Community Health and Urban Health

Image via Georgetown University Global Cities

The 22nd International Conference on Urban Health held in Mexico City offered an opportunity to bring research from Washington, DC, into an international conversation about community leadership, urban health, and health equity. Held under the theme Healthy Cities by Design: Climate, Care, and Communities from Latin America to the World, the conference brought together researchers, practitioners, and others working across diverse urban contexts to exchange perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of advancing urban health.

My presentation, Mechanisms of Urban Health in Practice: A Qualitative Analysis of Community Leadership in Washington, DC, drew on DC Voices of Care, an oral history project developed through Georgetown University’s Global Cities Initiative. Conducted in collaboration with a student research team, the project documents the experiences and knowledge of community and organizational leaders whose work shapes health, care, and justice in Washington, DC. By centering these experiences, the research examines how community leadership operates within the broader social and institutional conditions that shape health equity.