Client: Santa Coloma de Gramenet City Council
Location: Santa Coloma de Gramenet (ES)
Year: 2025-2026
Santa Coloma de Gramenet’s Urban Agenda is a front-running document that sets out a clear action plan for guiding the city’s urban transformation over the coming years. In line with the UN’s New Urban Agenda, the EU’s Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, the action plan aims to transform Santa Coloma into a more resilient, inclusive and healthy metropolitan city.
This Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of the Urban Agenda quantifies how urban transformations – ranging from sustainable mobility and new green spaces to building rehabilitation – directly affect the physical, mental, environmental, and social wellbeing of the city’s residents.
Approach
Using the Healthy Cities methodology and digital tool, the project is structured in three phases:
- Health-centric action analysis: conducting a qualitative assessment of 55 specific actions within the Urban Agenda, classifying them based on their impact on urban health determinants.
- Evidence-based impact assessment: applying our tested methodology to measure the impact of core actions on 30 health indicators, including life expectancy, avoided deaths, and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs).
- Economic valuation: estimating the potential direct and indirect health-related cost savings and the expected return on investment derived from the implementation of the Urban Agenda.
Outcomes
- Comprehensive HIA report: a detailed document including infographics and visualisations to summarise the health impact and findings for each of the Urban Agenda’s strategic lines.
- Detailed recommendations: to reach the full potential of improving public health and savings, such as advancing city prescribing initiatives, acting in priority areas, and establishing monitoring indicators.
- Capacity building: training for municipal technicians and advanced access to the Healthy Cities tool for ongoing evaluation.
Find more information on Santa Coloma’s Urban Agenda: here.
