|
|
|
|
Healthy Urbanization Programme
Uniting for health
Smoke-free cities
Climate change and health
Urban HEART
|
Our Healthy Urbanization programme
is intended
to
generate
new knowledge and
stimulate action
to
confront urban health
inequity
in both developing
and developed
countries.
2010 has been dedicated by WHO as a landmark year
for
urbanization and health. Next year, World Health Day activities, a global report and an international forum will focus attention on the health issues arising from the urban phenomenon.
Urbanization today
The worldfs population living in towns and cities surpassed 50% for the first time in history in 2007, and this proportion is growing. By 2030, six in ten of us will be urban dwellers. Urbanization is a product of migration from rural areas as well as natural urban demographic growth. It is accelerating: historical data on growth of cities from one million to eight million inhabitants shows that?for London, it took around 130 years across the 19th century. For Bangkok, in the mid-20th century, the same growth took 45 years and for Seoul, just 25 years. In the years to come, it is predicted that the growth of midsize cities with 1-10m people will outpace the growth of megacities of over
10 million. Most of this growth will occur in low- and middle-income countries. Currently, urbanization is occurring fastest in Africa, and involves the largest number of people in Asia. |
|
|
What does urbanization have to do with health?
Urbanization is such a powerful phenomenon that it is, in itself, a major determinant of public health in the 21st century. In many cases, especially in the developing world, the speed of urban growth has outpaced the ability of governments to build essential infrastructures that make life in cities safe, rewarding, and healthy. While urban living continues to offer many opportunities, including potential access to better health care, todayfs urban environments can concentrate health risks, magnify the consequences, and introduce new hazards. Health challenges
relate to water, environment, violence and injury, noncommunicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases), unhealthy diets and physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol as well as the risks associated with disease outbreaks. |
 |
What do WHO and the Kobe Centre hope to achieve?
Often the most affected are vulnerable groups such as the elderly, migrants, women, children, the poor and urban slum dwellers.
Recognizing the environmental, social, and political factors that can determine the health outcomes of urban dwellers is an important first step towards action.
The need for a focus on urban settings is reinforced by the 2008 World Health Report on Primary Health Care, and a 2009 World Health Assembly resolution urges WHO and Member States to tackle social determinants of health. With its specific focus on the issues of health in urban settings, WHO and the Kobe Centre hope to stimulate action from Member States.
For more details on WHO Kobe Centre's Healthy Urbanization programme, scroll back up to the title to skip to pages about our work on uniting sectors for health, smoke free cities, climate change and health and a tool to measure and act on health equity, Urban HEART. |
|
|
|
|
