A project involving the GREAF incorporates the health perspective in urban planning for Vic

The Sport and Physical Activity (GREAF) research group at the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) has participated in a research project on incorporating the health perspective into the urban planning for Vic. The study, in which the town's municipal council and Barcelona Provincial Council also participated, was presented this Wednesday at the seminar on "Urban planning and health: a challenge and opportunity" which was attended by a hundred people in the Atlántida theatre in Vic, and is part of the process for drafting the new Municipal Urban Development Plan (MUDP).

The coordinator of the GREAF, Anna M. Puig, presented the scientific evidence from the research, which identified the factors in urban planning that have a proven impact on the population's health indicators. The results of the project have enabled the impact of each indicator to be analysed, and their inclusion as a monitoring tool in the new MUDP for Vic. The project has also led to the production of a guide with the main guidelines and indications to be taken into account in order to incorporate health into town planning and municipal plans, and for its evaluation in the drafting and implementation phases.

Marina Geli participated in the opening discussion

The seminar's opening event was attended by the coordinator of the Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS) at the UVic-UCC, Marina Geli, who challenged those attending to consider "how the urban planning approach must become a key factor in defining public health policies and ultimately, improving people's health." According to Geli, an "interdisciplinary and inter-governmental vision" must be applied in this area, and an understanding that "health is the goal but also, and above all, the value of change" is required.

The event was chaired by the Minister of Planning and Sustainability of the Government of Catalonia, Damià Calvet, who pointed to Vic as a model to follow, because he said that "including the vector of health in the MUDP is an example of politics that gives people a central role." The mayor of Vic, Anna Erra, also took part in the opening event: "having to redraft the most recent MUDP has been used as an opportunity to create a healthier town, where it is possible to live better and to incorporate the vision of health in a broad-based way," she said. Barcelona Provincial Council's deputy director of Public Health, Laura Martínez, congratulated Vic on its proposed model, and "for its astuteness and courage in incorporating the health perspective in its revised urban planning."