7.F. Scientific session: Living lab Cartesius: multidisciplinary cooperation for health monitoring of an ‘urban blue zone’
Authors:   Organised by: UMC Utrecht (Netherlands),   Chair persons: Rosalie Hegeman (Netherlands)
Published: October 2024

This workshop will be based on health monitoring in living lab Cartesius; a neighbourhood that is currently developed in the city of Utrecht, the Netherlands (Home - Cartesius Utrecht (cartesius-utrecht.nl). The design of this neighbourhood is inspired by the concept of the “blue zones” of Pes and Poulain, places in the world, that they argue are inhibited by the healthiest, longest-living populations because they integrate sustainability, climate adaptation and healthy living. In Cartesius citizens will for example be encouraged to move by inviting outer spaces, meet each other in the community areas and eat healthily nudged by the food options in the food court. An important element of these blue zones is the incorporation of green spaces in the neighbourhood. Examples are (community) parks/gardens, a green walking route around the neighbourhood, trees in the bike parking lots, green facades etc. The neighbourhood is designed to become a home to local species such as plants and animals as well as people. In addition, climate change adaptation is incorporated, the appartements are well insulated and contain solar panels and green and white roofs. Preventing heat stress is considered in the green design of the outdoor spaces and special drainage and water storage equipment throughout the neighbourhood. The municipality has been closely involved in this project from the start, they created the call for developers to create a healthy urban neighbourhood and after selecting the Cartesius project they have remained involved in its development. Of special interest to the municipality is community building (in new neighbourhoods) in order to strengthen social cohesion and prevent loneliness. We will conduct a research on this topic of which the results could permanently impact how new neighbourhoods in Utrecht will be approached. Designers, developers, research institutes, governments and the current inhabitants are now collectively working on a holistic monitoring programme in this neighbourhood to collect evidence for the effects of the “blue zone” interventions and design choices on behaviour, health and well-being of residents. This workshop will focus on various aspects of the Blue Zone Concept, the importance of green in urban living, the participatory role of local residents, the role of stakeholders and the relevance for local governance. First of all the participants will be informed about a unique healthy/green urban living concept based on the blue zones currently in development. The participants will get insights in the process of developing a new healthy neighbourhood where different challenges (e.g. climate adaptation, community building, healthy living environment) are experimented with stakeholders from the quadruple helix (private, government, science and societal stakeholders). Simultaneously, we want to allow room for ample time for audience interaction to share their experiences on similar multi transdisciplinary cooperations and monitoring strategies.

Key messages

• This session will provide room for knowledge exchange in the area of healthy urban living and transdisciplinary collaboration.

• Specific focus on holistic monitoring of the effectiveness of health interventions in urban living areas and (international) policy implications.

The concept of Cartesius

The workshop will start with a presentation about the concept of the Cartesius neighbourhood. The incorporation of the elements of the Blue Zones will be discussed and images of both the current state of the development and artist impressions of the future finished neighbourhood will be presented. Room for (among other topics) discussion about the ‘translation’ of the blue zone concept to this urban area. This presetntation will be done by Marije Lammers (University Utrecht, postdoc and coordinator monitoring programme healthy urban living in Cartesius)

Incorporating citizens in monitoring

300 appartements in Cartesius are already realized, in which +/- 600 citizens are currently living. In a time span of about 8 years the number of apartments will have increased to 3000, with about 6000 inhabitants. The current citizens are involved in designing the monitoring strategy and community building approach. In order to measure effectively whether the health interventions in Cartesius will impact the citizens’ health their involvement and cooperation is crucial. Room for (among other topics) discussion about involving citizens in monitoring and community building effectively.

WHO Europe Healthy Cities

This presentation will discuss how developments in the Cartesius neighbourhood are in line with WHO Europe Healthy Cities ambitions for bringing about change and achieving improved health, well-being and equitable and sustainable development in cities across the European Region and globally. Room for (among other topics) discussion about possibilities for international knowledge exchange and applications. This presentation will be by: Kira Fortune, Regional Advisor, Healthy Cities, Health Promotion and Well- being, World Health Organization