The COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts on cities and major lessons for urban planning, design, and management

The Covid19 pandemic has changed the way people behave and interact consequently resulting to various social and environmental changes as well.

In a study recently conducted by AyyoobSharifiabc and Amir RezaKhavarian-Garmsird published at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720359209#s0095 , the following are the major issues revealed by the pandemics and recommendations for post-COVID planning.

 

Major Issues Revealed by the Pandemic	Major Recommendations/Implications for Post-COVID Planning
Environmental Quality (Air quality)
-Traffic emissions are major sources of pollution in many cities - Non-traffic sources of pollution are also important in some contexts - In some contexts, COVID-19 transmission/mortality rates are strongly associated with high levels of air pollution - Long-term exposure to air pollution can increase human vulnerability to pandemics	- Greening the transportation and industry sectors can provide major air quality benefits - Measures to reduce traffic-related pollution are not enough to address air quality in all contexts - As measures designed for reducing some pollutants may increase secondary pollutants, holistic approaches to pollution mitigation are needed - Reducing air pollution can contribute to reducing transmission/mortality rates of pandemics
Environmental Factors
- Evidence on the association between temperature and COVID-19 transmission rate are inconclusive - When the wind speed is low, air pollution is likely to intensify transmission rate	- During pandemics, social distancing and other protection measures should continuously be promoted irrespective of environmental conditions - Improving air quality can contribute to addressing issues related to covid-19 and other pandemics both in short and long term
Urban Water Cycle
- Unregulated human activities have resulted in the contamination of water resources in many cities - Drugs used for treatment of COVID-19 patients may pollute freshwater resources - Lack of sewage treatment facilities in poor areas undermines the effectiveness of lockdown measures	- Designing regulations to minimize negative agricultural, industrial, and traffic impacts on water resources should be prioritized - Sufficient disinfection of water plants and wastewater treatment plants and measures such as the prevention of sewage leakage into freshwater resources are essential to reduce human exposure to the virus
Socio-economic impacts (Social impacts)
- COVID-19 has exposed old problems and inequalities in a new light - Inequalities make containment challenging, and may also lead to further diffusion of the virus - Enforcing social distancing and other response measures is challenging in slums	- More inclusive actions towards reducing inequalities and addressing the needs of vulnerable groups should be prioritized - Slum upgrading should be prioritized - Social distancing policies should be coupled with economic support mechanisms - Enhancing sense of community is critical for improving response and recovery capacities
Economic Impacts
-Homogeneous economic structure increases vulnerability - Marginalized groups are disproportionately affected by the economic impacts of the pandemic - Global supply chain makes cities vulnerable to disruptive events	- Diversifying urban economic structure is essential - Developing relief programs to support vulnerable and marginalized groups is necessary during pandemics - Transformation to more local supply chain that increases self-sufficiency is needed for dealing with the economic fallouts of the pandemic and similar future events
Management and Governance (Governance)
- Absence of proactive planning and emergency plans is a major reason for failure to respond effectively is some countries - Fragmented urban governance erodes response and adaptation capacities	- Long-term visioning and integrated urban governance enhance adaptive capacity - During pandemics, local governments should provide economic and social support to vulnerable groups - In addition to top-down initiatives, certain levels of local leadership and community engagement are critical for timely response to pandemics
Smart Cities
- Smart solutions have contributed to developing more effective and efficient response and recovery measures (e.g., identifying and isolating infected individuals, reducing human-to-human contacts in service delivery, etc.) - Techno-driven approaches have been successful in containing the virus, but have raised concerns regarding privacy protection and transparency	- Public access to real time and geo-referenced data enables better response and recovery from adverse events - Techno-driven approaches should not undermine privacy issues and be misused to reinforce power relations - Human-driven approaches are more suitable for citizen empowerment - Combined approaches are better suited for containing the pandemic, dealing with privacy concerns, facilitating coordination and information sharing, and controlling the spread of misinformation
Transportation and Urban Design (Transportation)
- Increased transport connectivity is a risk factor that may contribute to the diffusion of infection diseases - Public transportation may increase the risk of transmission during pandemics - The pandemic may increase negative attitudes towards public transportation	- Smart mobility restrictions, based on the transmission risk of different transportation modes, is essential for containing the spread of the virus - More attention to minimizing potential public health risks of public transportation is needed - Modal shift to cycling and walking offers a unique opportunity to further promote active transportation
Transportation and Urban Design  (Urban design)
- Density alone is not a key risk factor contributing to the spread of the virus - Some cities lack appropriate levels of green and open spaces to meet outdoor exercise and recreation demands of their citizens while fulfilling social distancing requirements	- Density alone is not a key risk factor contributing to the spread of the virus - Some cities lack appropriate levels of green and open spaces to meet outdoor exercise and recreation demands of their citizens while fulfilling social distancing requirements

 

 

 

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720359209#s0095