Post-pandemic cities

Published in Project Syndicate

By Robert Muggah

Our cities will not be the same after COVID-19. Nor should they be. In Italy, as elsewhere, the public-health crisis has put us on the defensive. Our hospitals have been inadequate. And our cities, having been planned to meet our needs at a particular moment that looks nothing like the present, have fueled contagion.

As a result, the coronavirus is shutting down the engine of ideas and interactions that drives social dynamism and economic growth: the urban centre. And, because contagion may turn out to be a long-term or chronic threat, how to adapt urban design and management accordingly has become a salient question for architects.

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