Despite their challenges, cities can create opportunities for better health, cleaner environments and climate action. Strong urban policies must prioritize health, as it is essential for fostering good urban livelihoods, building a productive workforce, creating resilient and vibrant communities, enabling mobility, promoting social interaction and protecting vulnerable populations.
WHO’s approach to urban health focuses on better air quality, water and sanitation, and other environmental determinants; healthy urban planning; healthier and smoke-free environments; safe and healthy mobility; preventing violence and injuries; promoting healthy food systems and diets; environmental management of vector-borne diseases; and urban preparedness for emergencies.
Working across sectors and ensuring the coherence of policies across different areas is key to creating supportive and enabling environments for health, which ensures that health and equity considerations are integrated throughout the planning process, investments and policy decisions at the local level.
To help Member States address the above priorities, WHO works to strengthen the evidence base to help policy-makers make informed decisions when addressing health risks. It provides tools and guidance on what works, and supports monitoring of key health-related indicators. WHO leads and engages in fostering city-to-city exchanges and helps develop institutional and policy frameworks for good urban governance for health and well-being in cities.