A growing number of urban development and public health professionals are developing expertise in how urban environments influence population health to support preventive health planning, implementation and outcomes.

This study aimed to address the growing interest among these experts to move beyond silo-based approaches to preventive health planning and urban development by developing preliminary mapping of the complex adaptive system.

A system map was developed using a unique participatory system-mapping process involving 15 urban development and public health experts engaged in population health in Sydney’s urban environment. The final system map encompassed features of the local environment, determinants of health and wellbeing in urban environments, pre-clinical health and wellbeing impacts, and clinical health outcomes, providing a comprehensive map of the adverse effects of urban environments on population health. 

The study highlights how the collective intelligence of experts from diverse disciplines can generate participatory system mapping and how using systems mapping can help experts interested in complex public health problems to take a broader view of the complex adaptive system for preventive health planning.