Healthy city is a term used in public health and urban design to stress the impact of policy on human health. Its modern form derives from a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative on Healthy Cities and Villages in 1986, but has a history dating back to the mid 19th century.[1] The term was developed in conjunction with the European Union, but rapidly became international as a way of establishing healthy public policy at the local level through health promotion.[2] It emphasises the multi-dimensionality of health as laid out in WHO's constitution and, more recently, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion.[3] An alternative term is Healthy Communities, or Municipios saludables in parts of Latin America.