Thriving City Initiatives – what is a thriving city? Towards some definitions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the Thriving City Initiative (TCI) model in relation to Public Mental Health and Well-being. The initiative does not have an obvious coherence across the cities which implement it. Is there a consistent model as seen in other city-led public health initiatives? Can the TCI model continue to be adopted by urban areas worldwide without clear conceptualisation? This paper explores the discourse of what it means to be a TCI and whether or not there are key ingredients which tie them all together, justifying the common name-branding. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory paper uses existing literature on public health and discussions with public health leaders. Findings Despite the proliferation of TCIs across countries, there lacks a consistent model or identity across the different implementations. There are, however, some key ingredients across them: partnerships, a focus on prevention and promotion and changing perceptions of mental health and well-being. Practical implications This paper paves the way for future research on TCIs and creates a foundation for future exploration or evaluation of the initiatives and their impacts or effectiveness. Originality/value There is very little academic literature on individual TCIs and even less on the public health model itself. As of now, there is no outline, guidance or framework that identifies what a TCI is. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind, exploring the concepts and defining features of a TCI.