Living in cities can create an urban advantage. They can give residents better access to opportunities such as employment and education, social connections, and services such as healthcare.
But, rather than experiencing an urban advantage, residents of African cities are more familiar with an urban penalty – the complex and multi-layered landscape of exposures that threaten their wellbeing.
Participants at the “Healthy Cities: Intersectoral approaches to non-communicable disease prevention in Africa” workshop collaboratively identified opportunities to promote health and wellbeing and prevent non-communicable diseases in African cities through investments that support active living and healthy diets. In attendance were representatives from several African cities, including Cape Town, Dakar, Douala, Accra, Lagos, Kampala, Harare and Maputo.
Workshop participants gained a better understanding of the relationship between health and urban planning and the need for transdisciplinary research approaches to NCD prevention through urban interventions.
Read the detailed workshop report here.
And watch reflections from some delegates in this video.
