Healthy Cities and Healthy Villages: how to tackle health and environmental problems in urban and rural areas

Abstract

The countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region are experiencing rapid urbanization. Cities and local authorities have limited resources and cannot provide essential services. Also, many rural communities suffer from a lack of proper environmental facilities. The traditional approaches, where cities and local authorities are expected to provide and maintain all services, are failing. "Healthy Cities" and "Healthy Villages" concepts provide a unique opportunity for people and authorities to build a partnership to overcome their problems. This paper examines the problems of rapid urbanization, explains the "Healthy Cities" and "Healthy Villages" concepts and shows why they provide an effective strategy for overcoming the problems in urban and rural areas of the Region