Health-affirming everyday landscapes in sustainable city. Theories and tools

As cities and urban population continue to grow, causing serious threats to public health, the development of health-affirming urban landscapes becomes even more important topic than ever before. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question which qualities of urban landscape make it the health-affirming landscape. In the first part of the paper, a concept of health-affirming landscapes and a modern approach to sustainable city design are examined. In the second part, the qualities of health-affirming urban landscape according to theories and research are discussed. The tools, which might be applied to urban design to create health-affirming landscapes are reviewed. The conclusions concern the need and possibilities to create health-affirming landscapes. The need for further research on impact of such landscapes on health and well-being of city dwellers is indicated.