Operationalizing the One Health Approach in a Context of Urban Transformations

Abstract

1 Key messages 1. Urban transformations have implications beyond the health of humans, also affecting the health of animals and the natural environment. 2. The One Health approach can be applied to the urban context to address complex health issues, to engage collaborative and coordinated actions at various levels and scales of operationalization. 3. The diverse sources of health threats in the urban context call for intersectoral collaborations under one umbrella to achieve health in all policies. 4. The process for intersectoral collaboration has to emerge from a common understanding of the drivers of urban change, the implications of urban transformations focusing on the threats to health, the strategies to tackle threats to health and the outcomes pursued. 5. We propose a framework for operationalizing the One Health approach in the context of urban transformation. 2 Background Urban transformation processes create immense changes in social, economic, ecological , technological and institutional spheres, while at the same time being itself a result of changes in those spheres. As a powerful driver of change, urban transformation brings different health benefits and threats (Maassen and Galvin, 2019). On the one hand, the desire for a better life, access to employment, markets, education, the provision of advanced and better