Cities as Ecosystems of Well-being
Cities as Ecosystems of Well-being
In 2011, the Health Horizons team’s research focused on ecosystems of well-being. We’ve come to understand that it is not only what we do to our individual bodies, but the networks we are a part of and the environments we live in that affect our well-being. Which means that it’s not all about medicine and clinical treatments. Education level, access to clean water and food, ability to cope with difficultly (including caregiving demands), and other factors fit into broad ecosystems of well-being that fundamentally shape, and are shaped by, health. Something as simple as the level of social trust in a region, for example, has been shown to improve happiness, increase food security, and reduce illness and disease.
We believe that developing truly impactful interventions requires us to look holistically at these ecosystems of well-being. We developed two maps and a set of forecast perspectives using this approach, which are now all publicly available. Click below to explore each one in greater detail.
