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In recent years Saudi Arabia has launched many campaigns to promote a model of global excellence to be a pioneer in future growth. As part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's National Vision 2030, the country encourages the improvement of national quality services based on the commitment of the government to build up a prosperous country, starting with the valorisation of local traditions. In particular, the Saudi, Arab, and Islamic heritage, built by an ancient civilisation and deeply rooted in the country's history, is currently valorised to strengthen the national identity of local Arab values. The country aspires to preserve heritage sites and the local environment by promoting hospitality services for tourism. In the last years, Muslim pilgrims and all visitors to heritage sites entering the country from abroad have reached eight million people, tripling the numbers in the last decade. The government has started many initiatives and promoted many urban planning processes, programmes, and projects to enhance the touristic offer. The intent is to reach a sustainable approach to target the healthy growth of the country and the Saudi Arabian cities. The article presents some interventions that are currently under development to pursue the Saudi Vision 2030 and its goals. The recent third expansion of the Two Holy Mosques, the modernization of national airports, and the Mecca Metro project to complement the railroad and train public transportation offer will be presented and discussed as part of the national strategy to achieve a sustainable economy and tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is broad consensus among policymakers about the urgency of developing healthy, inclusive, and socially sustainable cities. In the Swedish context, social services are considered to have knowledge that needs to be integrated into the broader urban development processes in order to accomplish such ends. This article aims to better understand the ways in which social service officials collaborate in urban development processes for developing the social dimensions of healthy cities. We draw from neo-institutional theories, which set out actors (e.g., social service officials) as acting according to a logic of appropriateness, which means that actors do what they see as appropriate for themselves in a specific type of situation. Based on semi-structured interviews with social services officials in 10 Swedish municipalities on their experiences of collaboration in the development of housing and living environments for people with psychiatric disabilities, we identified that they act based on (a) a pragmatic rule of conduct through the role of the problem solver, (b) a bureaucratic rule of conduct through the role of the knowledge provider, and (c) activist rule of conduct through the role of the advocator. In these roles, they have little authority in the development processes, and are unable to set the agenda for the social dimensions of healthy cities but act as the moral consciousness by looking out for everyone's right to equal living conditions in urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban forms can have numerous direct and indirect effects on the health of residents. This article focuses on the relationship between health and urban form, in particular the role of green open spaces. The goal is to identify criteria for evaluating the impact of physical forms such as streets and open spaces, green infrastructure, and built structures on urban health. These criteria are then used to identify paths for the redevelopment of modernist housing estates with the aim of improving living conditions. This challenge remains particularly significant in Poland and Eastern Europe, where a large share of the urban population lives in modernist blocks of flats. First, we examine the modernist housing concept in Europe and Poland and the guiding principles for their development, including the role of green, open spaces. Then, we refer to several studies on urban health to identify normative factors that define the open space design conditions in modernist housing estates. We apply the typo-morphological approach with qualitative and quantitative assessment of building forms and forms of green open spaces to examine the structures of two modernist housing estates in Poland: Lodz and Gdansk. We evaluate their living conditions, especially the organisation of outdoor space, in terms of their impact on the health of residents. A comparison of the two housing estates reveals common factors defining the relationship between urban form and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanisation, urban mobility (active travel), and public health continue to be three defining issues of the 21st century. Today, more than half of