Urbanization, Health & Equity

With urban sustainability and greening as commonly argued components of healthy cities, we aim to explore how these two strategies fit into the overall picture of healthy cities, for whom and how municipalities are planning sustainable and green cities, and which groups will actually benefit from and access to healthy cities. In particular, we aim to explore for whom healthy cities are created, how municipalities are ensuring all residents retain or attain access to healthier urban environments, as well as how residents are claiming their right to the healthy city. In striving to understand whether healthy cities are are also socially and environmentally just, we also pay particular attention to the demands and strategies of activists mobilizing in the context of greening projects. In addition, BCNUEJ analyzes how activists are attempting to address local communities’ concerns over green gentrification, and the conditions under which they are succeeding at claiming their right to a healthy and just city.

• Can neighbourhoods promote urban health justice? (The Lancet Public Health, 2018)

• Can we make Healthy Cities really healthy? (Lancet Public Health, 2017)

• Are green cities healthy and equitable? Unpacking the relationship between health, green space and gentrification (Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2017)