HEALTH COMMUNITIES, HEALTH CITIES - Essay Example

Planning of cities in most countries has been linked to heath status of the people who inhabit such cities. In other words planning of cities directly or indirectly affects heath status of the population in the area. Towns together with cities affect heath in different ways that goes beyond the presence of health services in the area. Generally, the planning of urban and sometimes rural areas normally affects and shapes people’s life choices and at same time has a strong bearing on heath outcomes.

According to Fredsgaard, Cave and Bond (2009) urban planning and the subsequent urban forms affect people’s choice of where to live, how to travel to work and school, how to clean the air and water and also what facilities people can us. In most cases, poor designing of cities is seen to result to poor heath that in turn put heavy burden on communities and health services (Fredsgaard, Cave, and Bond 2009). The extent to which an individual or group is able on the hand, to realize aspirations and satisfy needs on the other hand to change or cope with the environment.

At the same time, health is seen as a resource for everyday life, not the object of living: it is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities (WHO 1984 cited in Fredsgaard, Cave and Bond, 2009). In order to regulate and plan land use in both urban and rural areas it has become paramount for organizations to carry out assessment of health issues in relations to aspects of environment, social, economy and demographic aspects. Therefore carrying out assessment of the health has been done through a technique known as health impact assessment (HIA).

According to World Health Organization (WHO) definition, HIA is construed to constitute “combination of procedures, methods and tools that systematically judges the potential and sometimes unintended effects of a policy, plan, programme or project on the health of