At the first Blue Zone Festival in Zwolle, Cartesius, the large-scale inner-city area development in Utrecht, won first prize in the Real Estate Development category. In Cartesius Utrecht, the first Heart of Health area development in the region, the scientific theory of the Blue Zones is applied in an inner-city context for the first time.
The jury report on Cartesius Utrecht: “Cartesius Utrecht is a wonderful example of a highly urban development that is about more than just the realisation of buildings. Cartesius responds to one of the challenges we face as a country: how do you shape housing and quality of life in cities where we are living increasingly closer together? Several Blue Zone principles were already implemented in the tender phase, and these appear to be realised. Cartesius is not yet finished, but there is already a broad, integrated collaboration between real estate organisations and various other disciplines, including social organisations, knowledge organisations, residents, the municipality, management organisations, and various designers. In that context, it is also notable that the development is scientifically monitored to share knowledge and make interventions in the field of health possible."
The Blue Zone Festival is a festival for a healthy living environment. The aim is to draw more attention to healthy living environments and the ways in which we can actually realise and stimulate these environments. Inspiration for the Blue Zone Festival comes from places in the world where people live healthier and longer lives due to a strong focus on social interaction, exercise, healthy food, nature, resilience, and community participation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) embraces the development philosophy and recently added area development to its list of example projects. The partners in the 'Convention on Building a Healthy Neighbourhood' are currently making preparations to start long-term monitoring to determine the extent to which the interventions in the living environment at Cartesius Utrecht impact the physical and mental health of the residents. At a later date, this monitoring programme can be scaled up to other area developments in the Netherlands.