SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities

Summary

Rapidly growing cities represent unique challenges and opportunities. Unplanned growth often outpaces infrastructure development and occurs at the expense of a city’s ecological foundations, undermining residents’ wellbeing and the city’s sustainability.

The overall aim of the City Health and Wellbeing (CHeW) Initiative is to promote equitable urban development capable of delivering healthier and happier living in our increasingly urban societies. Taking a multi- and interdisciplinary approach, connecting geographers, social scientists, environmental modellers, neuroscientists, urbanists and biologists, the initiative sets outs to generate new knowledge on the impacts of urban environments on the health and well-being of residents, with a core focus on low- and middle-income countries, although findings are likely to be relevant globally.

As part of this initiative, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) have created the SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities. Different tools, methods, approaches, and case studies (collectively referred to as tools) are bought together into an urban ‘toolbox’ that can be used widely by people involved in urban planning and development, such as city authorities. Through a series of workshops, we explored our stakeholders preferred content and format for such a toolbox, to ensure that it meets their needs. Other SEI urban-related tools will also be included where appropriate. To find out more about how the Urban Toolbox was co-designed and developed please see this discussion brief: The SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities: co-designing an accessible urban resource.

The Toolbox will strengthen relationships with local and international partners, and also build new networks, to ensure that our results and methods are used widely to maximize health and wellbeing equity.

Getting Started

Sign up for a weADAPT account: To start engaging with the SEI Urban Toolbox for liveable cities, you’ll need to sign up for a free weADAPT account and create your personal profile. A weADAPT account will allow you to participate in the SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities discussion threads and connect with other community members.

Click here to create a weADAPT account. For more guidance on creating your weADAPT account, click here.

Join the SEI Urban Toolbox Network: become a member of the network to be the first to know about new developments and to upload and promote your urban toolbox-related articles and case studies.

Join the SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities network by clicking the ‘Join’ button on the right-hand side of this page.

Introduction

The SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities includes both articles and case studies:

• Articles provide an overview of the tool; tips on how to implement it in practice; details on which stakeholders the tool is aimed at; and links to case studies
• Case studies provide examples of how the tool has been used in practice; with further details on the method, key findings, and eventual outcomes (e.g. policy, research etc.)

Aims

An easy-to-explore toolbox providing highly accessible information on tools relevant to an array of urban stakeholders.

What tools are available?

To easily see what tools are available within the SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities, please refer to Table 1. Further information, full articles, and relevant case studies relating to each tool can be found in the assigned tool categories below.

Table 1. Tools available within the SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities

Environmental Quality and Ecosystem Services	Neighbourhood Conditions	Residents’ Wellbeing	Cross-cutting
B.GREEN Handbook [Green Infrastructure]	Creative Drawing Approach [Creative Engagement]	Wellbeing Surveys and Tools [Mental Health]	EGESTABASE [Waste, Water and Sanitation]
Citizen science and air pollution [Citizen Science]	Digital Storytelling Tool [Creative Engagement]		Empowerment in WASH Index Tool [Water and Sanitation]
Co-create Citizen Science [Citizen Science]	Musical Approaches [Creative Engagement]		MapStakes [Engagement]
LEAP (low emissions analysis platform) [Air Quality]	Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) [Citizen Science]		Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS) [Engagement]
PURE (Peri-Urban Resilient Ecosystems) [Scenario Planning]	REVAMP (within Urban Circle) [Urban Waste]		SDG Synergies [Engagement]
	WASH Flows Tool [Water and Sanitation]		WEAP (water evaluation and planning) [Water and Sanitation]