Many recent researches and studies have pointed out the necessity of
developing comprehensive conceptual frameworks for healthy cities.
Accordingly, this study aims to explain the conceptual framework for healthy
cities research, planning, and design by identifying its meaning, purpose
and formative elements. The research was conducted through qualitative
techniques, such as conceptual, thematic and content analysis of the
relevant literature and case studies. Results show that the conceptual
framework contains voluminous conceptual knowledge about healthy cities and
suggest that conceptual framework on healthy cities can include elements
such as: 1) a subject, problems, methods, research questions, 2) theories,
models, empirical data and practice data, concepts and relations among these
concepts, principles; 3) the visual presentation of its contents, and a
manual for its usage and development; authors? values, beliefs and thinking.
A conceptual framework, based on the elements mentioned above, serves to
systematically explain the healthy cities and to support the research,
planning and design in the process of its developing. These findings can
help to advance knowledge and scientific understanding of conceptual
frameworks of contemporary cities in the domain of health, planning,
designing and research. Also, the presented findings can serve as a basis
for developing a comprehensive conceptual framework for healthy cities in
the future. For example, existing conceptual frameworks could be analysed
and new ones developed according to the proposed elements and purposes. In
these cases, the proposed elements and purposes would be a unique criterion
for the analysis and development of the conceptual frameworks.
