Rehabilitation Plan for Saudi Healthy Cities as Integrated Healthy Cities: A Case Study of Abha City

The concept of an integrated healthy city is a comprehensive approach aimed at improving the health and well-being of city residents through the integration of environmental, social, economic, urban, and governance factors in city development. Integrated healthy cities are considered a model for sustainable development, where health is embedded in all aspects of urban life. This requires collaboration among various stakeholders, including local governments, local communities, health and environmental institutions, and civil society. Hence, it is essential to consider the social, economic, environmental, and urban factors that influence environmental health by developing comprehensive sustainable development plans, encouraging the use of public transportation, increasing green spaces, treating wastewater, reducing energy consumption, as well as raising environmental awareness, and so forth.
 
The strategy of the integrated healthy city is based on a vision of "A Healthy City for All." The integrated healthy city strategy aims to improve the health and quality of life of city residents by integrating health aspects into urban, economic, and social planning. This strategy requires collaboration between local governments, private sectors, and civil society to ensure the achievement of health objectives and the enhancement of quality of life in cities. The integrated healthy city strategy can be implemented in various ways according to the needs and conditions of each city. The strategy for achieving healthy cities involves a set of guiding principles adopted to achieve the goals of healthy cities in urban communities. These principles include healthy people, healthy communities, and a healthy environment. Each principle is achieved by identifying the main objective and then a set of actions to achieve the goals.Healthy city programs vary according to the needs and challenges of each city. These programs aim to improve the health and well-being of city residents and provide a healthy and sustainable living environment. Some of the most important programs include the World Health Organization's Healthy Cities Program, the Healthy Cities Program in European countries, and the Healthy Cities Program in China.
 
In the absence of a plan to rehabilitate healthy cities that have been designated as healthy cities to become integrated healthy cities that take into account all social, economic, environmental, and urban dimensions to achieve sustainable development goals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the importance and objective of this research emerge in an attempt to reach a rehabilitation plan for healthy cities in the Kingdom to become integrated healthy cities. The methodology of the rehabilitation plan for the healthy city in the Kingdom involves defining the specific strategy for the healthy city, then identifying the main objectives and pillars to achieve the concept of a healthy city, and the main and sub-topics within the city to reach mechanisms for rehabilitating healthy cities to become integrated healthy cities. A healthy city is a city where its goals can be achieved by focusing on people in community development and prioritizing investment in people to improve equity and inclusion.
The research methodology involves reviewing the literature and understanding the concept of an integrated healthy city and the goals and principles of these cities, as well as global programs for rehabilitating cities as healthy cities. In addition, it involves presenting a set of experiences according to healthy city programs to reach a rehabilitation plan that considers all social, economic, environmental, urban, and governance dimensions to achieve an integrated healthy city in Saudi Arabia.