Sabine Baumgart

Urban Development and Public Health in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The history of urban development and the advance of planning as a tool for guiding urban growth have always been closely linked with public health issues. Recognising the links between a city’s urban layout and its public health status has in the past often been the beginning of the establishment of planning principles, whether in Mesopotamia to improve air circulation, in medieval times to protect cities from fire hazards, or in the industrial age to fight epidemics such as cholera by adhering to sanitary guidelines. The interdependencies between socio-spatial development and the public health status of urban settlements are especially important nowadays in the fast growing cities of developing and transforming regions, where city authorities often have problems accommodating rapidly growing populations and an expanding economy in such a way that public health risks are minimised. In light of the severity of public health risks, especially in growing cities, the WHO (http://www.who.int) in 2010 launched the campaign ‘Urban planning as a critical link to building a healthy 21st century’. The campaign emphasises promotion of urban planning, improvement of urban living conditions, and participatory governance so as to enhance the resilience of cities to disaster and provide a better urban living environment (ibid.). The megacity Dhaka, the subject of our research, is a striking case showing the deterioration of the urban environment under uncontrolled and rapid urbanisation with detrimental effects on public health.

Intersectoral collaboration of public health and urban planning for promotion of mobility and healthy ageing: protocol of the AFOOT project

Abstract Maintenance of physical activity and mobility is a crucial factor for healthy ageing and ageing in place. The built environment can either promote or hinder active transportation, and also affect social participation and independence. Although public health researchers have been examining this relationship for years, in Germany it is neither a commonly addressed topic of public health authorities nor explicitly in the focus of urban planning departments. The AFOOT project pursues an inter- and transdisciplinary approach to identify entry points for health and equity assessment in urban planning procedures, with a particular focus on small- and medium-sized towns. The final goal is to develop a guide for intersectoral policy action. The project methodology includes document analysis, interviewing of experts, workshops and the simulation of implementation by role-playing games with local stakeholders. Against the background of the ‘Health in All Policies’ strategy, encouragement of a transdisciplinary dialogue within planning processes, with a special focus on walkability and active living of an ageing population, will contribute to the improvement of population health and health equity. This study protocol describes nature of, and rationale for the approach.

Improving the consideration of human health in environmental planning and decision-making – perspectives from Germany

Abstract The effects of projects, plans or programmes on human health are currently often dealt with unsatisfactorily in terms of the indicators and methods used in current German environmental assessments – whether in environmental impact assessments (EIA) or in strategic environmental assessments (SEA). The absence of more stringent techniques for the identification, prognosis and evaluation of effects on human health (like health impact assessments, many approaches are difficult to understand, especially in light of international efforts to improve the implementation of health concerns in planning and decision-making processes. As a result of an interdisciplinary initiative, a working group, affiliated with the German EIA Association, published the ‘Guideline Human Health – supporting an efficient examination of health effects within planning decision-making processes’. In the current process of transposing the new demands of the revised EIA Directive into German EIA law, the Guideline can only be a first step towards supporting practitioners and administrative actors involved in environmental assessments, enhancing the perception of health effects and fostering their better incorporation within environmental assessments.

Immobilienwirtschaft und Raumplanung

Raumplanung hat die Aufgabe der Entwicklung, Ordnung und Sicherung des Raumes. Dies basiert auf dem Grundsatz einer umfassenden nachhaltigen Entwicklung, die „die sozialen, wirtschaftlichen und umweltschutzenden Anforderungen auch in Verantwortung gegenuber kunftigen Generationen miteinander in Einklang bringt, und eine dem Wohl der Allgemeinheit dienende sozialgerechte Bodennutzung“ [1] gewahrleistet [2].

Public Health and Urban Planning: Challenging Options for Well-Being: Experiences from Germany

Public health, as part of community well-being, is linked to topics concerning urban visions, strategies and actors. As instruments and procedures for the development of current approaches to health promotion deliver a contribution to community well-being the interface between public health bodies and urban planning institutions within their statutory and non-statutory frameworks is of particular interest. Reflections on historical traces of collaborative urban visions as opportunities and threats as well as experiences of administrative collaboration between urban planning and public health institutions establish an argumentative contribution to joint strategies of urban planning and public health. There are the legal framework, coherent joint visions, inter- and trans-disciplinary checklists for evaluation to establish and departmental concepts for health and inter-ministerial coordination should be enforced.

Pro-aktive Gesundheitsförderung – Instrumente zur Kooperation von räumlicher Planung und Public Health

Gesundheit bzw. Gesundheitsvorsorge ist ein traditionelles Thema in der Raumplanung, da sie sowohl in der Raumordnung als auch der Bauleitplanung zu den explizit zu berucksichtigenden Grundsatzen der Raumordnung bzw. stadtebaulichen Belangen gehort. Zur Einflussnahme auf die Verhaltnisse, in denen Menschen wohnen und arbeiten, stehen der raumlichen Planung auf den unterschiedlichen Planungs- und Entscheidungsebenen eine Vielzahl von Instrumenten zur Verfugung. Um uber den Gesundheitsschutz auch Gesundheitsvorsorge und vor allem die Forderung von Gesundheit pro-aktiv zu gestalten, bedarf es einer verbesserten Verknupfung von Methoden, Instrumenten und Verfahren sowie der Kooperation der raumlichen Planung mit dem Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienst.

Gender Planning als Baustein zur Profilbildung

Gender Mainstreaming stellt eine aktuelle Herausforderung an die Implementation in Verwaltungshandeln dar. Die Integration der Geschlechterperspektive in alle Politikbereiche hat nun auch den Bereich der Stadtebaupolitik erreicht und kann hier an Erkenntnisse „frauenbezogener“ Planungsthemen von gut dreisig Jahren anknupfen. Lagen die inhaltlichen Schwerpunkte zunachst bei der Wohnung und beim Wohnumfeld, kamen dann die raumliche Beziehung zwischen Wohnung und Arbeitsplatz und damit die Schnittstellen von Erwerbsarbeit und informeller Arbeit ebenso hinzu wie die Themenfelder soziale Infrastruktur und Mobilitat. Mit der Verknupfung der raumlichen Planung von Arbeitsstatten und Gewerbe mit gleichstellungspolitischen Aspekten liegen bisher wenige Erfahrungen vor. Eine inhaltliche und prozessuale Verzahnung mit laufenden Verwaltungsverfahren formeller oder informeller raumlicher Planungen bietet sich hier an. Erste Erfahrungen werden derzeit in der Stadt Norderstedt in Schleswig-Holstein mit einem Leitprojekt „Gleichstellungspolitisch orientiertes Gewerbeflachenmanagement“ in Verknupfung mit einer Rahmenplanung und im Kontext des Regionalen Entwicklungskonzepts fur die Metropolregion Hamburg gesammelt. In diesem Zusammenhang wird im Jahr 2004 ein entsprechender Leitfaden vorliegen. Die folgenden Ausfuhrungen wurden teilweise in diesem Zusammenhang erarbeitet.