The Healthy Cities Movement
Healthy Cities is a global movement that engages local authorities and their partners in health development through a process of political commitment, institutional change, capacity-building, partnership-based planning and innovative projects. Healthy Cities seek to apply principles such as equity, empowerment, intersectoral collaboration and community participation through local action in urban settings. Its primary goal is to put health high on the social, economicand political agenda of local government: health is the business of all sectors and local authorities are in a unique leadership position, with power to protect and promote their citizens’ health and well-being. Within Europe there are over 90 Healthy Cities and 30 National Healthy Cities Networks with designated status from WHO Europe.
History
Healthy Cities emerged in the mid-1980s, articulating a vision of a healthy city as one:
“that is continually creating and improving those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and in developing to their maximum potential” (Hancock and Duhl, 1988, cited in Tsouros, 1991: 20).
Healthy Cities was initiated by WHO as a smallscale European project that aimed “to put health on the agenda of decision-makers in the cities of Europe” (Tsouros, 1995: 133). Its first five year implementation phase sought to translate the rhetoric of Health for All and the Ottawa Charter into tangible action. Informed by modern management theory and practice, the project was explicit in stating that a healthy city is defined by a process and not an outcome, and recognised from the start that success requires experimentation, learning, adaptation and change. It thus aimed to realise the vision of the healthy city through combining political leadership, visibility for health, institutional change and innovative action for health – supported by partnership working, networking, evaluation and dissemination.
The approach quickly fired the imagination of professionals, politicians and citizens worldwide. By the early 1990s, Healthy Cities was fast becoming a major global movement for the new public health, having not only expanded within Europe but having taken root within other parts of the developed world such as Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States of America.
Within Europe, Healthy Cities is now in its fifth five-year phase. At the start of each new phase, a set of criteria are issued, and European cities and towns have the opportunity to apply to become a WHO designated city. The application involves cities demonstrating competence and commitment against the range of process-focused requirements – showing that that they are committed to partnership working, capacity-building, networking and evaluation, and have in place:
- multi-sectoral support for Healthy Cities Phase V principles and goals
- an identified co-ordinator
- a high level steering group
- a city health profile
- integrated strategic planning mechanisms
Click on green dots to find out more about cities
Manchester
Colin Cox
Public Health Consultant
Public Health Manchester
c.cox@manchester.gov.uk
Nottingham
Sharan Jones
Health and Wellbeing Manager
Nottingham City Council
sharan.jones@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Bristol
Stephen Hewitt
Healthy Urban Team
Bristol City Council/NHS Bristol
stephen.hewitt@bristol.gov.uk
Glasgow
Russell Jones
Public Health Programme Manager
Glasgow Centre for Population Health
russell.jones@glasgow.gov.uk
Sheffield
Natalie Pugh
Sheffield First Health & Wellbeing Partnership
Healthy Cities Partnership Team
natalie.pugh@sheffield.gov.uk
Brighton and Hove
Annie Alexander
Public Health Programme Manager
NHS Brighton and Hove
annie.alexander@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Visit website
Liverpool
John Lucy
Associate Director of Public Health
Liverpool
john.lucy@liverpool.gov.uk
Stoke-on-Trent
Judy Kurth
Healthy Cities Project Coordinator
Stoke City Council
judy.kurth@stoke.gov.uk
Cardiff
Susan Toner
Principal Health Promotion Specialist
Public Health Wales
susan.toner@wales.nhs.uk
Visit website
Sunderland
Nicola Morrow
Healthy Cities Officer
Sunderland City Council
nicola.morrow@sunderland.gov.uk
Carlisle
Keith Gerrard
Assistant Director Community Engagement
Carlisle City Council
keithg@carlisle.gov.uk
Newcastle
Helen Wilding
Coordinator
Newcastle Wellbeing and Health Partnership
helen.wilding@newcastle.gov.uk
Swansea
Nina Williams
Local Public Health Director
Public Health Wales
nina.williams@wales.nhs.uk
Portsmouth
Rimple Poonia
Senior Manager, Health Improvement & Development Service
Portsmouth City Council
rimple.poonia@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
East Staffordshire
Sal Khan,
Head of Service Commissioning,
East Staffordshire Borough Council,
The Maltsters,Wetmore Road,
Burton upon Trent,
DE14 1LS
Warrington
Simon Kenton
Assistant Director, Integrated Commissioning
Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group /
Warrington Borough Council
skenton@warrington.gov.uk
Norwich
Mr Jonathon Fagge
Deputy Chief Officer / Director of Operations & Clinical Transformation
Norwich CCG Office
jonathon.fagge@nhs.net
Sandwell
Paul Southon
Public Health Development Manager
Sandwell MBC
Sandwell Council House (PO Box 2374)
Freeth Street
Oldbury
B69 3DE
Chorley
Simon Clark
Head of Health Environment and Neighbourhoods
Chorley Borough Council
01257 515732
Cumbria
Jane Muller
Associate Director of Public Health
Cumbria County Council
The Courts
Carlisle
CA3 8NA
E Mail jane.muller@cumbria.gov.uk
Lancashire
Gulab Singh MBE
Adult Services and Public Health
Lancashire County Council
Wakefield
Elizabeth Blenkinsop
Service manager Public Health , Health Improvement Team
Wakefiled Metropolitan District Council
eblenkinsop@wakefield.gov.uk