humanity lives in cities, a proportion that is expected to reach 70% by 2050. Not surprisingly, urbanisation has significant impacts on mobility, health, and well-being. Today's cities struggle with health challenges such as those that are either a direct result of infectious and non-communicable diseases or issues related to violence and injuries. According to the World Health Organisation, the lack of suitable space in urban areas for physical activities and active living has turned cities into epicentres for diseases. The concept of urban mobility and its connection to health is not new. However, the ways through which a healthy city objective is achieved are poorly investigated in the academic literature. Accordingly, this article proposes a holistic conceptual framework by consolidating knowledge around factors impacting urban mobility by adopting a scoping review methodology to determine the field's scope, coverage, and existing knowledge gap. To achieve the above objectives, 3,189 research articles and book chapters published between 2014 and 2021 were screened. A total of 92 studies were identified as eligible for inclusion in the scoping review. This approach revealed the importance of understanding urban mobility and healthy cities and of identifying and enacting associated enablers. Covid-19 has amplified the urgency of giving attention to these issues. The scoping review also showed a need for further research that investigates the future of urban mobility and healthy cities. A conceptual framework has been drawn from the literature to guide such future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synergies between urban planning and public health were synthesized a decade ago by the Lancet Commission's article "Shaping Cities for Health: Complexity and the Planning of Urban Environments in the 21st Century." Since then, innovative research projects, urban planning projects, and accumulated experience from the World Health Organization Healthy Cities project confirm that transdisciplinary contributions enable the achievement of core principles of healthy cities. This article clarifies important differences between the content, scope, and outcomes of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects about public health and urban planning. It explains why transdisciplinary contributions are more likely to bridge the applicability gap between knowledge and practice in response to persistent urban health challenges; notably, they transgress the boundaries of public health and medical science; they prioritize political action in both the formal and informal construction sectors; and they include citizens, community associations, and private enterprises as partners in consortia for concerted action. This article proposes a radical shift from incremental, reactive, and corrective approaches in planning for urban health to proactive and anticipative contributions using backcasting and alternative scenarios that prioritize health. The article uses the case of public green spaces in planning for urban health. It identifies the shortcomings of many empirical studies that are meant to promote and sustain health before describing and illustrating an alternative way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years Saudi Arabia has launched many campaigns to promote a model of global excellence to be a pioneer in future growth. As part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s National Vision 2030, the country encourages the improvement of national quality services based on the commitment of the government to build up a prosperous country, starting with the valorisation of local traditions. In particular, the Saudi, Arab, and Islamic heritage, built by an ancient civilisation and deeply rooted in the country’s history, is currently valorised to strengthen the national identity of local Arab values. The country aspires to preserve heritage sites and the local environment by promoting hospitality services for tourism. In the last years, Muslim pilgrims and all visitors to heritage sites entering the country from abroad have reached eight million people, tripling the numbers in the last decade. The government has started many initiatives and promoted many urban planning processes, programmes, and projects to enhance the touristic offer. The intent is to reach a sustainable approach to target the healthy growth of the country and the Saudi Arabian cities. The article presents some interventions that are currently under development to pursue the Saudi Vision 2030 and its goals. The recent third expansion of the Two Holy Mosques, the modernization of national airports, and the Mecca Metro project to complement the railroad and train public transportation offer will be presented and discussed as part of the national strategy to achieve a sustainable economy and tourism.

