What are cities doing to improve health?
Search evidence on city health improvement initiatives from around the world.
Find examples by keyword, city, issue, municipal lever, implementation status and evidence type.
Around the world, cities are acting on the conditions that shape health, healthcare and quality of life. These include air quality, transport, food environments, housing, climate risk, inequality, prevention and pressure on health services.
But the evidence is hard to use. It is spread across academic papers, city reports, project websites, dashboards and practice networks.
City Health Evidence Finder brings this material into one searchable evidence base.
The aim is practical. Users should be able to see what cities have tried, what evidence exists, what powers and policy levers were used, and what lessons may apply elsewhere.
Search by keyword or filter by place, issue category, municipal lever, implementation status, source type and impact evidence class. Find examples from other cities, understand the evidence available, and identify ideas that may be useful in your own context.
The database will grow over time. Records pass a standard set of publication checks before they appear and are updated as stronger, newer or conflicting evidence is identified.
What you can search
Keyword search looks across intervention titles, places, health issues, descriptions, municipal levers and evidence summaries.
You can filter by:
- Region
- Country
- City
- Issue category
- Municipal lever
- Implementation status
- Source type
- Impact evidence class
- Verification status
Understanding the evidence
The Finder brings together academic, government, policy and practice sources.
Records are labelled by:
- Implementation status
- Source type
- Impact evidence class
- Source quality tier
- Verification status
These labels help users understand what evidence has been identified. They are not formal academic quality scores, and inclusion in the Finder does not mean that an initiative has been proven effective.
Explore where cities are acting
The map on the Evidence Finder shows cities with records matching the current search and filters.
Each marker represents one city. Marker size indicates the number of matching initiatives, and the popup shows the exact number and links to the filtered results for that city.
Some records do not appear on the map because they cover more than one location, or because a reliable single location could not be confirmed. They remain available through search.
Help improve the evidence base
The database is being constantly checked and improved, with new initiatives added as they are identified.
You can:
- suggest a city initiative that is missing
- flag an error or outdated record
- provide a stronger, newer or conflicting source
- suggest a new search term, filter or feature
- comment on the website or search experience
- tell us how you have used the Finder or whether it has been helpful
Suggestions and corrections are checked before any change is made.
We may contact you for further information. Feedback will not be attributed to you or quoted publicly without your permission.
Ownership
Created and owned by Dr Shaun Danielli, who has worked in city health and healthcare transformation for over 20 years. This includes supporting the Mayor of London, senior policy work at LSE Cities, and establishing and leading the Centre for Urban Health and Healthcare at Imperial College London.
Institutional use, collaboration or adoption will be agreed separately.