The term ‘healthy city” was coined by the World Health Organization as a standard for evaluating the quality of life of people living in densely populated places. Factors in the environment such as hygiene and ecological problems could be harmful to human health hence there is a need to come up with standard rules to ensure a safer environment for people to remain healthy ( Friis, 2012). Environmental health thus would be those factors that are physical, chemical, or biological and affect the quality of life of people, for example, air quality. A city that aims to meet the WHO standards of a healthy city should put a vital interest in primary health which concentrates on where people work and live. This paper seeks to discuss aspects of what makes a healthy city and to use the research findings to provide strategies for the city council of Atlanta, popularly known for its dense population, to improve the environmental health of its people. An ideal healthy city according to WHO is one that provides a clean environment and possesses strong and cohesive people ( Philip, 2014). The creation of a healthy city promotes better standards of living for its people through an environment free from disease, activities that bring people together and well prepared for natural calamities once they strike thus eradicating adverse environmental health. For example, the climate is a major reality for most parts of the world but if this problem is dealt with locally, human health is preserved. A city well prepared for floods and infectious diseases that come with it will ensure that its people do not live in fear but in confidence with the system ( Middlemiss, 2011). The property will be preserved as well as human life. Action at the ground level to obtain a healthy city requires the government to provide good leadership through the city council and put in place strategies that drive toward better health promotion and disease prevention. Atlanta, Georgia is a city that can make significant strides toward achieving the WHO standards of a healthy city. The three major obstacles facing the city, however, are transport, education, and most importantly water ( Poland & Dooris, 2010). The city council should focus all its efforts on ensuring that these problems are completely eliminated. Traffic jams that have wreaked havoc in towns are a big blow to businesses, the city council working with the city engineers could construct roads which pass in the outskirts of major towns to be used by heavy commercial vehicles and express buses to relieve congestion and air pollution from cars. The second obstacle to creating a healthy city in Atlanta would be the tainted education system hence posing integrity issues to employers. The city council needs to streamline the system to completely eliminate instances of cheating and student dropouts to create a pool of truly skilled workers other than casual laborers ( Nozick, 1998). Water, being the third obstacle, is the single most precious commodity for all life forms including people, so it has been said. Water supply in Atlanta is at an all-time low for the residents; inadequate water supply would be a doorway to the spread of water-borne diseases when people scramble for little accessible water. Trillions of liters of rainwater go to waste every year, and water reservoirs can be constructed to ease the water shortage in the city and increase supply ( Rydin, 2012). When these changes are made, the community benefits in so many ways including better quality of life brought about by the constant supply of water; investors will be attracted to the city when infrastructure is improved, and the city will attract more job opportunities for its residents once the quality of education is improved. The creation of a healthy city is essential to promote health for its residents who are the principal beneficiary; however, it comes with a few challenges. One of these challenges is bringing together people of the same mind and vision of creating a healthier environment both socially and mentally ( Friis, 2012). This is because people tend to get involved in issues that concern them directly and not the community as a whole. The best group of people to hurdle up for this cause would be politicians and leaders. Another problem is ignorance (Rydin, 2012. This can be easily solved by creating awareness among the residents of the city. Financial strains are a major blow for any city especially Atlanta, which wishes to achieve healthy city status. Projects and strategies to build a better environment come at a significant cost which may even throw a country into bad debt with poor planning. It is the ordinary paid citizen who has to cater for the expenses accrued by increased taxes on goods ( Bourque, Mileti, Kano & Wood, 2012). The Annie Casey Foundation report, for example, showed that the average salary of a white American family was three times that of an African American family in Atlanta. It is therefore important to have an expansive financial plan before any major changes are made in the city, for example, looking for big and reliable sponsors beforehand. Environmental health is an issue that is quickly gaining attention and concern all over the world since more studies and theories are showing that its impact goes far beyond a person. The World Health Organization is in charge of world environmental health focusing primarily on the prevention of the global spread of epidemics. Biological hazards, and diseases, for example, could cause localized suffering or spread to almost entire regions causing death and havoc. Environmental health is a global concern, but it all boils down to how responsible the individual is living since human actions do not just affect us but everyone around us ( Rydin, 2012). The contamination state of a whole region is wholly dependent on how well a person disposes of their waste. Smoking as a cultural hazard is considered a behavioral choice, but people close to the smoker suffer the same consequences as the smoker (WHO, 2014). The current century is experiencing a whole lot of catastrophic disasters brought about by the vast increase in the world's population. Human beings themselves pose an imminent threat to the natural balance of things. Natural disasters range from earthquakes to fires and even floods. A city’s preparedness for such can be classified into two categories, vulnerability and response ( Schiller, 2011). How well the residents respond to a disaster will show how prepared they are. Also, when a city carries out research, and it determines which disaster they are most likely to have, and then put in place measures to curb it shows its level of preparedness. A deficiency in either or both could cause huge losses in property and lives. A city most vulnerable to floods or drought could invest in the emergency stocking of goods and food (Schiller, 2011). An earthquake-vulnerable area could construct reinforced buildings to withstand slight or even stronger tremors. More so, an area frequented by fires could provide fighting instruments at a local level.
Conclusion
A developing healthy city brings many benefits to an individual and also a community as a whole. A healthy city creates and expands resources that enable people to support each other in daily life activities ( Chertoff, 2008). It provides avenues for people to meet together from different backgrounds and participate in nation-building. A healthy city increases the nasality rate while reducing the mortality rate through the provision of a clean and safe environment. The environmental health discussion towards creating a healthy city needs to go beyond the eradication of diseases to promoting unity among the community through projects that bring us together. The first step in creating a better a healthier city begins with an individual’s mindset to achieve this (WHO, 2014). Governments should spearhead and continue the work started by the World Health Organization to promote sustainable health to its citizens. Establishing the vision of global environmental health, a reality requires some positive and precise changes in the way we think about healthcare.
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