Healthy cities as catalysts for caring and supportive environments

'Caring and Supportive Environments' are fundamental to a social model of health and were a core theme of Phase V (2009-13) of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network. Deploying the methodology of realist evaluation, this article synthesizes qualitative evidence from 112 highly structured case studies from 68 Network cities and 71 responses to a General Evaluation Questionnaire, which asked cities to analyze city attributes and trends. A schematic model was developed to describe the interaction between action targeted toward children, migrants, older people and action on social and health services, health literacy and active citizenship-the six subtopics clustered within the theme Caring and Supportive Environments. Four hypotheses were tested: (i) there are prerequisites and processes of local governance that increase city capacity for creating supportive environments; (ii) investing in health and social services, active citizenship and health literacy enhance the social inclusion of vulnerable population groups; (iii) there are synergies between social investment and healthy urban planning; and (iv) these investments promote greater equity in health. The evaluation revealed many innovative practices. Providers of health and social services have developed partnerships with agencies influencing wider determinants of health. Health literacy campaigns address the wider context of people's lives. In a period of economic austerity, cities have utilized the social assets of their citizens. Realist evaluation can help illuminate the pathways from case study interventions to health outcomes, and the prerequisites and processes required to initiate and sustain such investments.