[Sustainable urban health: conceptual foundations and current initiatives]

The interactions between cities/settlements and health have been an issue of discussion since antiquity. Since the late 1970s, there has been renewed interest in the role of nonmedical determinants of health. This paper aims to retrace the development of relevant new concepts during the last 40 years, clarify their mutual relationships, and from this background present the concept of sustainable urban health. For this purpose, a secondary analysis is conducted and relevant documents and literature are being interpreted.After an introduction using illustrative examples of urban health, the paper describes how the WHO has provided crucial input to a renewed debate on public health since the 1970s, based on concepts such as "multi-/intersectoral action," "healthy public policy," and "health in all policies." Sustainable urban health, tying in with this tradition, is characterized as a program of expanding the horizon and of building bridges between disciplines and societal sectors. This is exemplified by a local initiative in the city of Hamburg.Rather than being substantially different, the WHO concepts may be seen as representing various shades of emphasis. Health in all policies (HiAPs) are in line with the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals; the concept succeeded in being integrated into both WHO and EU policy making. Additional work is required for the sustainable urban health goal to synchronously promote health and sustainability in urban societies.