Urbanisation, urban mobility (active travel), and public health continue to be three defining issues of the 21st century. Today, more than half of humanity lives in cities, a proportion that is expected to reach 70% by 2050. Not surprisingly, urbanisation has significant impacts on mobility, health, and well-being. Today’s cities struggle with health challenges such as those that are either a direct result of infectious and non-communicable diseases or issues related to violence and injuries. According to the World Health Organisation, the lack of suitable space in urban areas for physical activities and active living has turned cities into epicentres for diseases. The concept of urban mobility and its connection to health is not new. However, the ways through which a healthy city objective is achieved are poorly investigated in the academic literature. Accordingly, this article proposes a holistic conceptual framework by consolidating knowledge around factors impacting urban mobility by adopting a scoping review methodology to determine the field’s scope, coverage, and existing knowledge gap. To achieve the above objectives, 3,189 research articles and book chapters published between 2014 and 2021 were screened. A total of 92 studies were identified as eligible for inclusion in the scoping review. This approach revealed the importance of understanding urban mobility and healthy cities and of identifying and enacting associated enablers. Covid-19 has amplified the urgency of giving attention to these issues. The scoping review also showed a need for further research that investigates the future of urban mobility and healthy cities. A conceptual framework has been drawn from the literature to guide such future research.

Synergies between urban planning and public health were synthesized a decade ago by the Lancet Commission’s article “Shaping Cities for Health: Complexity and the Planning of Urban Environments in the 21st Century.” Since then, innovative research projects, urban planning projects, and accumulated experience from the World Health Organization Healthy Cities project confirm that transdisciplinary contributions enable the achievement of core principles of healthy cities. This article clarifies important differences between the content, scope, and outcomes of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects about public health and urban planning. It explains why transdisciplinary contributions are more likely to bridge the applicability gap between knowledge and practice in response to persistent urban health challenges; notably, they transgress the boundaries of public health and medical science; they prioritize political action in both the formal and informal construction sectors; and they include citizens, community associations, and private enterprises as partners in consortia for concerted action. This article proposes a radical shift from incremental, reactive, and corrective approaches in planning for urban health to proactive and anticipative contributions using backcasting and alternative scenarios that prioritize health. The article uses the case of public green spaces in planning for urban health. It identifies the shortcomings of many empirical studies that are meant to promote and sustain health before describing and illustrating an alternative way forward.

There is broad consensus among policymakers about the urgency of developing healthy, inclusive, and socially sustainable cities. In the Swedish context, social services are considered to have knowledge that needs to be integrated into the broader urban development processes in order to accomplish such ends. This article aims to better understand the ways in which social service officials collaborate in urban development processes for developing the social dimensions of healthy cities. We draw from neo-institutional theories, which set out actors (e.g., social service officials) as acting according to a logic of appropriateness, which means that actors do what they see as appropriate for themselves in a specific type of situation. Based on semi-structured interviews with social services officials in 10 Swedish municipalities on their experiences of collaboration in the development of housing and living environments for people with psychiatric disabilities, we identified that they act based on (a) a pragmatic rule of conduct through the role of the problem solver, (b) a bureaucratic rule of conduct through the role of the knowledge provider, and (c) activist rule of conduct through the role of the advocator. In these roles, they have little authority in the development processes, and are unable to set the agenda for the social dimensions of healthy cities but act as the moral consciousness by looking out for everyone’s right to equal living conditions in urban development.

Urban forms can have numerous direct and indirect effects on the health of residents. This article focuses on the relationship between health and urban form, in particular the role of green open spaces. The goal is to identify criteria for evaluating the impact of physical forms such as streets and open spaces, green infrastructure, and built structures on urban health. These criteria are then used to identify paths for the redevelopment of modernist housing estates with the aim of improving living conditions. This challenge remains particularly significant in Poland and Eastern Europe, where a large share of the urban population lives in modernist blocks of flats. First, we examine the modernist housing concept in Europe and Poland and the guiding principles for their development, including the role of green, open spaces. Then, we refer to several studies on urban health to identify normative factors that define the open space design conditions in modernist housing estates. We apply the typo-morphological approach with qualitative and quantitative assessment of building forms and forms of green open spaces to examine the structures of two modernist housing estates in Poland: Lodz and Gdansk. We evaluate their living conditions, especially the organisation of outdoor space, in terms of their impact on the health of residents. A comparison of the two housing estates reveals common factors defining the relationship between urban form and health.

There is robust literature examining the wide array of public policies and programs cities pursue in order to try to become more sustainable. Whether the focus of such programs is explicitly on improving the bio-physical environment, climate protection and adaptation, energy efficiency, land use regulation, or any of a number of other targets, such programs often carry with them an expectation that the programs will contribute to improve the health of populations. While there is significant attention to asserting that such a relationship exists, or ought to exist, there have been no efforts to explicitly and empirically link city policies to health outcomes. This paper tackles this issue head-on, investigating the extent to which cities in the US that have the most aggressive sustainability initiatives exhibit better health outcomes than cities with less aggressive sustainability initiatives. Using data from the largest cities in the US, this paper presents evidence concerning the strength of this relationship, discusses the foundations for the relationship, and provides a discussion of the implications for urban planning, sustainability policies and for improving the health of populations.