The single greatest challenge
for local and regional governments globally is to
achieve
resourceful resilience
systemic health potential
We help cities unlock their
by
Gesundheitscheck für Städte und Gemeinden
Systemic health check for cities and communities
Without sound knowledge of their systemic health condition,
cities cannot effectively mobilize their capacities for growth, resilience and transformation.
Ohne fundierte Kenntnisse über den eigenen Stadtgesundheitszustand können Städte ihre Kapazitäten für Wachstum, Resilienz und Transformation nicht wirksam mobilisieren.
Without sound knowledge of their systemic health condition,
core functions of cities may already have been compromised without being noticed. This can mislead cities to adopt measures to mitigate hazards, while in fact they are already managing disasters.
Ohne fundierte Kenntnisse ihres Stadtgesundheitszustandes können Kernfunktionen von Städten bereits unbemerkt beeinträchtigt sein. Dies kann dazu führen, dass Städte ungeeignete Maßnahmen ergreifen, im Glauben, sie müssten Gefahren eindämmen, während sie in Wirklichkeit bereits mit der Bewältigung von Katastrophen konfrontiert sind.
Which challenges are cities facing?
Cities perform
supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural functions.
There are adaptation challenges in all functional domains.
If the challenges are not addressed systemically, they lead to unintended side-effects, inequality and cascading effects across all functional domains, potentially triggering public health hazards and disasters.
Read more about urban system functions:
Resilience Management for
Healthy Cities
in a Changing Climate
Thomas Elmquist, Franz Gatzweiler, et al. 2019
Common
urban health challenges
in pictures
Public services
Poverty and inequality
Food
Housing
Water
Ageing
Healthcare
Energy
Overcrowding
Light, noise, air pollution
Recycling
Urban green space
Climate adaptation
Transport and mobility
Regulation
Culture, recreation, lifestyle
Integrated and holistic approaches to governance and finance are an important part of the solution.
Preconditions for improving governce and finance for urban health:
“Urban health” is not only about the health sector in cities. It is cross-sectoral and therefore does not increase competition for resources among sectors. In contrast, it mitigates competition for public funds through cooperation.
Integrated and holistic approaches to urban health governance are not a panacea. In some cases a sectoral approach is superior. However, when urban systemic health capacities are in place but not used, it is worthwhile investing in improved coordination and communication for intergrated governance and finance strategies.
Case country: Germany
Globally, Germany is a pioneer in climate adaptation. Since 1. July 2024 the federal climate adaptation act applies for all federal states in Germany. Federal states are now required develop climate adaptation strategies.
In July 2021, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia passed the first climate adaptation law in Germany.
The 2021 climate impact and risk analysis study confirmed over 100 impacts of climate change in Germany, which are interconnected.
The complexity requires a systemic and strategic approach to identify synergies and co-benefits. That is what urban systemic health is about.
The financial stress of cities to stem the new responsibilities of climate adaptation is significantly reduced by strengthening their urban systemic health capacity.
Understanding urban systemic health can unlock hidden systemic potentials.
Pioneering climate adaptation in
Baden-Württemberg
As a result of the draft law passed by the state government, heat planning and adaptation concepts for the consequences of climate change will be developed throughout the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.
This will implement the new federal regulations in the Federal Climate Adaptation Act (KAnG) and the Heat Planning Act (WPG) by supplementing the Baden-Württemberg Climate Protection and Climate Change Adaptation Act (KlimaG BW). Municipalities will receive financial compensation for these mandatory tasks.
Press release 25. June 2025
Heat plans and climate adaptation plans are mandatory. The mandate is based on the so-called connexity principle or “who mandates, pays” principle.
