Build Healthier: Post-COVID-19 Urban Requirements for Healthy and Sustainable Living

Marija Jevtic, Vlatka Matkovic, Milica Paut Kusturica and Catherine Bouland
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Marija Jevtic: Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Vlatka Matkovic: EUPHA Environment and Health Section, 3500 BN Utrecht, The Netherlands
Milica Paut Kusturica: Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Catherine Bouland: Research Centre on Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 15, 1-21

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a renewed interest in urban environment and healthy living and the changes in urban environments which can make for a healthier living. Today, more than 50% of the global population lives in urban areas, and in Europe the number is 75%. We present a narrative review to explore considerations and necessary requirements to achieve health and well-being within strategies for healthy design and urban planning whilst rethinking urban spaces for a post-COVID-19 and carbon-neutral future. The achievement of health and well-being demands healthy design strategies, namely, (1) moving from the concept of infrastructure for processes to the infrastructure for healthy living—requirements for healthy places, cycling, walking, disintegrating the role of polluting traffic from the urban environments, social vulnerability and equality; (2) physical space that will achieve standards of ‘liveable communities’—open, green space requirements and standards for any built environment; (3) mainstreaming ‘in-the-walking distance’ cities and neighbourhoods for healthy physical activities for daily living; (4) exploring any of the new concepts that connect the nexus of urban spaces and public health and improving of the population’s well-being. Public health needs to be prioritised systematically in planning of built environments, energy generations, sustainable food production, and nutrition.

Keywords: COVID-19; urban health; environmental health; healthy urban planning strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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