This work relates the attempt to reach the solutions for the health problems of the population of Fortaleza in the period between the Municipalization of the Public Health Assistance in 1990, and the reform of the City Administration started in 1997. The descentralization and intersectoriality are distinguished as basic fundamentals for building a new pattern wich aims at "Health as means of improvement of quality of life" towards a healthy city.
Descentralization; Intersectorality; Life Quality; Healthy City