China implemented the first phase of its National Healthy Cities pilot program from 2016-20.
Along with related urban health governmental initiatives, the program has helped put health
on the agenda of local governments while raising public awareness. Healthy City actions
taken at the municipal scale also prepared cities to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, after intermittent trials spanning the past two decades, the Healthy Cities initiative
in China has reached a crucial juncture. It risks becoming inconsequential given its overlap …