About
We are a global, multi-institutional, transdisciplinary, open science initiative providing evidence-based spatial and urban policy indicators to advocate for and track progress towards healthy and sustainable cities for all.
The Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities was initiated by the Global Healthy and Sustainable City-Indicators Collaboration to host the indicators developed for The Lancet Global Health series on Urban Design, Transport and Health. It involves a transdisciplinary and multi-organisational partnership among the People, Health and Place Unit of the Prevention Research Center, of the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, USA (website sponsor); the International Society of Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH); the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA); the International Society of Urban Health (ISUH); and the Executive Committee of the Global Healthy and Sustainable City-Indicators Collaboration.
Facts about the observatory
The first iteration of the Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities:
- Included 25 cities located in 19 countries, across 6 continents.
- Relied on evidence-based benchmarks, supported by extensive and rigorous research.
- Was launched in May 2022, after publication of the 2022 Lancet Global Health Series on Urban Design, Transport and Health.
- Is the result of global, collaborative research, by a team of over 80 investigators, from 34 institutions in 19 countries
- The study was overseen by an international, 12-member Executive Committee.
Our goals
Generate knowledge
Provide comparable spatial and policy indicators of healthy and sustainable urban design and planning for cities across the globe.
Monitor progress
Our indicators rely on evidence-based benchmarks, and enable tracking of progress towards cities that maximize health and wellbeing, whilst contributing to climate change mitigation
Our vision
Be a tool for urban health
Be used as a surveillance, reporting, goal setting, policy making, practical guidance and advocacy tool.
Healthy cities
Encourage the scaling up of healthy and sustainable urban design and planning efforts.
Global city comparability
Provide comparable data on 1000+ cities around the world.
Generate new indicators
Grow to include additional city planning indicators and data.
Goal of the Observatory
The goal of the Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities is to provide comparable spatial and policy indicators of healthy and sustainable urban design and planning for cities across the globe.
The indicators used in our observatory rely on evidence-based benchmarks, and will allow tracking progress for attaining cities that, by design, maximize people’s health and wellbeing, whilst contributing to climate change mitigation.
Be used as a surveillance, reporting, goal setting, policy making, practical guidance and advocacy tool
Encourage the scaling up of healthy and sustainable urban design and planning efforts.
Provide data comparability across multiple cities of the world.
Grow to include additional city planning indicators and comparable data for over 1000 global cities.
Our Guiding Principles
Our principles influence our goals and vision, guide our actions and reflect our commitment to equity, open science and capacity building for long-term sustainability and local impact
Open data and open science
Interdisciplinary Team Science
Global data for local impact
Capacity building and equitable international collaboration
Our Team
GOHSC Co-Directors
Deborah Salvo
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, USA
Melanie Lowe
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
Spatial Team Leads
Geoff Boeing
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, USA
Carl Higgs
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
Policy Team Leads
Deepti Adlakha
Delft University of Technology
Delft, Netherlands
Melanie Lowe
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
Membership Lead
Eugen Resendiz
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, USA
LMIC Outreach & Capacity Building Lead
Deepti Adlakha
Delft University of Technology
Delft, Netherlands
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee provides strategic oversight of the Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustaniable Cities. Led our two Co-directors, the Executive Committee includes 14 leading healthy cities and geospatial science scholars, who represent the Observatory’s discipline and geographical diversity.
