Over 55% of the world’s population live in urban areas – a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. This trend calls for strengthened support to address health at the urban level. To this end, WHO’s new repository on urban health gives access to a broad range of WHO-generated resources to enhance local action for health.
The repository reflects WHO’s renewed commitment to promoting urban health worldwide and includes resources that provide technical support and build capacity, strategic reports and guidelines, health impact assessment tools, and other products relevant to urban health and cities.
The repository is a living resource, open to modifications and additions, and it will be regularly updated when new products become available. It covers topics such as urban planning, housing, environmental issues, transport and mobility, nutrition, physical activity, COVID-19 and many others. The search engine allows users to access existing WHO materials by health topic category, product type, geographical area and year of publication/development.
Some products in the repository relate specifically to urban health (e.g. local urban planning tools), while others relate to broader, cross-cutting issues that impact urban health (e.g. global guidelines on health threats such as air pollution, road traffic injuries, or violence against children that need to be endorsed at national level and implemented locally).
The initial content in the repository is based on a structured, non-exhaustive, technical mapping exercise identifying WHO activities and products across the organization. WHO hopes that users including researchers, practitioners, community actors, government and city officials, NGO reps, private sector agents, civil society members, donors, development partners, multilateral agencies and others in all Member States will find the repository a useful tool in the journey towards better urban health.