Rotterdam is the first Dutch Municipality to be given the Healthy City title by the World Health Organisation.
Approximately 60 cities in 30 countries are already working with WHO’s "Healthy Cities approach," which includes numerous activities that focus on education, income, housing and lifestyle.
Note that a "healthy city" is one that "is conscious of health and striving to improve it," not necessarily one that "has achieved a particular health status."
Healthy city checklist
a healthy city aims to provide:
› a clean, safe physical environment of high quality (including housing quality)
› an ecosystem that is stable now and sustainable in the long term
› a strong, mutually supportive and non-exploitative community
› a high degree of participation in and control by the citizens over the decisions affecting their lives, health and well-being
› the meeting of basic needs (food, water, shelter, income, safety and work) for all the city’s people
› access by the people to a wide variety of experiences and resources, with the chance for a wide variety of contact, interaction and communication
› a diverse, vital and innovative economy
› connectedness with the past, with the cultural and biological heritage of city dwellers and with other groups and individuals
› a form that is compatible with and enhances the preceding characteristics - an optimum level of appropriate public health and sickness care services, accessible to all
› high health status (high levels of positive health and low levels of disease)