Deepti Adlakha
Delft University of Technology
Delft, Netherlands
Jonathan Arundel
RMIT University Honorary
Melbourne, Australia
Geoff Boeing
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, USA
Erica Hinckson
Auckland University of Technology
Auckland, New Zealand
Billie Giles-Corti
Founding Collaboration Leader
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
Vuokko Heikinheimo
Finnish Environment Institute Syke
Helsinki, Finland
Carl Higgs
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
Erica Hinckson
Auckland University of Technology
Auckland, New Zealand
Shiqin Liu
Northeastern University
Boston, USA
Melanie Lowe
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
Deepti Adlakha
Delft University of Technology
Delft, Netherlands
Ester Cerin
Australian Catholic University
Melbourne, Australia
Anne Vernez Moudon
University of Washington
Seattle, USA
Eugen Resendiz
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, USA
James F. Sallis
Australian Catholic University
Melbourne, Australia
Deborah Salvo
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, USA
Technical and Research Support Team
Andres Ballen
Web and Scorecard Designer
Colombia
Ryan Turner
Research Assistant
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
Ruoyu Chen
Research Assistant
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, USA
Daria Pugacheva
Research Assistant
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, USA
Full Research Team of the 2022 Lancet Global Health Series
Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member
Adetoyeje Oyeyemi
Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member
Adewale L. Oyeyemi
Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member
Babatunji Amotara
Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member
Garba Sambo
Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member
Joseph Samali Mshelia
Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member
Deepti Adlakha
Chennai, India Team Member
Ester Cerin
Hong Kong Team Member
Kornsupha Nitvimol
Bangkok, Thailand Team Member
Mark Stevenson
Hanoi, Vietnam Team Member
Minh Hieu Trinh
Hanoi, Vietnam Team Member
Poh-chin Lai
Hong Kong Team Member
Thanh Phuong Ho
Hanoi, Vietnam Team Member
Ana Queralt
Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member
Andreia Pizarro
Lisbon, Portugal Team Member
Anna Puig-Ribera
Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member
Cologne, Germany Team Member
Bernhard Inninger
University of Graz
Blaise Kropf
Bern, Switzerland Team Member
Carme Miralles
Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member
Carolina Duarte
Lisbon, Portugal Team Member
Claire Cleland
Belfast, Northern Ireland Team Member
Claudia Viana
Lisbon, Portugal Team Member
David Vale
Lisbon, Portugal Team Member
Delfien Van Dyck
Ghent, Belgium Team Member
Frank Witlox
Ghent, Belgium Team Member
Guillem Vich Callejo
Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member
Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij
Ghent, Belgium Team Member
Jan Dygryn
Olomuc, Czechia Team Member
Jasper Schipperijn
Odense, Denmark Team Member
Javier Molina-Garcia
Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member
Jens Troelsen
Odense, Denmark Team Member
Joan Carles Martori
Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member
Josef Mitas
Olomuc, Czechia Team Member
Karel Fromel
Olomuc, Czechia Team Member
Klaus Gebel
Graz, Austria; Cologne, Germany, and Bern, Switzerland Team Member
Lars Breum Christiansen
Odense, Denmark Team Member
Lea Manakova
Palacky University in Olomouc
Marcel Beyeler
Bern, Switzerland Team Member
Marta Rofin
Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member
Matte Dewinter
Ghent, Belgium Team Member
Michal Vorhcek
Olomuc, Czechia Team Member
Nico Van de Weghe
Ghent, Belgium Team Member
Oliver Konrad
Graz, Austria Team Member
Paula Santos
Lisbon, Portugal Team Member
Ruth Hunter
Belfast, Northern Ireland Team Member
Sara Ferguson
Belfast, Northern Ireland Team Member
Sien Benoit
Bern, Switzerland Team Member
Susana Aznar-Lain
Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member
Sylvia Titze
Graz, Austria Team Member
Xavier Delclos
Olomuc, Czechia; Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member
Billie Giles-Corti
Adelaid, Meblourne and Sydney, Australia Team Member
Carl Higgs
Adelaid, Meblourne and Sydney, Australia Team Member
Erica Hinckson
Auckland, New Zealand Team Member
Ester Cerin
Hong Kong Team Member
Jonathan Arundel
Adelaid, Meblourne and Sydney, Australia Team Member
Melanie Lowe
Adelaid, Meblourne and Sydney, Australia Team Member
Pinki Bhasin
Adelaid, Meblourne and Sydney, Australia Team Member
Suzanne Mavoa
Auckland, New Zealand Team Member
Tamara Bozovic
Auckland, New Zealand Team Member
Alex Florindo
Sao Paulo, Brazil Team Member
Deborah Salvo
Mexico City, Mexico Team Member
Eugen Resendiz
Mexico City, Mexico Team Member
Hannah Hook
Baltimore, Seattle and Phoenix, USA Team Member
Jacob Carson
Baltimore, Seattle and Phoenix, USA Team Member
Jennifer D. Roberts
Baltimore, Seattle and Phoenix, USA Team Member
Jim Sallis
Baltimore, Seattle and Phoenix, USA Team Member
Ligia Vizeu Barrozo
Sao Paulo, Brazil Team Member
Marc Adams
Baltimore, Seattle and Phoenix, USA Team Member
Alex Kleeman
Australia
David Flores
USA
Grant Schofield
New Zealand
Hannah Badland
Australia
Howard Frumkin
USA
Kelli Cain
USA
Larry Frank
Australia
Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
Spain
Nevile Owen
Australia
Nick Cerdera
USA
Olga Lucia Sarmiento
Colombia
Perla Mansour
Northern Ireland
Rachel Davey
Australia
Rodrigo Reis
Brazil and USA
Sarah Bekessy
Australia
Sarah Foster
Australia
Spartial Vision
Australia
Terry Conway
USA
Thiago de Sa
Geneva, Switzerland
Thu Nguyen
USA
Yuquan Zhou
USA
Partners and Sponsors
Key Global Partnerships
