Learning from COVID-19 and planning post-pandemic cities to reduce pathogen transmission pathways

Abstract

With vaccination on its way globally though at different speeds but with the continuous emergence of new variants, the COVID-19 pandemic is at a turning point. While significant health and socio-economic challenges will still continue to be posed in the coming years (Iftekhar et al., 2021), the transition towards the post-pandemic city is approaching, combined with other agendas, including economic recovery, energy security, inclusion and decarbonisation. Undoubtedly, we will have to learn to live with coronavirus as it becomes endemic within the population and possibly new pandemic episodes (Iftekhar et al., 2021;Mackensie, 2020). As such, the COVID-19 pandemic has constituted a planning inflection point (Dockerill et al., 2021) during which existing approaches to urban development have been, and will continue to be, questioned as local and national governments, employers and city residents continue to adapt. Such approaches have differed from one country and one place to another, highlighting severe discrepancies in approaches towards virus prevention and containment along with individual behaviours, all of which are highly path-dependent on existing cultures (e.g. car use and consumer behavior), urban structures and planning systems. Processes that were already transforming cities (such as e-commerce, homeworking and temporary transformations of spaces - either vacant or outdoor, like streets, pavements and parks) have been accelerated (Bryson et al., 2021;Andres et al., 2021;Brail, 2021;Florida et al., 2021).