Health is created and lived by people within the settings of their
everyday life; where they learn, work, play, and love. —The Ottawa Charter
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| United Nations • New York, NY |
Last month, on the final day,
late in the afternoon I had a chance to take in Design with the
Other 90%: CITIES an exhibit at the United Nations in
collaboration with the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
and curator Cynthia Smith. A moving installation of ideas and realities in response to
the phenomena of urban growth in cities around the world. These innovative projects,
creative proposals and real solutions address complex issues involving a mix of
civic, public and private partnerships with urban planners, designers,
entrepreneurs, public health and educators. I imagine the exhibit would make a
great field trip anyone interested in shaping healthier communities in the
future.
Settings for health are the places or social context in which people
engage in daily activities in which environmental, organizational, and personal
factors interact to affect health and well-being. —World Health Organization,1998
Health depends on livable space.
Place and environment matter for healthy living. The following caught my eye:
• Mention of the KwaThema Project
brought back memories of a healing and reconciliation initiative that I worked
on within this community. KwaThema is in
the East Rand province of South Africa where a community-driven pitch to build new soccer fields builds excitement among young people
while also clearing the landscape for healthier living.
• Abalimi-Bezekhaya community gardens and
microfarming feed a Cape Town community with a cost-effective model for
sustainable living. Their approach is sensitive to climate change as well as
self-determination, community empowerment and sustenance for healthier living. Here's a clip of their song and movement:
• WASSUP (Water, Amenities and Sanitation
Services Upgrade Project) is a large-scale project model in community
development, urban design and health led by a UN Millennium Project Task Force
in collaboration with Diepsloot residents, community leadership and local
community developer Sticky Situations. South Africa’s Diepsloot is a township north of
Johannesburg with a diverse community including immigrants from other African nations.
There is strong preference among many to remain in this setting because of the
sense cultural connection and informal economic hub that nonetheless includes
high rates of unemployment and substandard living conditions. WASH (Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene) became a primary public health response to work for
improvement of environmental conditions and health. WASSUP applies GIS technology to locate toilets, drain pipes
and sewers in need of repair and created a new rubbish-collection system. WASSUP has emerged as a business
cooperative, supported with community involvement and also improving public
safety.
There are over 60 installations
to review, I selected these based on my experiences South
Africa. Another innovative solution Voice of Kibera applies Ushahidi tools in a global mapping project with OpenStreetMap, a GroundTruth initiative involving
local youth and their communities who are taking on WASH public health strategies and safety using crowdsourcing to identify problems with water,
sanitation and/or security anywhere in the community. Residents
can also share posts, news, videos and SMS on the Kibera platform.
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| Diversity circle, holding hands for diversity and inclusion. |
During my visit I was approached by a group of students from the midwest participating in a year-long
bridge program. They came to New York City for a three month visit to further their experiential
learning. This assignment involved creating visual symbols of diversity and
inclusion while at the exhibit. At
their request, I joined hands in a semi-circle with a group of strangers to
pose for a picture.
Healthier Communities By Design is a group in
the Design Other 90 network offering space to further discuss health in the
design in cities.
I’m now reading Dr. Richard
Jackson’s new book, Designing
Healthy Communities with
the hope of continuing this conversation.
