Cities and COVID-19: navigating the new normal
Non-technical summary Urban density is erroneously regarded as the main factor in the spread of COVID-19 in cities. A review of extant literature and findings from our case study of Karachi, Pakistan indicate that inequalities in income, healthcare, and living conditions play a key role in the sprea...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Global Sustainability |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059479821000107/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1827994299329937408 |
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| author | Iman Khan Muhammad Naveed Iftikhar Saleem H. Ali Shua Khalid |
| author_facet | Iman Khan Muhammad Naveed Iftikhar Saleem H. Ali Shua Khalid |
| author_sort | Iman Khan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Non-technical summary
Urban density is erroneously regarded as the main factor in the spread of COVID-19 in cities. A review of extant literature and findings from our case study of Karachi, Pakistan indicate that inequalities in income, healthcare, and living conditions play a key role in the spread of contagions along with government responsiveness to the pandemic. Moving forward, urban policies need to address these inequalities through changes in housing policies and decentralized governance systems. Cities must adapt to sustainable modes of travel, reduce digital inequalities, and encourage people friendly urban planning to become resilient in the face of pandemics.
Technical summary
COVID-19 has changed how urban residents relate to their cities. Urban centers have become epicenters of disease, which has raised questions about the long-term sustainability of high-density settlements and public transport usage. However, the spread of COVID-19 in cities is incorrectly attributed to urban density.
Using the case study of Karachi, Pakistan, we find that inequality of income, healthcare, and living conditions is a major contributing factor to the spread of COVID-19. Data on positive COVID-19 cases, density, and socioeconomic status were obtained at the Union Council level from administrative districts of Karachi, Pakistan between March 2020, and July 2020. Despite low population densities, low-to-middle income neighborhoods in Karachi had a higher proportion of positive cases. Further, the experience of dense cities such as Hanoi in Vietnam and New York in the US differs regarding the spread of COVID-19. Hence, the government's response to the pandemic is also a major factor in containing the outbreak.
Our findings suggest that a crisis in a city is exacerbated by its inability to take advantage of its density, inequality in the distribution of resources, lack of inclusiveness, and centralized governance mechanisms that make it difficult to respond quickly to situations. Thus, urban planning scholarship and practice should take an interdisciplinary approach to make cities equitable, inclusive, and adaptive.
Social media summary
Cities in the developing world have an opportunity for more resilient renewal in the post-COVID world.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:38:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ab409d63cca94061871df97299b32df3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2059-4798 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:38:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj.art-ab409d63cca94061871df97299b32df32023-03-09T12:43:41ZengCambridge University PressGlobal Sustainability2059-47982021-01-01410.1017/sus.2021.10Cities and COVID-19: navigating the new normalIman Khan0Muhammad Naveed Iftikhar1Saleem H. Ali2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2943-9557Shua Khalid3Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS), Lahore, PakistanSuleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, PakistanDepartment of Geography and Spatial Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark DE, USAUrban Innovation, Islamabad, PakistanNon-technical summary Urban density is erroneously regarded as the main factor in the spread of COVID-19 in cities. A review of extant literature and findings from our case study of Karachi, Pakistan indicate that inequalities in income, healthcare, and living conditions play a key role in the spread of contagions along with government responsiveness to the pandemic. Moving forward, urban policies need to address these inequalities through changes in housing policies and decentralized governance systems. Cities must adapt to sustainable modes of travel, reduce digital inequalities, and encourage people friendly urban planning to become resilient in the face of pandemics. Technical summary COVID-19 has changed how urban residents relate to their cities. Urban centers have become epicenters of disease, which has raised questions about the long-term sustainability of high-density settlements and public transport usage. However, the spread of COVID-19 in cities is incorrectly attributed to urban density. Using the case study of Karachi, Pakistan, we find that inequality of income, healthcare, and living conditions is a major contributing factor to the spread of COVID-19. Data on positive COVID-19 cases, density, and socioeconomic status were obtained at the Union Council level from administrative districts of Karachi, Pakistan between March 2020, and July 2020. Despite low population densities, low-to-middle income neighborhoods in Karachi had a higher proportion of positive cases. