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Information and participation

Fostering Participation in the Urban Environment and in Health

CONTEXT

The public space must take into account people’s everyday life and be designed for all, given that it should promote coexistence and integration. Cities built and transformed with the needs of their residents in mind are more inhabitable, fairer and more cohesive.

Acting in the various scopes that configure the urban environment from the perspective of healthcare requires a multifaceted and global diagnosis of the elements that have an effect on health. These visions can be obtained through the participation of the various agents that intervene in it and/or are affected by it by means of various methodologies. A key element to be incorporated into this diagnosis is the perspective of the public, which can be achieved by opening up participation and debate spaces.

Public participation helps strengthen the democratisation of the public spending decision-making process and guarantees that public interventions are transparent and understood. At the same time, it fosters public involvement and co-responsibility in public projects and initiatives, and facilitates the capitalisation of collective knowledge and the determination of the fundamental elements of the territory’s sociocultural identity.

OBJECTIVE

• Incorporate participation (internal and public) into the scopes associated with the urban environment and health, in terms of both planning and execution.
• Favour the inclusion of health criteria that affect both the population as a whole and specific groups in the various urban planning instruments, based on the political and technical involvement of other council departments.
• Cooperate in order to ensure optimal use of everyone’s technical knowledge of the municipal environment.
• Establish new forms of interaction and coordination between the various departments associated with urban planning projects.
• Develop and adopt health improvement initiatives that may also be used to raise public awareness and co-responsibility.

PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• Establish an internal committee or work group made up of technicians from the various council structures involved, in such a way that the health perspective can be incorporated into any stage of the urban development planning process and into actions taken in the physical urban environment.
• Replicate the success of existing participation structures with a view to encouraging the involvement of specific groups, local bodies and agents, key people, etc. in public participation processes.
• Introduce health initiatives and associate them with the context in question and with the corresponding publics in order to guarantee their correct understanding. At the same time, it is necessary to adapt their materials and methodologies to the objectives and to the public at whom such initiatives are aimed.
• Introduce result assessment mechanisms and identify positive and negative outcomes with a view to increasing cumulative knowledge so it can be applied to new processes.

REFERENCE EXPERIENCES

LEGISLATION

• Reglament tipus de participació ciutadana
• Recull de normativa sobre participació ciutadana
• Llei 19/2014, de 29 de desembre, de transparència, accés a la informació pública i bon govern.
• Llei 13/2014, de 30 d’octubre, d’accessibilitat.
• Llei 39/2015, d'1 d'octubre, del procediment administratiu comú de les administracions públiques. 
• Decret 53/2012, de 22 de maig, pel qual es modifica el Decret 369/2004, de 7 de setembre, pel qual es desplega la Llei 2/2004, de 4 de juny, de millora de barris, àrees urbanes i viles que requereixen una atenció especial.
• Decret Legislatiu 1/2010, de 3 d'agost, pel qual s'aprova el text refós de la Llei d'urbanisme.

STUDIES AND TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION

• Marquet, O.; Daher, C., 2023. Guia metodològica per a la incorporació de criteris de salut en els processos de transformació urbana amb participació ciutadana. Col·lecció Estudis, Sèrie Administració Local 4. Diputació de Barcelona
• Oliván, J., et al., 2019. Plans locals de salut i participació. Guia per incorporar la participació en el disseny, implementació i avaluació dels plans locals de salut. Diputació de Barcelona.
• Red vasca de municipios hacia la sostenibilidad, 2014, Salud y desarrollo urbano sostenible. Guía práctica para el análisis del efecto en la salud de iniciativas locales de urbanismo. Cuadernos de trabajo UDALSAREA 21, nº 17.
• Velázquez, I., et al., 2011.Urbanisme i participació. Iniciatives i reptes de futur. Conclusions del grup de treball sobre urbanisme i participació ciutadana en l'àmbit local. Diputació de Barcelona.
• Capel, H., 2003. Los problemas de las ciudades. Urbs, Civitas y Polis. Mediterráneo Económico 3: "Ciudades, arquitectura y espacio urbano".
• Gerez Valls, M.D. and Isabela Velázquez Valoria, 2008. La salud de las ciudades y sus ciudadanos. Informe SESPAS 2008. Gaceta Sanitaria, 22 (Supl 1): 71-78.
• Ballesteros Arjona, V. and Antonio Daponte Codina. 2011. Guía de Urbanismo, Medio Ambiente y Salud. Junta de Andalucía. OSMAN.
• Lees, E., et al. S/D Entorno construido Llevando la salud a la mesa de planificación urbana. Perfil de prácticas prometedoras en Canadá y en el extranjero Healthy Living Issue Group de la Red Pancanadiense de Salud Pública. Agencia de Salud Pública de Canadá.

OTHER LISTINGS OF THE GUIDE

• Area Public Space. Safe Public Space. File "Safe Public Space".
• Area Public Space. Health promotion. File "Using the public space to manage social cohesion".

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