U-Care Publications – U-Care Platform

Publications

Research publications connecting urban form, climate exposure, and health at the pedestrian scale.

The U-Care publication series presents a structured, evidence-based approach to understanding and addressing urban health challenges at the pedestrian scale. Developed within the Erasmus+ U-Care project, the series responds to the need for planning and design methodologies capable of identifying spatial inequities arising from the interaction between mobility constraints, climate stressors, and environmental degradation in everyday urban environments. Together, the publications establish a coherent narrative that links urban form, environmental performance, and human exposure, with a particular focus on slower-paced and vulnerable groups.

UrbanCare Ecosystem Indicators: A Street Scale Evidence Framework Proposed for Urban Health Oriented Planning and Design

Alvaro Valera Sosa (Building Health Lab; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7662-4459)
Ilaria Geddes (University of Cyprus; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4463-8597)
Antonia Sore (University of Florence; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6528-8733)
Rosa Romano (University of Florence; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5134-4637)
Göran Lindahl (Chalmers University of Technology; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0007-7270)

Urban environments concentrate populations in spatial conditions where public health risks related to mobility, climate exposure, and environmental degradation accumulate. Walkability constraints and climate stressors interact with urban form and infrastructure to shape exposure patterns that disproportionately affect slower-paced and vulnerable groups. Despite growing recognition of these links, urban planning and design practices still lack methods to determine spatial inequity across scales, a task that requires integrated, evidence-based tools capable of jointly assessing environmental performance, human exposure, and risks related to urban associated diseases.

This article proposes a structured ecosystem indicator framework to support urban health-oriented planning and design at the street scale while maintaining coherence with neighborhood and city level analysis. The framework assesses spatial inequity by operationalizing four mitigation targets that directly impact slower-paced and vulnerable groups: walkability constraints and three climate-related stressors, namely surface runoff, urban heat, and biotope loss. Indicators are organized across three spatial scales, city, neighborhood, and street, and two analytical dimensions that distinguish structural characteristics of the built environment from dynamic environmental and behavioral processes. Indicators are also assigned functional roles within the project cycle as input, outcome, or output indicators, enabling their use from baseline diagnosis through planning and design evaluation.

The UrbanCare framework and its indicators were developed through a pilot application in Berlin and subsequently applied in Gothenburg, Florence, and Nicosia to test transferability across different climatic, morphological, and institutional contexts. Analysis was structured around pedestrian loops of approximately two kilometers and four recurring urban scene types: stops and stations, street crossings, respite areas, and entrances to priority services and functions. These scenes represent locations where exposure to environmental stressors is intensified due to waiting, crossing, resting, or accessing essential services. Data collection combined spatial analysis, thermal imaging, remote sensing, and structured field observations, with results translated into standardized visual outputs integrated into a shared data viewer.

The application of the framework across four European cities demonstrates that ecosystem indicators can identify co-occurring environmental burdens and cumulative exposure patterns while remaining sensitive to local climatic, morphological, and institutional conditions. The framework supports multi-scale, evidence-based diagnostics that link environmental performance with human exposure, revealing how walkability constraints intersect with urban heat, surface runoff, and ecological fragmentation at the pedestrian scale. These results indicate the suitability of the proposed indicator structure as a transferable method for health-oriented and climate-resilient urban planning and design, capable of addressing spatial inequities under changing climatic conditions.

Keywords: Urban health; Spatial inequity; Ecosystem indicators; Walkability; Urban heat; Surface runoff; Street-scale assessment

Scene-Based Evidence to Inform Health-Centered and Climate-Responsive Street Planning and Design: Site Reports Applying the UrbanCare Methodology

Urban public spaces concentrate everyday exposures to mobility barriers, heat stress, surface runoff hazards, and ecological degradation, with disproportionate impacts on slower-paced and vulnerable groups, including older adults, children, caregivers, and people with disabilities.

This paper presents a compendium of twenty Urban Health Site Reports developed under the UrbanCare methodology within the Erasmus+ U-Care project. The synthesis generates comparable, street-scale evidence to support health-centered and climate-responsive urban planning and design. The approach operationalizes a replicable unit of analysis based on pedestrian loops of approximately 2 km and evaluates four recurring urban scene types along the pedestrian journey: stops and stations, street crossings, respite areas, and entrances to priority services and functions. Across each scene, the methodology integrates multi-source spatial evidence and structured field observations to assess four mitigation targets that shape public health outcomes in urban public space: walkability constraints, urban heat, surface runoff, and biotope loss.

The workflow was piloted in Berlin and subsequently applied across three additional European contexts, Gothenburg, Florence, and Nicosia, enabling cross-case comparability while allowing contextual adaptation to local climatic, morphological, and institutional conditions. Results are translated into standardized visual outputs and organized into a structured report series that links data management, environmental health impact assessment, and subsequent policy, planning, and design pathways. The paper demonstrates how scene-based diagnostics can reveal cumulative exposure patterns and identify actionable intervention opportunities at the pedestrian scale, supporting evidence-based urban regeneration strategies aligned with sustainable development goals.

Keywords: Urban health; Walkability; Urban heat; Stormwater runoff; Street-scale assessment

Teaching urban health: research-based learning for sustainable urban planning, design and governance.

Ilaria Geddes (University of Cyprus; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4463-8597)
Frixos Petrou
Antonia Sore (University of Florence; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6528-8733)
Alvaro Valera Sosa (Building Health Lab; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7662-4459)
Rosa Romano (University of Florence; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5134-4637)
Philip Stilke
Göran Lindahl (Chalmers University of Technology; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0007-7270)

This paper presents the educational outcomes of three pilot courses focusing on urban health implemented at the University of Florence, the University of Cyprus and Chalmers University of Technology between March 2025 and January 2026 as part of an Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership in Higher Education.

