*** Extended to August 16, 2024***
The WHO Urban Health team is seeking examples that illustrate a strategic approach to urban health. Collectively, these case studies are intended to show that such an approach can originate and flourish from a wide range of entry points across a diversity of sectors and scales, while leveraging many different combinations of partners. The case studies will inform a major global WHO report on strategic action for urban health, expected in fall 2024. Selected cases will be developed for inclusion in the report; the urban health team will work with submitters of these cases to produce concise summaries. All submitted cases that meet eligibility criteria will be promoted and made available on the WHO website and, as appropriate, in subsequent publications.
Background to this call
The health of urban populations emerges from the interactions of urban environments with the behaviour of individual actors and human institutions. Urban health is both a measure of the levels and patterns of health and wellbeing in cities and the art and science of safeguarding and continually improving them.
Because every aspect of urban life can affect human wellbeing, urban health relies on action across all sectors—not only within health, but across planning, housing, transportation, water, sanitation, energy, and many others. This breadth of influences is widely recognized, yet urban health action has often focused on improving health impacts within a single sector or system, or alternatively, on addressing a narrowly defined set of health outcomes, modifying certain key behaviours, or improving health for a particular population group.
Such efforts have widely succeeded in improving urban health outcomes, and cities are healthier, on average, than rural areas. Yet, much remains to be done. Urban areas feature large—and often growing—health inequities, especially in slums and informal settlements. In virtually all cities, there remain unrealized opportunities to improve health and health equity.
Moreover, the actions needed to improve health in cities often positively impact other goals of sustainable development. There is thus tremendous potential for achieving co-benefits through an approach that accounts for dynamic interactions across sectors.
Achieving the highest levels of urban health—and realizing its wide-ranging potential co-benefits—requires coordinating action across all urban sectors and systems while anticipating future challenges. That is, it depends on a strategy to sustainably mainstream health across urban policy and practice. This ‘strategic’ approach to urban health depends, among other things, on sophisticated arrangements for governance and finance, generating and working with evidence, fostering innovation, and generating and sustaining effective partnerships while promoting broad participation.
WHO’s urban health team has been working to develop guidance on strategic action for urban health, including through a recent series of policy briefs focusing on these issues. This case study call will add to this effort, helping to make visible the relevance, potential, and possibilities of strategic action.
Eligibility criteria and call information
Case studies may represent action at national or subnational (e.g., province, state, municipality, or city) scales and should describe specific interventions, policies, institutions, partnerships, or other pertinent efforts. They need not involve the health sector (though many will) but should be relevant to the health and wellbeing of urban residents. Cases need not represent unqualified successes—indeed, cases that illustrate barriers to success or failed attempts at strategic action will be considered. We are seeking illustrative cases representing all regions, cultures, and levels of development, and a diverse range of urban contexts (including different city sizes, demographic profiles, informal communities, governance structures, and other factors).
This call is for cases that illustrate strategic action, as described in the WHO Strategic Guide to Urban Health Policy briefs. Cases that highlight potential or intended actions that have yet to be formalized or initiated will not be accepted. Likewise, cases that describe narrowly focused interventions or research related to health determinants, risk factors, or outcomes will not be considered unless linked to broader strategic action. We are particularly interested in cases that can demonstrate evidence of health impacts.
Cases should:
- involve a diversity of stakeholders (both government and non-government)
- encompass multiple sectors and health outcomes
- illustrate one or more of the eight principles underlying a strategic approach to urban health referenced in the WHO Strategic Guide to Urban Health Policy briefs.
- ideally, be relevant to one or more of the cross-cutting recommendations from the WHO Strategic Guide for Urban Health policy briefs.
- represent action currently underway or implemented during the past decade.
Please review the principles and recommendations in the policy briefs to ensure that your case meets the established criteria.
Any stakeholder involved in managing the actions described is invited to submit a case study by completing the survey form here.
In responding, you will be asked to provide basic contact and descriptive information, describe how your case is relevant to the principles and recommendations, answer several questions intended to capture key elements (e.g., context, enablers and barriers, what was done and by who, outcomes) with short textual summaries, and supply additional materials to enrich and substantiate your description (potentially including figures, photos or video, internal or external reports, links to media coverage, or other). Your complete, clear answers will help us ensure that cases are relevant and useful.
The deadline for case submission is August 16, 2024. Please be prepared to work with the WHO team to produce a concise summary if your submission is selected for inclusion in the WHO global report. Any questions can be directed to urbanhealth@who.int.