How can we overcome social inequity and unequal access to green spaces in The Hague, to promote better health and increase life expectancy more equally in the city?
Health inequalities are increasing and not everyone has equal opportunities to live a healthy life. People in disadvantaged neighborhoods live on average seven years less and experience up to fifteen fewer healthy years than those in more affluent areas. Health inequalities are often greater in cities and can continue for a long time. Despite ongoing research and policy efforts, there has been limited success in addressing these disparities.
A healthy city The Hague
The city of The Hague has around 570.000 inhabitants and will grow in 2040 to 650.000 inhabitants. The Hague has a large diversity of neighborhoods; each associated with different levels of health, wellbeing and life expectancy. The municipality of The Hague has an influence on parts of the exposome. Exposome can be viewed as the sum of environmental factors to which we are exposed throughout our lives, and which influence our health and disease. Think of factors such as air quality, living environment, and the social conditions under which someone grows up. The municipality of The Hague also has a direct influence on the green part of public space. It appears that this public space is unfairly distributed across the city. There are ‘paved neighborhoods’ and ‘green neighborhoods’. It makes a difference whether you live on sand or on peat.
In ‘The Hague’s Environmental Spatial Vision’ the following strategic choice has been made: we apply the principle of ‘unequal investment for equal opportunities’ to foster equal opportunities. This means making additional investments in priority neighborhoods to enhance livelihood security, opportunities for personal development, and healthy lifestyles. At the same time, we are ensuring a better distribution of vulnerable groups across the city, thereby countering the accumulation of problems in priority neighborhoods. We are working to embed themes from the social domain into area and project development.
In this Thesis Lab, you will collaborate with the municipality of The Hague, GGD Haaglanden, and local partners. You will carry out your own thesis project based on the assignments in the booklet. Next to that, you will join a mandatory 12-session by-weekly program between January and July 2027. Part of the program will be an experience day at GGD Haaglanden and the municipality of The Hague. Together with other students, you will develop recommendations on increasing a better health perspective via more accessible green spaces by answering three main questions for an interdisciplinary result (see bottom of the page).
You can work on a thesis assignment as part of the following themes:
We are looking for a variety of disciplines, such as urban management, population health management, health care management, medicine, public administration, environmental sciences, social studies, humanities and finance studies.
The Hague is the third city of The Netherlands. The Hague is working hard to become climate neutral, and wants to become a climate proof 'Green Metropolis by the Sea'.
GGD Haaglanden is a municipal public health service. It monitors, protects, and promotes the health of nine municipalities: The Hague, Delft, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Midden-Delfland, Pijnacker-Nootdorp, Rijswijk, Wassenaar, Westland and Zoetermeer.
The student group's joint interdisciplinary result aims to answer three main research questions:
