Half the world's population lives in Urban areas. The United Nations estimates that the urban population of 1995 will have doubled by 2025. By 2015, it is expected that there will be 33 megacities, 20 of them in Asia. Urbanization affects human health in unprecedented ways. Attempts to improve the health of citizens necessitate the development of comprehensive schemes integrating a wide range of factors pertaining to urban issues. Healthy Cites and Urban Policy Research is a collection of papers by leading experts from academia or international organisations who have been involved in the Healthy Cities Movement. It is the first academic work to combine public health with urban planning. Contemporary issues from various perspectives are included which address evaluation, evidence-based practice, accountability, community participation and information technology. Agis Tsouros, Jill Farrington, Hisashi Ogawa, Colin Fudge, June Crown, Keiko Nakamura, Frances Baum, Evelyne de Leeuw and Irene Lee.