On World Cities Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged national and local leaders to transform urban areas into engines of health, equity, and sustainability. With over 4.4 billion people—more than half of humanity—now living in cities, this number is expected to reach nearly 70 percent by 2050. Urban areas have become critical intersections where health, inequality, the environment, and the economy converge, creating both risks and opportunities. However, the most severe health outcomes are often found in slums and informal settlements, where 1.1 billion people live in unsafe housing with limited sanitation and food insecurity, a figure projected to triple by mid-century.
To address these growing challenges, WHO launched a new global guide titled “Taking a Strategic Approach to Urban Health,” designed to help governments plan and implement integrated, evidence-based urban health strategies. The guide provides a framework for national and city decision-makers to align policies that promote health, resilience, and equity. Jeremy Farrar, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Care, emphasized that the guide calls on leaders at all levels to work together across sectors to build fairer and healthier cities for the future.
The report highlights striking disparities in urban health, such as life expectancy gaps of up to 14 years for men and 8 years for women between the healthiest and least healthy cities in Latin America. Urban residents face overlapping risks from air pollution, unsafe transport, poor housing, and climate-related hazards. Air pollution alone causes around 7 million deaths annually, with nearly all city dwellers breathing air that fails to meet WHO standards. Additionally, dense urban populations face heightened risks from infectious diseases like COVID-19 and dengue, while lack of green spaces contributes to rising noncommunicable diseases.
As the dominant influence on daily life, cities are at the heart of both global health challenges and potential solutions. WHO emphasized that strategic urban health action can advance equity, boost resilience, and create cities that support economic development and environmental sustainability. Around the world, communities in Nairobi, Suva, Makassar, and Coimbra are engaging in participatory urban design projects that prioritize health and inclusivity.
Dr. Etienne Krug, Director of WHO’s Department for Health Determinants, Prevention and Promotion, highlighted that cities are key to advancing public health. The new guide offers a roadmap for governments to connect urban health strategies with global policy priorities, including climate action, transportation, digital transformation, and migration. The document underscores that health outcomes depend on decisions made across multiple sectors—from clean air and housing to mobility, finance, and governance.
WHO calls on city and national authorities to adopt comprehensive urban health strategies that strengthen governance, financing, data, innovation, and community participation. By aligning decisions across systems and sectors, countries can build healthier, fairer, and more resilient societies. To support these efforts, WHO also launched the first three modules of an Urban Health E-learning course through the WHO Academy, aimed at building capacity for collaborative and sustainable urban health action.
