have an impact
on planetary health. To cope with this complexity, understand it and find sustainable solutions, the Urban Health and Wellbeing (UHWB) programme has developed
the systems approach and promotes systems thinking for improving the health and
wellbeing in and of cities worldwide.
The Urban Health and Wellbeing Programme (UHWB) is a global science
programme and interdisciplinary body of the International Science Council (ISC,
previously ICSU), supported by the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH),
the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP). The overarching vision for UHWB are people
to develop aspired levels of wellbeing by living in healthy cities.
This book is a collection of policy briefs produced from research presented at the
16th Conference on Urban Health in Xiamen, China, November 4–8, 2019 under
the theme “People Oriented Urbanisation: Transforming Cities for Health and WellBeing”, co-organized by the Urban Health and Wellbeing (UHWB) programme of
the International Science Council (ISC).
The UHWB programme takes an interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral and systemic
view on issues of health and wellbeing in cities which include the urban economy
and finance systems, education, employment, mobility and transport, food, energy
and water resources, access to public services, urban planning, public spaces and
urban green, as well as social inclusion. Contributions to this book have been made
by scientists from multidisciplinary research fields.
The policy briefs in this volume present the background and context of an urban
health issue, research findings and recommendations for policy/decision-makers and
action-takers. In some cases they inform about relevant events and developments
from the science community or important opinion pieces which address health
emergencies, like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
v