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Liveable Cities

The world is no longer mostly rural; about half the people in the world now live in cities. The built environment of cities has an enormous impact on health, particularly that of marginalized women and the poor.

Cities are a major source of pollution, and their design affects the ability and willingness of their residents to be physically active, mobile, and gainfully employed, which in turn has an enormous impact on their health and economic status.

Beyond strictly health and environmental concerns, the design of cities is significantly connected to quality of life: cities can encourage crime, isolation, and social aggressiveness, or friendliness, community, and harmony.

The goal of our program is to improve health, equity, and the environment in cities in developing countries, through sound urban design and transport policies that focus on access, fuel-free transport, mass transit, and qualities that make cities more liveable such as accessible public spaces and green space.

Through this program we aim to:

Improve the social and physical environment of cities;
Reduce inequity through transport investments, while increasing overall quality of life;
Reduce poverty through reduced transport costs and increased employment opportunities for the poor;
Improve gender equity through increased mobility of women and girls; and
Reduce obesity and chronic disease through increased physical activity and improved nutrition.

HealthBridge works in partnership with local NGOs, academic institutions, and government in Asia to promote sound urban design that supports healthy lifestyles, gender equity, poverty reduction, and a cleaner environment.

Our areas of focus include:

Promoting policies that benefit improved health through improved access (e.g., to healthy food) and increased physical activity;
Promoting "mixed use" urban design and public/green spaces (people friendly, transit friendly, conviviality; that encourages social interaction);
Promoting transport decisions that take into account cost externalities and other negative impacts in transport policy making;
Promoting policies that facilitate non-motorized and mass transit.

HealthBridge is a member of the World Carfree Network.

New and noteworthy

Public Spaces, How they Humanize Cities

The book explains the importance of public spaces in urban life. It highlights the need to protect, preserve, and expand public spaces and explains the critical role that public spaces play in quality of life and in creating social connections in a city.

Public Spaces is an important resource for anyone concerned about the liveability of their cities. We would be happy to provide you with copies of the book for distribution to your colleagues or you can download the book directly from our website.

HealthBridge plans to work with Gil Peñalosa of 8 to 80 to develop a version for Latin America and North America. If you would be interested in adapting the book for your local community, please let us know. We would be happy to work with you.

What others have to say about the book:
"This book fills an obvious void in the international literature on public spaces by dealing with the situation of people in the many poor cities of this world. A book like this has been seriously needed for years - and here it is concise and clear in its language, excellently illustrated, well-researched and with moving examples and extracts from interviews with the people most affected. It is a book with much warmth and compassion for people. An excellent book." - Jan Gehl

"You might consider buying a carton of these books to hand out to local officials... This book is not a planner's guide to public spaces. There's no math involved, no rigorous standards. Rather, this book seeks to show the reader how important public spaces are to quality of life and the strength of social connections in a city. It's an inspirational work, not a manual. It's nicely illustrated and printed in a handy format. The one possible stumbling block for North American use is that the book focuses mainly on southern Asia. The lessons, however, are timeless and placeless. This is a book to give to anyone with an open mind on the subject of cities." - Joel Crawford

Other news

Debra Efroymson, HealthBridge Regional Director, was published in Carbusters magazine. Click on the link to view her article, Cars and the Economy - Liberating ourselves from the bondage of "common knowledge".

Debra Efroymson, HealthBridge Regional Director, was published in Carbusters magazine. Click on the link to view her article, Fighting the Current: Carfree Activities in Low-Income Cities PDF symbol .