Knowledge brokering for evidence-based urban health policy: a proposed framework.

This paper presents a multidimensional approach to examining the urban evidence-policy interface in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and applies this approach to a case study from Pakistan. Key features of urban health policy and the significance of the evidence-policy interface in rapidly changing LMICs are articulated; characteristics of evidence that has been successfully incorporated into health policy are also defined. An urban health evidence-to-policy exploratory framework for LMICs based on innovative multidisciplinary thinking and pivotal knowledge brokering is presented. Application of the framework to a case study on road transport and health in urban Pakistan underscores the opportunities and utility of knowledge brokering. Public health practitioners can become knowledge brokers at the evidence-policy interface to develop a concerted, coordinated and informed response to urban health challenges in LMICs.