World Cities Day , designated by the United Nations , is celebrated on 31 October and serves as an opportunity to promote sustainable urban development around the world.
As more than half of the global population now lives in cities, young people in particular are drawn to urban areas for their educational and employment opportunities as well as rich social and cultural experiences. The theme of World Cities Day 2024 highlights the critical role of youth-led actions in solving urban challenges and empowering young people as gamechangers.
Empowering youth in cities goes hand-in-hand with fostering healthier urban environments. When cities prioritize urban health, they cultivate spaces that allow young people to thrive – both physically and mentally. Healthier urban settings empower youth to become agents of change, driving the transformative initiatives essential for a brighter future.
To support these efforts, the World Health Organization (WHO) has unveiled a collection of new tools specifically designed to enhance urban health outcomes. These resources aim to assist local authorities in developing health strategies and policies that benefit all urban dwellers including youth.
Youth health and well-being are complex and require collaboration across different sectors and stakeholders. In response to these needs, WHO is launching a new Urban Health Capacities Assessment and Response Resource Kit . The kit helps cities conduct a self-assessment of key capacities required for integrated, coordinated policy-making around their priority health issues. It offers a self-assessment primer and action guide with step-by-step instructions, as well as training videos. There are also real-world examples from cities showing how self-assessments have been conducted and used to support their work. Overall, the kit emphasizes the importance of connectivity and collaboration in urban health practices and policymaking, helping cities to create holistic, well-integrated public health strategies.
New resources are also available for topic-specific issues. A major global concern is the growing challenge posed by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries. NCDs account for nearly three-quarters of global deaths, and cities have a unique opportunity to involve youth in prevention, advocacy and healthy lifestyle choices. Road traffic injuries are the leading causes of death among adolescents and young adults. Many key risk factors are present in urban environments, but cities can lead efforts to address them. A new report released today shows how a group of 20 cities piloted these indicators. Their experiences provide unique insights into the availability of the indicators in cities across a broad range of countries and contexts.
As well as publications, WHO is releasing an Age-Friendly Environments virtual course , jointly developed with its Regional Office for the Americas (PAHO) and partners. The course provides participants with tools to strengthen national, provincial and local programmes that seek to transform communities into great places to grow older. It is intended to help cities and communities (e.g. rural, remote communities) respond to the challenges and opportunities related to population ageing, by fostering communities to promote healthy ageing for this and future generations of older people – including the youth of today. Intergenerational solidarity is widely recognized as a critical principle for healthy ageing. Younger people can play a vital role in creating communities that benefit people of all ages to live longer and healthier lives.
Finally, WHO and the regional healthy cities networks continue to support cities and communities to create health-enabling environments and conditions. The networks aim to promote good local governance for health and well-being with a focus on strengthening health in all policies, intersectoral action and community engagement towards improving health and equity outcomes in urban areas. Youth participation in governance is key to ensuring their needs and aspirations are heard and to building trust and ensuring social inclusion.
