A healthy city is defined by a process, not an outcome.

• A healthy city is not one which has achieved a particular health status.
• It is conscious of health and striving to improve it. Thus any city can be a “healthy” city, regardless of its current health status.
• What is required is a commitment to health and a process and structure to achieve it.
• A healthy city is one that is continually creating and improving the physical and social environments and expanding the community resources that enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and in developing to their maximum potential.
• WHO/Europe recommends a basic model for a healthy city that is described further under the Healthy Cities approach.