Summary of the Healthy Cities 2026 Congress and results of the Healthy Cities Index

The Healthy Cities 2026 Congress is behind us. The aim of the congress is to develop solutions and recommendations that will contribute to improving the quality of life in cities and inspire action on a large scale.

During the gala accompanying the congress, the results of the fifth edition of the Healthy Cities Index were announced. Its aim is to compare what conditions for a healthy life of residents are created by cities with county rights in Poland. The study covers all 66 cities with county rights, where 12.2 million people live, i.e. nearly one third of Poland's population.

Cities with over 300,000 inhabitants

In the category of cities with over 300,000 inhabitants inhabitants, Warsaw won. Receiving the award, Rafał Trzaskowski, mayor of Warsaw, thanked the inhabitants of the capital, saying that "they are the ones who strive for these changes every day."

Huge congratulations to all friends of local government officials who received these awards, because Poland is truly a self-governing country - added Trzaskowski.

In the new ranking, Warsaw (index value - 68.3 points) took the podium ahead of Poznań (65.5) and Lublin (59.8). Warsaw and Poznań changed places compared to the previous edition.

Bydgoszcz advanced strongly - from ninth to fifth place. Kraków took fourth place and Łódź sixth. Gdańsk, Wrocław and Szczecin recorded declines.

Cities with up to 300,000 inhabitants

In the category of cities up to 300 thousand. inhabitants, Bielsko-Biała won. The title of City of the 5th Anniversary went to the city of Zabrze, which advanced from 58th to 27th place between the first and this year's edition of the ranking, improving its position by 31 places.

The following cities won in individual categories: Health - Rybnik; Population and generations as well as municipal and social services - Rzeszów, Education - Kraków, Housing - Sopot, Environment - Olsztyn, Space - Chorzów, Infrastructure - Warsaw.

The Healthy Cities Congress grows out of the Healthy Cities Index project, an initiative launched in 2022 by the LUX MED Group and implemented together with scientists from the Warsaw School of Economics and the Foundation for Public Economy and Administration. Its goal is to create citizen-friendly cities through analysis of initiatives and actions that local communities implement to create sustainable urban space. The co-organizers of the Congress, apart from the LUX MED. Group, are the Warsaw School of Economics and the Open Eyes Economy movement.