Table 2.

SALURBAL aims, sample research questions, and core activities

Project aim	Sample questions or objectives	Core activities
Aim 1: To quantify the contributions of city and neighborhood‐level factors to differences in levels of health and health inequalities among and within cities.	(1) What is the impact of city‐level and neighborhood‐level factors on levels of population health in cities? (2) What is the impact of city‐level and neighborhood‐level factors on the magnitude of social inequities in health within cities? (3) What city and neighborhood‐level factors are associated with beneficial health and environmental indicators?	Compile link, and document a rich harmonized data resource on health, city, and neighborhood‐level factors in the Latin American region. Units and variables are being defined at each level allowing for a variety of flexible analytical approaches, including multilevel and longitudinal analyses.
Aim 2: To evaluate the health and environmental impact of city and neighborhood‐level policies/interventions by capitalizing on natural experiments and by combining quantitative and qualitative approaches.	(1) What policies or interventions are associated with better population health and lower health inequities within cities? (2) What policies or interventions are related to beneficial urban environmental conditions and lower inequities in exposures to adverse urban environments? (3) What policies or interventions result in the most beneficial health and environmental trajectories?	The project team identified four thematic areas of interest based on interventions and policies currently prioritized in the region: mobility and emissions control, comprehensive urban development policies, reduction of social inequities, and promotion of healthy behaviors. Strategic opportunities for health impact evaluation using quantitative and qualitative approaches are being identified through working groups and a call for proposals.
Aim 3: To employ systems thinking and formal simulation models in order to (1) better understand the dynamic relations between the urban environment, health, and environmental sustainability; and (2) identify the plausible impacts of selected policies under varying conditions and dynamic relations.	(1) What are the dynamic relations between the urban environment, health, and environmental sustainability; and (2) what are the plausible impacts of selected policies under varying conditions and dynamic relations? The team identified two areas for systems modeling based on interest in the region, team expertise, and relevance of systems approaches: transportation and food policy.	Conduct facilitated workshops[16,17] engaging scientists, policy‐makers, and representatives from civil society in order to promote systems thinking and generate causal loop diagrams. This stage will help identify key systems components and refine the research questions In a second stage, we will use system dynamics or agent‐based modeling[18,19] to address key questions identified.
Aim 4: To engage with the scientific community, the public, and policy makers in order to disseminate findings and translate them into policies and interventions.	Objectives include: (1) to promote new ways of thinking about drivers of urban health and the types of policies and interventions that could improve health and sustainability in cities. (2) To engage various stakeholders in research and evaluation process in order to shape questions and facilitate dissemination. (3) To disseminate our vision and our findings broadly. (4) To advocate for and support the translation of research findings into policies and interventions.	Conduct stake holder mapping. Incorporate policy‐make input at multiple steps in the project through workshops and other events. Implement rapid research dissemination and policy translation activities across digital, print, and in‐person platforms. Evaluate impact.