Leading the healthy city: taking advantage of the power of place

ABSTRACT

Creating healthy cities requires the exercise of bold city and community leadership. However, our understanding of the role of local leadership, from inside and outside the state, in bringing about processes that can co-create healthy, just and sustainable cities is not well developed. Notwithstanding this weakness in the world of academe, imaginative civic leaders in the world of practice – in a large number of cities and communities in many countries – are pioneering new forms of progressive, collaborative governance. This article aims to enhance understanding of these developments, and give support to them, by analysing: 1) The power of place, 2) The importance of place-based leadership in bringing about progressive change, and 3) The role of civic leadership in orchestrating processes of local social discovery. Cameos of inspirational civic leadership in three innovative cities – Malmö, Sweden, Portland, Oregon, USA and Bristol, UK – illustrate some of the possibilities. Suggestions on how to advance the leadership capacity of communities and cities are set out.

KEYWORDS:

• City leadership
• healthy city
• power of place
• equity planning
• international exchange

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. For more detail see Hambleton (2015), pp. 196–201.

2. Presentation by Christer Larsson to the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Planning Convention, London, UK, 21 June 2017. Reported in The Planner, August, 2017, p. 27.

3. For more information on the Malmö Comprehensive Plan: http://malmo.se/Stadsplanering–trafik/Stadsplanering–visioner/Oversiktsplanering–strategier/Oversiktsplan-for-Malmo.html.

4. Personal communication, 6 March 2017.

5. For more information on the Portland Plan visit: http://www.portlandonline.com/portlandplan/index.cfm?c=47906.

6. The team supported the initial emergence in Bristol of what became a nationally renowned model, called Playing Out, so promoting innovation in health at a city neighbourhood level. See: https://playingout.net/how/how-councils-support-street-play/bristol-case-study/.

7. For more on the Bristol One City Plan visit: https://www.bristolonecity.com/.

8. A major report from the Royal Society of Arts’ Inclusive Growth Commission refers positively to the Bristol City Office approach, praising it as a promising example of ‘whole place leadership’ (RSA 2017, p. 35).

9. The award of European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) stems from a process of international competition among innovative cities in the EU. More on the outcome of the 2019 competition: https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/funding/funding-opportunities/prizes/icapital/icapital-2019_en.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robin Hambleton

Robin Hambleton is Emeritus Professor of City Leadership at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol and Director of Urban Answers: http://www.urbananswers.co.uk. He worked in local and central government in the UK before becoming an academic. He was the founding President of the European Urban Research Association (EURA) and was Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago (2002–07).