One could be forgiven for remaining fixed on the year 2020, wondering with glassy-eyed gaze what the hell just happened. What is continuing to happen. But another question announces itself if we turn our heads not toward the past but the future: what comes next? And for those of us involved in urban studies, what might our roles be in both making sense of the question and in shaping an answer? We’ve selected some articles for you to explore from across the Interwebs that provide different perspectives on the situation.
- Roger Keil and three co-authors make the case that global urbanization created the conditions for the pandemic, and that political ecology can help us understand how and why.
- 12 leading experts in urban planning, policy, history, and health share their thoughts on how life in cities will change after the coronavirus pandemic.
- The World Economic Forum claims that “global cities will flourish in a post-COVID future.”
- A public policy piece from The Wharton School of Business speculates that the post-COVID-19 world will be less global and less urban.
- One commercial real estate website asks whether COVID-19 will bring about the end of the era of urbanization.
- Professor Meg Holden of Simon Fraser University cautions that if we love our cities, we must make better decisions about their future.
- The Guardian considers how COVID-19 could radically alter urban life.
- Curbed writer Alissa Walker cautions that coronavirus should not be used as fuel for urbanist fantasies.
Cover photo source.
