Towards more physical activity: Transforming public spaces to promote physical activity — a key contributor to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Europe (2017)

This publication focuses on physical activity and how it can be supported through urban planning. The focus on physical activity is explained by the fact that inactivity today accounts for an increasing proportion of deaths and disability worldwide and is associated with significant health care costs and productivity losses. Action to increase rates of physical activity will be necessary to achieve global targets on the prevention of premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases – the leading cause of death worldwide – and to halt the rise in obesity. With more than 80% of the European population expected to live in urban areas by 2030, cities play a pivotal role in promoting and protecting health and well-being. As cities continue to expand in population, there is a growing need to develop ways of supporting physical activity in dense urban settings. This publication provides inspiration and guidance on how different cities, in different contexts and at different stages of development, can use planning to encourage more physically active lifestyles for their residents. It does so by focusing on different stages of the policy cycle – from government policy development to strategy implementation and design solutions – as well as on the different components of the city profile, such as the city centre, urban residential areas and suburbia, each of which may have very different needs and challenges.