Vital Cities
With recent changes in our life styles, opportunities to be physically active are decreasing. This phenomenon is especially apparent in urban areas where sedentary lifestyle is the new norm amongst the working age population. While there is a body of empirical evidence showing associated health risks, it has also been proven that anyone who increases their level of physical activity, even after a long gap, can obtain health benefits irrespective of their age. In other words, it is never too late to start.
To promote a healthy and physically active lifestyle in the urban environment, a group of cities have joined forces and created the VITAL CITIES network. The network was formed as part of URBACT, a European exchange and learning programme, with the purpose to facilitate social inclusion and combat inactivity. Participating cities entered a dialogue and learning process to find out how to redesign and reconstruct public spaces and turn them into a low threshold sport facilities close to people's homes.
The result of the process is a set of innovative tools and methods to be used in urban design and planning to reshape public spaces linked to sport and physical activity. The findings and conclusions of VITAL CITIES are relevant for the different governmental levels, including the European Commission.