Fall start due for Miami Beach Blue Zones strategy

Miami Beach leaders continue to talk with potential sponsors to make the city a Blue Zone region where people live longer and healthier, with a strategy plan to officially kick off in November.

As previously reported by Miami Today, Miami Beach Commissioner Tanya Katzoff Bhatt has been leading the initiative and says the city is looking to expand beyond its eminent nightlife and entertainment scene.

“It’s so exciting to me because this has become so much bigger than Blue Zones,” she said. “You’ve seen the city of Miami Beach working to transition from a party only city to an arts and culture city with [architecture] and tourism that goes beyond the party scene, and we’ve been doing that successfully.

“And now our current evolution that is being embraced by my colleagues on the dais and by our city staff and by our residents and by our visitors is this notion that Miami Beach will be the epicenter of health and wellbeing in a way that is unique and can only be in Miami Beach because of our setting and what we’ve already committed to valuing and elevating in the city of Miami Beach. The thing that’s been so thrilling about the Blue Zones process is that when you talk about it, people’s eyes light up.”

“But the thing that … I didn’t anticipate is that pushing play is one thing, pushing play means we’ve got our advisory board, we’ve got our executive director, we take a few months to put together our strategic plan about what we’re going to prioritize, what we can do quickly and easily, that is sort of low-hanging fruit that people would be able to experience and benefit from immediately and what is going to be heavier lifting – policy, funding, infrastructure – that’s going to take a little bit longer, and we’re planning on that,” Ms. Bhatt said.

“That’ll be happening by November of this year, but in the meanwhile, and here’s the magic, in the meanwhile, just by having been talking about the tenets of the Blue Zone and the tenets of health and wellbeing, and how Miami Beach is becoming the epicenter of this, we are seeing that happen almost organically in a way that transcends Blue Zones, in a way that is bringing businesses to Miami Beach who are building office space that reflects wellness principles.”

While strategy work has been happening unofficially, she said, it will officially begin in November when an advisory committee will be convened, an executive director will be hired and the group will develop a plan.

Ms. Bhatt said it’s not just about living a long life but “it’s about living the life you have in a way that’s meaningful to you and that you’re healthy enough to do it.”

She also said she’s been in talks with high-end hotels and businesses focused solely on helping people “understand what makes them feel better and therefore be able to live a healthier, happier, more connected life.”

“And so as I talk to people about it, whether it’s a casual conversation or it’s a planned business meeting, most people are super-excited about it and offer up to me their relevant experiences in their own lives, in their own professional experience, before we even talk in a serious way about strategy, about how meaningful it is to them and how they understand like down in their core, about what a brilliant fit this is to make this happen here in Miami Beach for a million different reasons.

“It’s really exciting to be a part of this kind of visceral, generational change that will have a lasting impact for people’s wellbeing,” Ms. Bhatt said. “And I know I’ve said that word about eight million times, but I mean, I can’t imagine anything more important than being able to help people live a better life, and that’s what this is about.”