Supporting a Healthy Planet, Healthy People and Health Equity through Urban and Territorial Planning
Marcus Grant, José Siri, Franz Gatzweiler, Carlos Dora, Jens Aerts, Sarah Nandudu, Alice Claeson, Pamela Carbajal, Nathalie Roebbel, Laura Petrella, Thiago Hérick de Sá
Abstract
The form of human settlements impacts on planetary health, population health and health equity. Yet goals for urban and territorial planning are only tangentially linked to public health outcomes. The WHO and UN-Habitat support actions to bring health to the fore in planning and design of human settlements, recently publishing 'Integrating Health in Urban and Territorial Planning: a sourcebook' focusing on 'why' action is needed, 'how' to initiate it; and curating several existing resources on 'what' to do. Recommendations for research, policy and practice include calls for rapid development of closer relationships between public health and spatial planning.