City as the work of public health

Abstract

These days the goals of urban and territorial transformation are being tailored to make cities safer, healthier, and more centered on people in both developed and developing countries worldwide. While being an integral part of urban fabric from ages, public health agendas were traditionally treated as standalone from other policy areas. Nonetheless, the Covid-19 Pandemic has brought attention to the necessity of considering human health and including it into the planning of future cities in order to make them a safe place to live and to combat future pandemic scenarios. Public health and urban planning have always been intertwined, with modern urban planning emerging in the 19th century as a response to issues with inadequate sanitation, poor water supply, and air pollution. Due to their high population density and status as the continent’s most developed regions, metropolises have historically been the area’s most severely impacted by epidemics and other instances of widespread disease.

Every new pandemic, epidemic, or outbreak of a contagious disease reveals and targets a unique element of urban planning and architecture. This thesis explores how public health has been present throughout the history of urban planning and changes, examining the relationship between them and how it has impacted the transformation of the City of Amsterdam.