Healthy Sustainable Cities

About

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.

Since its launch in May 2022, the Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities website has had over 6,000 website visits, with 153 unique individuals who have downloaded scorecards and reports. Those downloading reports and scorecards have come from 31 countries and 79 cities and represent 12 different sectors.

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.

Our Vision

We envision that the Observatory will:

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

Open data and open science
Interdisciplinary Team science
Global data for local impact
Capacity building and equitable international collaborations for long-term sustainability

Our Team

Executive Committee

Billie Giles-Corti

Collaboration Lead
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia

Geoff Boeing

University of Southern California
Los Ángeles, USA

Melanie Lowe

University of Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia

Carl Higgs

RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia

Ester Cerin

Australian Catholic University
Melbourne, Australia

James F. Sallis

Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia

Deepti Adlakha

North Carolina State University
Raleigh, USA

Erica Hinckson

Auckland University of Technology
Auckland, New Zealand

Deborah Salvo

Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, USA

Eugen Resendiz

Membership Director
Doctoral Student
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, USA and México

Jonathan Arundel

RMIT University Honorary
Melbourne, Australia

Anne Vernez Moudon

University of Washington
Seattle, USA

Shiqin Liu

Northeastern University
Boston, USA

Technical Support Team to the Executive Committee

Andres Ballen

Web and Scorecard Designer
Colombia

Judy Boyce

Administrative Assistant
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia

Full Research Team of the 2022 Lancet Global Health Series

Africa

Adamu Ahmad Rufai
University of Maiduguri
(Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member)

Adetoyeje Oyeyemi
University of Maiduguri
(Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member)

Adewale L. Oyeyemi
University of Maiduguri
(Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member)

Babatunji Amotara
University of Maiduguri
(Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member)

Garba Sambo
University of Maiduguri
(Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member)

Joseph Samali Mshelia
University of Maiduguri
(Maiduguri, Nigeria Team Member)

Asia

Deepti Adlakha
North Carolina State University
(Chennai, India Team Member)

Ester Cerin
Australian Catholic University
(Hong Kong Team Member)

Kornsupha Nitvimol
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
(Bangkok, Thailand Team Member)

Mark Stevenson
University of Melbourne
(Hanoi, Vietnam Team Member)

Minh Hieu Trinh
Deakin University
(Hanoi, Vietnam Team Member)

Poh-chin Lai
The University of Hong Kong
(Hong Kong Team Member)

Thanh Phuong Ho
University of Melbourne
(Hanoi, Vietnam Team Member)

Europe

Ana Queralt
University of Valencia
(Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member)

Andreia Pizarro
University of Porto
(Lisbon, Portugal Team Member)

Anna Puig-Ribera
Universitat de Vic; Spain
(Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member)

Anne Luise Mueller
(Cologne, Germany
Team Member)

Bernhard Inninger
University of Graz

Blaise Kropf
City of Berne
(Bern, Switzerland Team Member)

Carme Miralles
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
(Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member)

Carolina Duarte
(Lisbon, Portugal Team Member)

Claire Cleland
Queen’s University Belfast
(Belfast, Northern Ireland Team Member)

Claudia Viana
University of Lisbon
(Lisbon, Portugal Team Member)

David Vale
University of Lisbon
(Lisbon, Portugal Team Member)

Delfien Van Dyck
Ghent University
(Ghent, Belgium Team Member)

Frank Witlox
Ghent University
(Ghent, Belgium Team Member)

Guillem Vich Callejo
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
(Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member)

Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij
Ghent University
(Ghent, Belgium Team Member)

Jan Dygryn
Palacky University in Olomouc
(Olomuc, Czechia Team Member)

Jasper Schipperijn
University of Southern Denmark
(Odense, Denmark Team Member)

Javier Molina-Garcia
University of Valencia
(Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member)

Jens Troelsen
University of Southern Denmark
(Odense, Denmark Team Member)

Joan Carles Martori
Universitat de Vic; Spain
(Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member)

Josef Mitas
Palacky University in Olomouc
(Olomuc, Czechia Team Member)

Karel Fromel
Palacky University in Olomouc
(Olomuc, Czechia Team Member)

Klaus Gebel
University of Technology Sydney
(Graz, Austria; Cologne, Germany and Bern, Switzerland Team Member)

