A guide for decision-makers Taking astrategic approachto urban health A guide for decision-makers Taking a strategic approach to urban health: a guide for decision-makersISBN 978-92-4-011617-7 (electronic version)ISBN 978-92-4-011618-4 (print version) © World Health Organization 2025 Some rights reserved. This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo). Under the terms of this licence, you may copy, redistribute and adapt the work for non-commercialpurposes, provided the work is appropriately cited, as indicated below. In any use of this work, there shouldbe no suggestion that WHO endorses any specific organization, products or services. The use of the WHOlogo is not permitted. If you adapt the work, then you must license your work under the same or equivalentCreative Commons licence. If you create a translation of this work, you should add the following disclaimeralong with the suggested citation: “This translation was not created by the World Health Organization(WHO). WHO is not responsible for the content or accuracy of this translation. The original English editionshall be the binding and authentic edition”. Any mediation relating to disputes arising under the licence shall be conducted in accordance withthe mediation rules of the World Intellectual Property Organization (http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/mediation/rules/). Suggested citation.Taking a strategic approach to urban health: a guide for decision-makers. Geneva:World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP) data.CIP data are available at https://iris.who.int/. Sales, rights and licensing.To purchase WHO publications, seehttps://www.who.int/publications/book-orders. To submit requests for commercial use and queries on rights and licensing, see https://www.who.int/copyright. Third-party materials.If you wish to reuse material from this work that is attributed to a third party, suchas tables, figures or images, it is your responsibility to determine whether permission is needed for thatreuse and to obtain permission from the copyright holder. The risk of claims resulting from infringement ofany third-party-owned component in the work rests solely with the user. General disclaimers.The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publicationdo not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WHO concerning the legal statusof any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers orboundaries. Dotted and dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may notyet be full agreement. The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they areendorsed or recommended by WHO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initialcapital letters. All reasonable precautions have been taken by WHO to verify the information contained in this publication.However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed orimplied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In no eventshall WHO be liable for damages arising from its use. Graphic design and layout.Café Information Design. Editing.Stephanie Debere. Contents ForewordvGlossaryxiExecutive summaryxiiiChapter 1: Setting the scene for urban health11.1 Background.............................................................................................. 21.2 Guide objectives and structure................................................................ 51.3 What is urban health?.............................................................................. 61.3.1 The subjects of urban health.................................................................................... 81.3.2 The agents of urban health..................................................................................... 101.3.3 The scope of urban health....................................................................................... 111.4 What is a “strategic” approach to urban health?.................................... 16 Chapter 2: The multifaceted case for urban health19 2.1 Key perspectives on the value of urban health...................................... 21 2.1.1 The epidemiologic case for urban health................................................................. 212.1.2 The economic case for urban health...................................................................... 242.1.3 The equity case for urban health........................................................................... 292.1.4 The sustainability case for urban health.........................................................