Salutogenese – Das Jahrbuch der KIT-Fakultät für Architektur 2021

Fitness City: The new funding
programme for more urban health
Prof. Dr. Barbara Engel
Creating healthy and sustainable living environments and
conditions in German communities is one of the central
challenges facing urban planning today. On the basis of the
increasingly heated debates about urban health following
the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fitness City was launched
in 2022 — a federal funding programme designed to assist
German cities in their efforts at targeted health promotion.
In ten areas of training and competence, cities are encouraged
to submit proposals for urban convalescence and prevention.
The supported disciplines include the expansion
of green and blue urban spaces as well as civic engagement
and participation. In addition, processes of appropriation
and opportunities for identification will be fostered. Also
on the agenda are strategies for sustainable consumption,
strengthening intercultural skills, increased physical activity
and active recreation among the urban population.
Lastly, proposals for new forms of transfer, for improving
planning processes and for urban experimentation shall
be submitted.
After the first funding period and a successful monitoring
phase, the Federal Ministry of Municipal Health in Urban
and Rural Areas intends to develop a white paper titled
Sustainable Urban Health with specific recommendations
for action and options for implementation to make
cities healthier, more resilient and more liveable. Even if
a need for remedial improvements in the announcement
still remains in one place or another: The new funding
programme provides incentives for municipalities to further
develop existing approaches to healthy urban development
or to devise new ones. The Fitness City programme
is certainly not a cure-all, but it offers valuable training
sessions to make cities fit for the future.
Engel
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