The concept of a Healthy City was put forth by the World Health Organization more than three decades ago. The world-renowned medical journal, The Lancet, worked with China's Tsinghua University to release a report on building such healthy cities in China. In a press conference on Wednesday, researchers and publishers say cities hold the key to a healthy China. For more on this, our reporter Tao Yuan caught up with the editor in chief of the Lancet, Dr. Richard Horton.

TAO YUAN, CGTN "First, for the record, define 'healthy cities' for us, because it's not measured by the achievement of a particular health status, is it?"

RICHARD HORTON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE LANCET "A healthy city is definitely concerned with the health of the people who live in the city, but a city is so much more than its people in the sense that it's the organization of the city, the way the economics of the city, the way the social organization in the city, the transport, the housing, the education in schools - all of these elements go to make up what a healthy city is. So when we think about the health of a city, we have to go beyond simply the hospitals, the doctors, the nurses. That's not enough."

TAO YUAN, CGTN "The report points out a few gaps in building healthy cities in China. A lack of central planning, for example, or the top-down approach that takes power away from private sectors. In your opinion, what is the one single flaw in the Chinese system that poses the greatest challenge to building healthy cities in the country?"

RICHARD HORTON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE LANCET "I think the biggest threat to the healthy city idea in China is the lack of coordination between different departments, different sectors of society. if you're not thinking about how you promote physical activity in your city, then you're going to create an unhealthy city, not a healthy city, so I think the biggest challenge is getting everybody to make health a priority."

TAO YUAN, CGTN "The report argues that 'Cities hold the key to a healthy China. Given that almost half of the country's population are still living in rural areas, many of whom don't have access to basic healthcare, waste management or even flush toilets, do you agree that healthy cities are the solution?"

RICHARD HORTON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE LANCET "I think what we have to remember is that China is an extremely dynamic situation. We are seeing this huge acceleration in urban migration. So while it's roughly balanced at the moment, urban-rural, over the next 20 years, it's not - it's going to move much more to the urban direction. So cities are going assume a much greater importance. But you're absolutely right. We must not neglect the rural population."