Lars Breum Christiansen
University of Southern Denmark
(Odense, Denmark Team Member)

Lea Manakova
Palacky University in Olomouc

Marcel Beyeler
City of Berne
(Bern, Switzerland Team Member)

Marta Rofin
The Polytechnic University of Catalonia
(Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member)

Matte Dewinter
Ghent University
(Ghent, Belgium Team Member)

Michal Vorhcek
Palacky University in Olomouc
(Olomuc, Czechia Team Member)

Nico Van de Weghe
Ghent University
(Ghent, Belgium Team Member)

Oliver Konrad
University of Graz
(Graz, Austria Team Member)

Paula Santos
University of Porto
(Lisbon, Portugal Team Member)

Ruth Hunter
Queen’s University Belfast
(Belfast, Northern Ireland Team Member)

Sara Ferguson
Queen’s University Belfast
(Belfast, Northern Ireland Team Member)

Sien Benoit
Ghent University
(Bern, Switzerland Team Member)

Susana Aznar-Lain
University of Castilla la Mancha
(Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member)

Sylvia Titze
University of Graz
(Graz, Austria Team Member)

Xavier Delclos
Universitat Rovira I Virgili
(Olomuc, Czechia; Barcelona, Valencia and Vic, Spain Team Member)

Oceania

Billie Giles-Corti
RMIT University
(Adelaid, Meblourne and Sydney, Australia Team Member)

Carl Higgs
RMIT University
(Adelaid, Meblourne and Sydney, Australia Team Member)

Erica Hinckson
Auckland University of Technology
(Auckland, New Zealand Team Member)

Ester Cerin
Australian Catholic University
(Hong Kong Team Member)

Jonathan Arundel
RMIT University
(Adelaid, Meblourne and Sydney, Australia Team Member)

Melanie Lowe
University of Melbourne
(Adelaid, Meblourne and Sydney, Australia Team Member)

Pinki Bhasin
University of Melbourne
(Adelaid, Meblourne and Sydney, Australia Team Member)

Suzanne Mavoa
University of Melbourne
(Auckland, New Zealand Team Member)

Tamara Bozovic
Auckland University of Technology
(Auckland, New Zealand Team Member)

The Americas

Alex Florindo
University of Sao Paulo Brazil
(Sao Paulo, Brazil Team Member)

Deborah Salvo
Washington University in St. Louis
(Mexico City, Mexico Team Member)

Eugen Resendiz
Washington University
(Mexico City, Mexico Team Member)

Hannah Hook
Arizona State University
(Baltimore, Seattle and Phoenix, USA Team Member)

Jacob Carson
Arizona State University
(Baltimore, Seattle and Phoenix, USA Team Member)

Jennifer D. Roberts
The University of Maryland
(Baltimore, Seattle and Phoenix, USA Team Member)

Jim Sallis
Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
(Baltimore, Seattle and Phoenix, USA Team Member)

Ligia Vizeu Barrozo
University of Sao Paulo Brazil
(Sao Paulo, Brazil Team Member)

Marc Adams
Arizona State University
(Baltimore, Seattle and Phoenix, USA Team Member)

Additional research expertise

Alex Kleeman
RMIT University
Australia

David Flores
University of South California
USA

Grant Schofield
Auckland University of Technology
New Zealand

Hannah Badland
RMIT University
Australia

Howard Frumkin
University of Washington
USA

Kelli Cain
University of California
USA

Larry Frank
RMIT University
Australia

Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
The Barcelona Institute of Global Health
Spain

Nevile Owen
Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute
Australia

Nick Cerdera
University of South California
USA

Olga Lucia Sarmiento
Universidad de los Andes
Colombia

Perla Mansour
Queen’s University Belfast
Northern Ireland

Rachel Davey
University of Canberra
Australia

Rodrigo Reis
Washington University in St. Louis
Brazil and USA

Sarah Bekessy
RMIT University
Australia

Sarah Foster
RMIT University
Australia

Spartial Vision
Australia

Terry Conway
University of California
USA

Thiago de Sa
WHO headquarters
WHO, Geneva, Switzerland

Thu Nguyen
University of South California
USA

Yuquan Zhou
University of South California
USA