Mayors from six cities around the world are gathered in Suzhou to pledge commitment to the emerging theme of "healthy urbanization".

The mayors of Kobe, Japan; Suzhou, China; Bangalore, India; San Joaquin, Chile; Ariana, Tunisia; and Nakuru, Kenya will speak at the Symposium on Healthy Urbanization held by the WHO Centre for Health Development under the subheading, "Optimizing the impact of social determinants of health on exposed populations in urban settings".

In recent decades, economic globalization has pushed rapid and often unplanned urbanization with serious consequences. For example, in Bangalore, around 25% of the population lives in slums, while some 40% of those in greater Bangalore are part of informal settlements. One-fifth of slum dwellers suffer from noncommunicable diseases, with 15-20% dying from injury.

In Japan, home to the WHO Centre for Health Development, despite economic expansion, working hours are up and wages are down. Of workers visiting health centers in 2003, 71% had hypertension, 67% had high cholesterol and 53% had diabetes.

During this event, the mayors will sign a statement to pledge their commitment to support the Healthy Urbanization Project.