Conceptual framework in the domain of healthy cities: Meaning, purposes and formative elements

Abstract

Many recent researches and studies have pointed out the necessity of developing comprehensive conceptual frameworks for healthy cities. Accordingly, this study aims to explain the conceptual framework for healthy cities research, planning, and design by identifying its meaning, purpose and formative elements. The research was conducted through qualitative techniques, such as conceptual, thematic and content analysis of the relevant literature and case studies. Results show that the conceptual framework contains voluminous conceptual knowledge about healthy cities and suggest that conceptual framework on healthy cities can include elements such as: 1) a subject, problems, methods, research questions, 2) theories, models, empirical data and practice data, concepts and relations among these concepts, principles; 3) the visual presentation of its contents, and a manual for its usage and development; authors? values, beliefs and thinking. A conceptual framework, based on the elements mentioned above, serves to systematically explain the healthy cities and to support the research, planning and design in the process of its developing. These findings can help to advance knowledge and scientific understanding of conceptual frameworks of contemporary cities in the domain of health, planning, designing and research. Also, the presented findings can serve as a basis for developing a comprehensive conceptual framework for healthy cities in the future. For example, existing conceptual frameworks could be analysed and new ones developed according to the proposed elements and purposes. In these cases, the proposed elements and purposes would be a unique criterion for the analysis and development of the conceptual frameworks.