Urban governance and the systems approaches to health-environment co-benefits in cities

• Published in: Cadernos de saúde pública Vol. 31; no. suppl 1; pp. 25 - 38
• Main Authors: Oliveira, Jose A. Puppim de, Doll, Christopher N. H., Siri, José, Dreyfus, Magali, Farzaneh, Hooman, Capon, Anthony
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz 01.11.2015
• Subjects: PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH; Saúde Urbana; Salud Urbana; Avaliação do Impacto na Saúde; Public Policies; Urban Health; Políticas Públicas; Evaluación del Impacto en la Salud; Health Impact Assessment
• ISSN: 1678-4464
• DOI: 10.1590/0102-311X00010015

Abstract The term “co-benefits” refers to positive outcomes accruing from a policy beyond the intended outcome, often or usually in other sectors. In the urban context, policies implemented in particular sectors (such as transport, energy or waste) often generate multiple co-benefits in other areas. Such benefits may be related to the reduction of local or global environmental impacts and also extend into the area of public health. A key to identifying and realising co-benefits is the adoption of systems approaches to understand inter-sectoral linkages and, in particular, the translation of this understanding to improved sector-specific and city governance. This paper reviews a range of policies which can yield health and climate co-benefits across different urban sectors and illustrates, through a series of cases, how taking a systems approach can lead to innovations in urban governance which aid the development of healthy and sustainable cities.