The aim of the U-CARE project (Urban CARE to battle climate change impacts on urban ecosystems and health across different European climate zones) was to establish new learning modules in the participating Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) based on a 3-step methodology: 1. Urban health research; 2. Neighbourhood diagnostics; 3. Decision-making workshops. All courses shared four key themes which are vital for the mitigation of climate change and its health impacts in urban environments, specifically, urban heat, walkability, stormwater runoff and biotope loss.
The educational objectives were to integrate research-based learning, the use of technology (an analytical web viewer developed for the purposes of the project) and participatory practices to foster the transdisciplinary skills required for the future generation of urban planners, designers and managers to tackle real-world challenges in the fight against the climate and public health crises.

The three courses follow a sequential learning process starting for more practical modules introducing research data collection and analysis, and environmental impact assessment, moving on to planning and design components using human-centred approaches and culminating in service and infrastructure management.
The syllabi, learning activities and assessment criteria were collaboratively developed and included lectures, international seminars, fieldwork, participatory workshops, students’ group work and presentations, individual work and short quizzes. Educators from the partner institutions provided teaching components in the different courses and original learning materials on a topic, which is currently underrepresented in European HEIs, were produced and are available as Open Educational Resources.

The courses were targeted at postgraduate students – either master’s degree, 5th-year integrated architecture degree or PhD. A total of 58 students attended the courses across the three institution and evaluated them with regards to acquired skills and knowledge – including participatory and labour market skills, clarity of the lectures’ objectives, and learning resources provided.
While providing hybrid participation in the courses to students from partner institution other than the one hosting a specific pilot proved not possible to institutional regulation and misalignment between academic timeframes in different countries, a level of asynchronous access to teaching resources was provided through the OER.

Overall, the outcomes of the students’ evaluations were positive, with between 66.6% and 100% of students reporting that they had acquired the skills targeted by the courses.

Keywords: Urban health education; Research-based learning; Climate adaptation; Participatory planning; Higher education; Digital platforms; Transdisciplinary skills

Evaluating a Methodological Interface for Pedestrian-Scale Urban Health Evidence: The U-CARE Platform

Alvaro Valera Sosa (Building Health Lab; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7662-4459)
Göran Lindahl (Chalmers University of Technology; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0007-7270)

The growing availability of urban health and environmental data has increased the need for digital environments that support interpretation, discussion, and evidence-based decision-making rather than design or simulation. This contribution presents the U-CARE Web Platform as a methodological interface developed to structure and visualize pedestrian-scale urban health evidence, with a specific focus on evaluating its user interface across iterative stages of development.

The platform operationalizes the UrbanCare methodology by organizing evidence around four mitigation themes: walkability constraints, surface runoff, urban heat, and biotope loss. Spatial analysis is structured through pedestrian loops and recurring urban scene types, including crossings, stops, and respite areas. Rather than generating design solutions, the platform supports evidence-based reasoning by enabling diagnosis, comparison, and collective interpretation in planning, teaching, and participatory workshop contexts.

The paper introduces a two-stage user interface evaluation strategy. The first evaluation was conducted during decision-making workshops across four European case studies in Gothenburg, Berlin, Florence, and Nicosia, targeting workshop conductors and facilitators directly involved in moderating evidence-based discussions. Feedback focused on usability, clarity of visual outputs, and functional adequacy of the platform as a methodological support tool, informing refinements implemented in the consolidated beta version.

The second evaluation extends the assessment to a broader professional and academic audience through a conference-based dissemination and evaluation strategy. A scientific poster provides QR code access to a guided platform demonstration, after which participants are invited to complete a short user interface survey. The paper discusses the rationale for integrating evaluation with dissemination activities and reflects on the role of methodological digital interfaces in supporting urban health-oriented planning and decision-making at the intersection of the built environment and public health.

Keywords: Urban health; Pedestrian environments; Digital platforms; User interface evaluation; Evidence-based planning; Public space and health

Operationalizing Urban Health Frameworks Through Digital Platforms: Learning and Replicability in U-Care

Alvaro Valera Sosa (Building Health Lab; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7662-4459)
Göran Lindahl (Chalmers University of Technology; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0007-7270)

Advancing health-centered and climate-responsive urban planning requires not only robust analytical frameworks but also effective mechanisms for learning, knowledge transfer, and replication across contexts. While digital platforms increasingly support data-driven urban analysis, their long-term value depends on how methodological knowledge is structured, communicated, and embedded in education, practice, and institutional workflows.

This paper presents the U-Care platform as part of a broader methodological ecosystem designed to operationalize the UrbanCare framework through structured evidence handling, visualization, and participatory use. The platform functions as a methodological infrastructure rather than a design or simulation tool, enabling interpretation of urban health and environmental evidence across pedestrian loops and recurring urban scene types. Standardized visual outputs, including neighborhood-scale info-maps and street-level info-cards, provide a shared evidence base that supports dialogue across disciplinary and institutional boundaries.

Focusing on usability and value in applied contexts, the paper examines how the platform supports informed decision-making in stakeholder workshops, case-based learning in higher education, and competence development in urban health, climate adaptation, and integrated planning. These applications are further consolidated through the development of the U-Care Manual, which translates the UrbanCare methodology and platform logic into a structured reference for education, workshops, and applied urban practice.

The paper also addresses conditions for replicability and scalability, presenting the platform’s iterative development logic and its application across four European case studies. By combining methodological consistency with contextual adaptability, the U-Care framework demonstrates how digital platforms and accompanying manuals can support transferable, evidence-informed, and participatory urban planning approaches beyond pilot implementations.

Keywords: Urban health; Pedestrian environments; Digital planning platforms; Knowledge transfer; Participatory planning; Evidence-based urbanism