WHO Healthy Cities
Network
AaKAS serves as the technical implementation partner to municipal corporations under the WHO Healthy Cities Network — driving evidence-based urban health governance, community participation, and city-level health systems strengthening across India.
Our cities on the
Healthy Cities map
AaKAS is actively supporting three cities at different stages of the WHO Healthy Cities Network journey. Each city represents a unique urban health context and a growing institutional commitment to health-in-all-policies governance.
Indore has been successfully registered under the WHO Healthy Cities Network. AaKAS completed the full onboarding process including city-profile baseline assessment, multi-stakeholder priority mapping, and action plan development in partnership with Indore Municipal Corporation.
Ahmedabad's registration is currently underway. AaKAS is working closely with Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation on framework alignment, stakeholder orientation, and preparatory baseline assessment design.
Rajkot Municipal Corporation is being supported through the initial stages of WHO Healthy Cities Network registration — including institutional orientation, framework briefing, and preliminary health priority identification.
Strengthening city-level
health systems
The WHO Healthy Cities Network is a global movement placing health and wellbeing at the heart of urban governance. It calls on cities to build political commitment, institutional capacity, and community participation to create health-enabling environments for all residents.
AaKAS serves as the technical implementation partner — supporting the full journey from city registration and baseline assessment through to action plan development and monitoring. Our role spans community facilitation, data systems, and Health-in-All-Policies integration at the municipal level.
"You didn't start as leaders of finished models. You became leaders by spending years learning, observing, adapting, and building slowly from the field."
AaKAS — Field PhilosophyMunicipal Registration Support
Facilitating formal enrolment of cities into the WHO Healthy Cities Network with full documentation and institutional alignment.
Baseline Assessments
City-level health assessments to establish evidence baselines across social determinants of health.
Priority Identification
Multi-stakeholder workshops using participatory frameworks to rank health priorities with institutional buy-in.
Action Plan Development
Sector-wise health action plans aligned with WHO criteria and local governance structures.
Community Participation
Structured consultations ensuring health priorities reflect lived experiences of all urban residents.
Data, Reporting & M&E
Monitoring and reporting systems aligned with WHO Healthy Cities indicators for accountability.
Work happening
on the ground
Each entry documents a real field activity by the AaKAS team — community conversations, health screenings, academic partnerships, and youth engagement recorded from the field.
Women's Focus Group — Neighbourhood Health Needs
AaKAS facilitated a structured focus group discussion with community women across two wards in Indore. Participants mapped local health priorities, access barriers, and service gaps — feeding directly into the city's WHO action plan priorities.
NCD Screening & Clinical Consultation Documentation
Field team accompanied community health workers and documented NCD screening sessions at a local PHC — recording process flows, patient interaction models, and telemedicine integration points to feed into the city health profile.
Young Gamechangers — Community Health Camp
Youth participants, supported by AaKAS mentors, co-organised a community health camp at the Jatna Shakti Hub. Young Gamechangers facilitated health awareness sessions, assisted with referral documentation, and led community mobilisation — demonstrating the power of trained youth as health enablers in their own neighbourhoods.
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TISS Mumbai & Hyderabad Join the Indore Initiative
Teams from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai and Hyderabad campuses) have formally joined as academic partners for the Indore WHO Healthy Cities work — contributing research expertise, community engagement frameworks, and field documentation support.
Clinical Process Observation — Health Systems Mapping
AaKAS research team conducted structured observation at a district-level facility, documenting patient flow, NCD management protocols, and health worker roles as part of the Healthy Cities baseline health systems mapping study.
Presence
Partners
Categories
Season
What we do on the ground
Our technical work spans the full implementation lifecycle — from institutional onboarding and evidence generation through to community-level engagement and long-term systems strengthening.
City Registration & WHO Framework Alignment
Supporting formal onboarding of municipalities into the global Healthy Cities Network, including documentation, stakeholder orientation, and WHO Phase VII criteria alignment.
Health Needs Baseline Studies
City-level health assessments across social, environmental, and service determinants — providing municipalities with an evidence foundation for planning and reporting.
Multi-Sectoral Priority Mapping
Participatory workshops with health, planning, education, and environment departments to identify and rank health priorities with cross-sectoral institutional buy-in.
Community Participation Frameworks
Structured community consultations — focus groups, household surveys, and community forums — embedding local voices in city health planning processes.
Health-in-All-Policies Integration
Supporting municipalities to embed health considerations into urban planning, transport, sanitation, and education policy frameworks beyond the health sector.
Reporting, M&E & WHO Compliance
Building monitoring frameworks and preparing data reports aligned with WHO Healthy Cities indicators for institutional accountability and programme evaluation.
Our step-by-step approach
City Enrolment
Formal registration into WHO Healthy Cities Network with full documentation support
Baseline Assessment
City-profile data collection across health determinants, services, and population indicators
Priority Setting
Multi-stakeholder workshops to identify and rank top health priorities aligned with community needs
Action Planning
Sector-wise health action plans with timelines, ownership structures, and resource mapping
Monitor & Report
Continuous M&E with WHO-aligned indicators and annual progress reporting to the network
Approach
Urban health needs systemic solutions
India's cities face rapidly growing health burdens — non-communicable diseases, environmental risks, and inequitable access to care for underserved urban populations. Addressing these requires embedding health into how cities are governed, planned, and managed.
The WHO Healthy Cities Network provides the global framework. AaKAS provides the local implementation muscle — connecting international standards to ground-level realities.
- Strengthens city-level governance capacity to address social determinants of health
- Creates accountability through WHO reporting frameworks and indicators
- Ensures community participation is structurally embedded in urban health planning
- Builds cross-departmental collaboration through Health-in-All-Policies integration
- Generates evidence to guide municipal investment and policy decisions
- TISS Mumbai & Hyderabad partnership strengthens academic rigour for Indore
