A healthy city is a city that constantly creates and improves its physical and social environment and organizes its resources in such a way that people can help each other improve their lives and reach their full potential.

The project's objective is to ensure the health of the population as the main priority of urban policy and the consciousness of the residents themselves, and the approaches laid down in this project allow for the successful resolution of public health improvement issues in the urban environment in almost all social aspects.

The essence of the "Healthy Cities" project is that it is an organizational model of new relationships between existing urban structures – city administration, business circles, public associations, and the population directly – within the framework of joint activities aimed at improving the health of the population and the living environment, increasing physical activity, organizing healthy eating, and preventing bad habits.

Thus, it is the creation of a city that operates on the principle of a healthy lifestyle, where the population is responsible for its own health and the health of others, and where conditions are in place for preserving and strengthening health.

A Healthy City is not so much a city that has achieved a certain level of public health, but rather a city that strives for continuous improvement of the health and quality of life of its citizens, "tuned" to the understanding that health (in a broad sense of the word) is a priority issue for all urban life.

The main approach embedded in the "Healthy City" project is that people's health can only be improved through targeted and coordinated actions by practically all sectors and departments, and, of course, with the direct involvement of people – residents of cities, districts, and settlements (a collective approach). And, undoubtedly, the actions must be long-term and consistent.

The key element of the project is the joint resolution of problems. It is necessary to form a group of leaders interested in the future of the city, representing all classes, groups, and strata of the population.

Another key concept of the "Healthy Cities" initiative is the population – in the original, "community." It should be noted that this is not necessarily the population of a city: it can be a district within a large city, or a rural or suburban area encompassing several settlements.

A "Healthy City" strives for the following specific goals:

a clean physical environment that is safe for health (including housing);