THRIVE, THRIVE 2 and THRIVE GLOBAL

Three related, sequential publications that address the determinants that influence human health and wellbeing in cities across the globe. These include: a sense of physical and spiritual place; a sense of community; air and water quality; fresh food; housing; quality acoustic and visual surroundings; employment; mobility and transportation; access to health care services; natural heritage and green space; security and safety; and urban regeneration.

Publisher: The United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Editor: Uta Dietrich. Designer: John Reid

THRIVE GLOBAL was launched at UN Habitat III, Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016

THRIVE Health and Wellbeing in the City We Need – A Folio of Art and Text / Urban Thinkers Campus / Kuching / Malaysia / 2016 addresses a broad range of environmental determinants that influence human health and wellbeing in cities across the globe. THRIVE is published by the International Institute for Global Health, United Nations University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which in partnership with Think City, Penang, Malaysia, is the host of the Urban Thinkers Campus Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, 24 - 27 January, 2016.

The Kuching Urban Thinkers Campus is a event over four days that brings together stakeholders from local government, civil society, industry and academia to build consensus around issues for health and wellbeing in urban environments as an input to HABITAT III, Quito, Ecuador, October, 2016.

THRIVE, designed to stimulate thought and ideas through the power of visual art (sourced mainly from SE Asia) and associated text, has been produced for participants in the 2016 Kuching Urban Thinkers Campus. It will also be circulated through electronic networks. A selection of artwork from this publication will be on display at the Kuching Urban Thinkers Campus, Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (Sarawak State Library), Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Participants on day 1 at the 2016 Kuching Urban Thinkers Campus, Sarawak State Library, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. Photograph: John Reid

THRIVE 2 Health and Wellbeing in the City We Need – A Folio of Art and Text / Urban Thinkers Campus / The Kuching  Statement includes the main output from the Kuching Urban Thinkers Campus - The Kuching Statement - as an addendum together with a photographic documentation of the Kuching UTC participants in the grounds of Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (Sarawak State Library), Kuching, the Campus venue.

THRIVE GLOBAL: People, Planet and Participation takes The Kuching Statement of healthy, just and sustainable urban development together with remarkable photographs of urban environments to Habitat III, a United Nations global conference held in Ecuador, October, 2016. The Kuching Statement is the outcome of the Kuching Urban Thinkers Campus: Health and Wellbeing in The City We Need held in Malaysia, January 2016.

The Kuching Statement is reproduced in THRIVE GLOBAL in eight languages and is the result of 158 participants from 27 countries representing 91 organisations who gathered over three days to debate health and wellbeing issues in sustainable urban development, learn from case studies, and develop recommendations and urban solutions. The power of this collective thought combined with the aesthetic impetuous of high quality visual imagery from some of the world’s most accomplished urban photographers delivers a discerning and emotional call for active consideration of human health and wellbeing as a fundamental requirement for our cities to thrive.

Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Quito, Ecuador, the venue for UN Habitat III. Photograph: John Reid 2016

Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. Photograph: John Reid, 2016. Kuching is a WHO-designated healthy city.

We are entering the Anthropocene – a new geological time period that marks an age of colossal and rapid human impact on Earth’s systems. In this rapidly urbanizing era, cities are key players in ensuring that humanity and all other species can live harmoniously and healthily on this one small planet. But this requires cities to adopt an eco-social approach, placing both the health of people and planet at the centre of urban planning and governance. The hallmark of successful 21st century cities will be an understanding of urban development in terms of the complex interconnections between the ecological, economic and social foundations of human development and health.

Planet: Cities living within ecological boundaries

We disrupt and destroy Earth’s systems at our own peril. Humans share this planet with many other species, bounded within the diverse ecosystems that sustain us. People cannot thrive without the Earth’s support systems or the biodiversity of natural ecosystems. Sustainable cities need to operate within the confines of our Earth’s carrying capacity, recognizing that the fundamental roots of human wellbeing – air, water, food, fuels and materials – are derived from natural systems and the ecosystem services they provide. We must value the planet in its role as provider and protector; moderating and regulating climate, recycling and detoxifying wastes, replenishing and restoring the air we breathe and the water we drink, and shielding us from ultra-violet radiation. 

In recognizing the limits of the Earth’s natural systems, healthy, just and sustainable cities seek to minimize their ecological footprint whilst maximizing their level of human development. They embrace ecologically sustainable technologies and design and encourage social, cultural and economic activities that protect and enrich their environments without compromising local and remote ecosystems, now and into the future.

