Background and Objective:
Social inequities in health are increasing in cities, particularly affecting certain sociodemographically defined communities, which are therefore more vulnerable than others. The urban health approach offers opportunities to promote health equity. Therefore, the participation of vulnerable groups is a promising strategy. A transdisciplinary project on urban health in the Ruhr area (MUHR) investigates the international state of research on participation of vulnerable groups in the context of urban health. The objective is to present results on participation methods used, stakeholders involved, and the role of transdisciplinary collaboration.

Methods:
To meet this objective, a systematic review was conducted and complemented by focus groups with experts from different disciplines related to urban health and participation. To adequately represent multisectoral aspects, social, medical and health science databases were systematically searched (PubMed, AgeLine, CINAHL Complete, APA PsychArticles and PsychInfo, SocINDEX, LIVIVO). International publications of the last ten years in English and German were considered. Two researchers screened independently considering defined exclusion criteria. The focus groups will address the identified research gaps and take place within a transdisciplinary forum.

Results:
Of initially 841 manuscripts found, eight met the inclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative analysis. It can be increasingly seen that different disciplines are involved in the creation of healthy cities in the sense of transdisciplinarity and that the commitment to work together can represent an opportunity to support citizen empowerment. Commonly used methods for participation include Photo Voice, workshops, co-creation or community forums. The results of the focus groups will be available in February 2023 and will enrich the results with practical content.

Conclusion:
The findings provide insights into the opportunities of urban health to promote health equity and publics health in general. They represent direct impetus for structural change i.a. towards more community engagement in cities.