Beasley School of Law, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Health Promot Int. 2021 Dec 13;36(Supplement_1):i4-i12. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daab064.
Governance is an important factor in urban health, and law is an important element of healthy governance. Law can be an intervention local government wields to influence behavior and shape environments. Law can also be an important target of health promotion efforts: Law and the enforcement and implementation behaviors it fosters can promote unhealthy behaviors and environmental conditions, and can act as a barrier to healthy interventions or practices. Finally, law is a design and construction tool for the organization of governance. Law is the means through which cities are formally established. Their powers and duties, organizational structure, boundaries and decision-making procedures are all set by law. Regardless of the form of government, cities have legal levers they can manipulate for health promotion. Cities can use tax authority to influence the price of unhealthy products, or to encourage consumption of healthy foods. Cities can use their legal powers to address incidental legal effects of policies that they themselves cannot control. Cities may also have the authority to use law to address deeper determinants of health. The overall level of income or wealth inequality in a country reflects factors well-beyond a local government's control, but city government nonetheless has levers to directly and indirectly reduce economic and social inequality and their effects. A renewed focus on law and urban governance is the key to assuring health and well-being and closing the health equity gap.
治理是城市健康的一个重要因素，而法律是健康治理的一个重要元素。法律可以作为地方政府用来影响行为和塑造环境的一种干预手段。法律也可以成为健康促进努力的一个重要目标：法律及其所促进的执行和实施行为可以促进不健康的行为和环境条件，并可能成为健康干预或实践的障碍。最后，法律是治理组织的设计和构建工具。法律是城市正式建立的手段。城市的权力和职责、组织结构、边界和决策程序都是由法律规定的。无论政府形式如何，城市都有可以用来促进健康的法律手段。城市可以利用税收权力来影响不健康产品的价格，或鼓励健康食品的消费。城市可以利用其法律权力来解决其自身无法控制的政策的附带法律影响。城市当局也可能有权利用法律来解决健康的更深层次决定因素。一个国家的整体收入或财富不平等水平反映了超出地方政府控制范围的因素，但城市政府仍然有手段来直接和间接地减少经济和社会不平等及其影响。重新关注法律和城市治理是确保健康和福祉以及缩小健康公平差距的关键。
