Spanish startup entrepreneur: There is great potential for implementing a healthy city model in Karabakh.
Azerbaijan has significant potential to create cities with a high quality of life by prioritizing human health in its new urban development projects.
According to Startup.az, these remarks were made in an interview with Azertac by architect and urban planning expert Celia García Albertos, head of the “Healthy Cities” startup platform.
She noted that their activities focus on integrating urban planning with public health. Within the projects they lead, the impact of urbanization on people’s physical and social well-being is being studied.
Celia García Albertos also highlighted that she is one of the co-founders of the digital tool called “Healthy Cities Generator.” According to her, the platform enables urban planning specialists to assess both the health and economic impacts of urban design.
The Spanish expert positively assessed Azerbaijan’s declaration of this year as the “Year of Architecture and Urban Planning,” emphasizing that the healthy city concept is one of the key elements of the sustainable development model of the future.
She also described the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum 13 (WUF13), held in Baku, as an important platform for international exchange of experience:
“The forum brings together urban planning experts from different countries around the world. It serves as a valuable space for discussions aimed at shaping common ideas and defining the future direction of urban development.”
The Spanish specialist further noted that, in cooperation with UN-Habitat, health impact assessment projects are being implemented in various cities.
“The goal is to better understand how the urban environment affects public health and to create safer and more inclusive living spaces,” she said.
The startup founder also emphasized the importance of the “Smart City” projects being implemented in Karabakh:
“The creation of new development zones is an important opportunity to place healthy living environments at the center of urban planning. This approach will make it possible to build cities with a high quality of life for everyone in the future.”