Focusing on relational dynamics of intersectoral collaboration, this article examines how urban health can be advanced through co-governance structures that integrate civil society, academia, and local authorities. Using case studies from Brazil and Canada, the authors illustrate the transformative potential of community‑based networks and consortia that support participatory health-oriented planning. These governance models foreground the significance of social determinants, recognizing that health outcomes emerge not only from infrastructure, but from collective capacity, resilience, and social trust. By highlighting adaptive institutional forms—such as mobile coalitions, participatory forums, and cross-disciplinary partnerships—the text positions cities as living laboratories of democratic solidarities, where urban planning is reimagined as a dialogical, health-centred praxis. The narrative advocates for a shift from technocratic interventions toward empowered, communicative planning regimes that reproduce well-being through local co-creation and shared stewardship of the urban commons.