People: Cities focused on health and wellbeing

People’s physical, mental and social wellbeing is the core business of cities. While higher levels of government tend to focus first on the economy in measuring progress, successful cities put the focus on quality of life. They understand that the city and its people benefit when all enjoy a high level of human development and health. Urban slums and informal settlements need to be understood not only as inhumane, but as wasteful of human potential.  

Healthy cities recognize that they must be socially inclusive as well as ecologically sustainable, and that this requires equity in health and in access to the determinants of health. Creating a healthy and just city starts with securing everyone’s basic human needs for clean air and fresh water, access to fuel and nourishing food, good quality housing, green spaces, education and healthcare in places that are safe and secure. 

Only once these basic needs are met can a city begin to unleash the potential of its population. To do so, healthy cities encourage and support innovation, creativity and lifelong education in all their citizens.

Healthy cities support physical activity, mental wellbeing and social connections. They do so by creating environments that are safe, clean and beautiful; restoring areas of natural and cultural heritage; creating great public places; and enabling active transportation, mobility, accessibility and contact with nature. They recognize that humans are social animals, craving comfort, security, conviviality, variety, stimulation and opportunity. They support families and communities, emphasizing respect for diversity and the dignity of others, caring and mutual support, empathy and harmonious relationships. 

Socially sustainable cities create opportunities for economic participation for all their citizens, prioritizing decent, safe and stable work that produces goods and services that are themselves health-promoting rather than health-damaging. They also value and support the informal sector, the emerging sharing economy and the unpaid effort of people involved in voluntary work and other ways of contributing to the welfare of the community. Healthy and sustainable cities encourage cultural expression and creative artistic endeavour.

Participation: Cities adopt governance for health

In order to put people and the planet at the heart of governance, healthy, just and sustainable cities engage fully with their citizens and community organizations. They foster democratic engagement and the active participation of their citizens in the process of decision-making, using the range of participatory processes and technologies the 21st century has to offer. 

They create participatory structures and processes to find and embrace common purpose and to manage the affairs of the city in an open and transparent manner. They bring together citizens, public, private and non-profit institutions, business, labour, faith and cultural organizations and other key sectors. They recognize that one sector alone cannot bring forth the vision for healthy people and a healthy planet. Successful cities think laterally and act creatively at multiple-levels and across disciplines. In so doing, they foster resilience.

Healthy cities measure what matters – socially just and ecologically sustainable human development and wellbeing – and use those measures to guide and manage their development. They also ensure that these measures and the monitoring of change are publicly and widely available.

New tools and approaches

Informed by an understanding of their history, cities of the Anthropocene understand the journey ahead requires new tools and approaches. Past ways of working – characterized by simplistic, linear and siloed approaches that separate cultural, social, economic and ecological dimensions – do not work and indeed make things worse. We need an eco-social approach and sophisticated responses rooted in an understanding that cities are complex systems involving people/people, people/built environment and people/planet interactions. Indigenous and local knowledge is integral to these approaches along with scientific and technical knowledge, as is the use of tools for systems thinking and participatory community education. 

Progressive cities recognize the purpose of the economy is to serve the health and welfare of people and planet. Conventional approaches to economic growth characterized by income inequalities and an unsustainable dependence on fossil fuels and other natural resources are questioned, and considered part of the problem. We need to adopt new economic models that seek to maximize natural and social capital and human development, using incentives to encourage the creation of healthy products, services and infrastructure in ecologically sustainable and socially equitable ways. These cities value and protect the livelihoods of informal and vulnerable workers, prioritizing local, self-reliant approaches to economic development while avoiding creating conditions of vulnerability in the first place. 

Local creative arts and technology are considered important city assets, tools for change and innovation as well as ways to weave together people and communities both within and across cities. In times of rapid transition or instability they promote health and resilience among city dwellers, providing support to undertake the seemingly momentous and urgent tasks ahead.

By adopting these approaches – by putting people, planet and participation at the heart of governance – cities can lead the way to ecologically sustainable and socially just human development and health.

Participants on the last day of the 2016 Kuching Urban Thinkers Campus in the grounds of Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (Sarawak State Library), Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. Photograph: Abdul Afiq Abdul Aziz, Pustaka Negeri Sarawak