Psychosocial Risk Management and SDG in Businesses: Sustainable Cities and Communities
We are becoming an urban population. The United Nations estimates that by 2050 at least two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities. This concentration of people means that the challenge of urban public health goes far beyond its traditional practitioners and becomes the task of city builders and regulators of all disciplines. Policymakers, architects, designers, urban planners, public health officials, engineers, geographers and others increasingly need to think about how our cities can be designed to meet population needs in ways that promote better public health.
Many cities at the center of the COVID-19 crisis have suffered from inadequacies in public health systems, inadequate basic services, lack of well-developed and integrated public transport systems, and insufficient open public spaces, as well as the business economic consequences of lockdowns. More people were affected during the lockdown period in areas without quality settlement plans, such as slum settlements.
As most future urban growth will take place in developing cities, urban expansion needs to be planned to make cities centers of health and well-being, with durable housing in accessible neighborhoods, efficient energy and transport networks, and safe water.
WHO's new Urban Health Initiative considers an important element for health systems, focusing on the urban environment as a prerequisite for healthy lifestyles and disease prevention. Recognized as a prerequisite for a healthy community structure, these urban design initiatives include actions and structural changes to protect the well-being and well-being of working communities in and around cities and their surrounding workplaces, public offices and industrial zones.
References
Sustainable Cities Health at the heart of urban development. (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2022, from https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/documents/publications/sustainable-cities.pdf?sfvrsn=2accfb68_1
United Nations. (n.d.). Goal 11 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations. Retrieved July 18, 2022, from https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11
Urban Design and mental health - researchgate. (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tarik-Endale-2/publication/315864757_Urban_Design_and_Mental_Health/links/5ca22762299bf11169555ce3/Urban-Design-and-Mental-Health.pdf?origin=publication_detail