The COVID-19 pandemic has upheaved societies around the world – perhaps permanently. There’s an acknowledgement that everyday life will have to change post-lockdown to avoid further outbreaks, but could this transition also present a chance to usher in a fairer, greener, and less lonely future?
Scope
Diseases can shape cities just as much as immigration or industry. London’s Embankment, for instance, was a Victorian innovation designed to disguise a state-of-the-art sewage system built to replace the city’s festering open drains after repeated cholera outbreaks. New York’s skyline, meanwhile, was partially constructed to mitigate the spread of airborne tuberculosis through internal air shafts and large, central squares. In 2020, as countries steadily emerge from lockdown and grapple with how to thaw out finances, the COVID-19 pandemic may present a similar opportunity to reimagine urban societies, potentially making them greener, more sustainable, and fairer for all.
- 1. Interview with Alex Hollingsworth conducted by the author
- 2. 'Brits see cleaner air, stronger social bonds and changing food habits amid lockdown', RSA (April 2020)
- 3. ''Cleaner and greener': Covid-19 prompts world's cities to free public space of cars', The Guardian (May 2020)
- 4. '£2 billion package to create new era for cycling and walking', GOV.uk (May 2020)
- 5. Interview with Juliet Davenport conducted by the author
- 6. 'Covid-19 might not change cities as much as previous pandemics', The Economist (April 2020)
- 7. '68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN', United Nations (May 2018)
- 8. 'Air pollution may be ‘key contributor’ to Covid-19 deaths – study', The Guardian (April 2020) )
- 9. 'Air pollution linked to far higher Covid-19 death rates, study finds', The Guardian (April 2020) )
- 10. 'City Council to explore once in a generation improvements to city centre beyond the coronavirus pandemic', Oxford City Council (May 2020) )
- 11. Interview with Sophia Kianni conducted by the author
- 12. 'COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)', Johns Hopkins University)
- 13. 'Economic inequality can help predict COVID-19 deaths in the US', LSE (May 2020)
- 14. 'Coronavirus death rates twice as high in UK’s poorest areas as in richest, stark new data shows', Politics Home (May 2020) )
- 15. 'Peter Thiel’s New Zealand estate lies neglected as coronavirus drives preppers into hiding', CNBC (May 2020)
- 16. 'Notes from an Apocalypse: A Personal Journey to the End of the World and Back', Mark O’Connell (April 2020)
- 17. 'Brits feel communities have become closer since Covid-19 outbreak', Morning Star (April 2020)
- 18. Interview with Will Butler-Adams conducted by the author
- 19. 'Cities after coronavirus: how Covid-19 could radically alter urban life', The Guardian (March 2020)
- 20. 'What mutual aid can do during a pandemic', The New Yorker (May 2020)
- 21. 'As Millennials demand more meaning, older brands are not aging well', Fast Company (October 2017)
- 22. 'Domino's branded potholes appear after pizza company takes to road repair', The Guardian (June 2018)
- 23. 'Decathlon creates sports platform to connect customers, brands, fitness providers and experts in a ‘sport ecosystem’', Internet Retailing (September 2019)
- 24. 'How our cities can reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic', Brookings (March 2020)
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