ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the ways in which environmental health criterion can be used to develop more sustainable and equitable urban policy. It suggests that professionals of all disciplines must move together from rhetoric, against inertia, individualism and trends, towards a real pursuit of urban equity and sustainability, and addresses principally the role of health data in promoting equity. The development of sustainable and equitable policy processes in metropolitan areas internationally is a major challenge. Many urban environmental management strategies are, in effect, urban infrastructure development strategies. Action plans and policies were developed for different sectors, addressing the institutional processes and stressing complementary actions and keeping the goal of the strategy focused on health. Work which links urban health inequalities to urban processes helps to open a larger discussion about health of people as a goal of urban policy.
