Healthy Urban Planning: integrality towards the sustainable development goals

Abstract

The paper aims to problematize the health and sustainability of contemporary cities and advocates for Healthy Urban Planning as a comprehensive and integrated strategy to address the most relevant issues of the present. This approach allows for the promotion of more sustainable and healthy cities, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially within the context of Brazilian cities characterized by inequality and socio-spatial segregation. The expanded understanding of health as a determinant of quality of life and the consideration of social determinants of health enable the recognition of the city and, consequently, of urban policy, management, and planning as a privileged locus for integral action to promote more humane, inclusive, sustainable and healthy environments and places. The argument supporting this approach is based on documentary and bibliographic analyses, as well as the findings of a qualitative doctoral research study. The thesis argues that urban life and how it is perceived play a critical role in promoting quality of life. As a result of this critical analysis, several issues and challenges stand out, prompting a fresh perspective on the planning of Brazilian cities.