Liverpool leads healthy cities conversation

Liverpool is hosting an international conference looking at how to create healthier places for people to live.

The ‘Healthy City Design International Congress’ is taking place at the northern headquarters of the Royal College of Physicians in The Spine at Paddington Village – rated as one of the healthiest buildings in the world – on 15 and 16 October.

It features a range of keynote contributors from the UK and abroad, including academics and speakers from sectors including public health, local government and urban design.

It will see a range of themes explored, from preparing neighbourhoods for the effects of the climate crisis, to empowering communities to change the systems that drive health inequity in urban places.

It is the second year in a row that the city has hosted the event.

Kitty Wilkinson, who pioneered public wash houses to tackle cholera

Council Leader, Cllr Liam Robinson, is providing the welcome address, highlighting the city’s role in health firsts, including: appointing the UK’s first medical health officer; Kitty Wilkinson opening the first UK public wash houses to tackle cholera, and becoming the first city to ban smoking in workplaces in 2007.

Director of Public Health, Professor Matt Ashton, will be discussing his groundbreaking report – ‘State of Health in the City: Liverpool 2040’ – which identifies the significant health challenges faced by Liverpool and the actions needed to improve the lives of residents.

And senior members of the Council’s Neighbourhoods team will be on a panel titled ‘Driving health improvement, equity and economic development through a health in all policies approach’.

The Council’s Public Health and Planning teams have been shortlisted at the event’s award’s ceremony, for their work in healthy city planning and design.

Cllr Robinson said: “We are again proud to showcase Liverpool as a city in which significant collaborative work is being undertaken to achieve positive health outcomes and learn from the international community.

“This year’s agenda is designed to generate a wealth of progressive, impactful and inspiring conversation.”

More information about the Healthy City Design International Congress can be found at https://www.healthycitydesign.global/programme/programme-agenda.