The Place of Social Themes in Urban Health Studies

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

PhD in Sociology, Researcher of ACECR, Isfahan Branch, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract
Urban health reflects the total social, physical, environmental, and infrastructure conditions that affect the well-being and quality of life of citizens living in a city. Therefore, in addition to health issues, the total social, economic, physical, and environmental aspects describe the state of urban health. Among the mentioned dimensions, social problems undeniably affect the choice opportunities of citizens in the city, their interpretation of the conditions, their interaction with others, and health-oriented behavioral orientations in the city. Considering the importance of social themes in the realization of urban health, the present study attempted to describe the social indicators of urban health and its contexts using a systematic review method while examining related studies. The findings show that the social indicators of urban health can be redefined as "population dynamics, social harms, inclusion, social capital, business, education, and lifestyle." Also, the descriptive social adverb for these indicators implies considering the characteristics of flexibility, relativity, attention to meanings, context, and process perception. Constructive indicators in fields such as population dynamics, education, and business can be explained using registration data, or because their counting and calculation methods are defined quantitatively and globally, they can follow the same pattern. However, other fields, such as social harm, inclusion, lifestyle, and, exceptionally, social capital, involve context-based studies. A study that, based on the distinctive characteristics of cities, will even lead to selecting and prioritizing a field and excluding other fields from description and investigation.

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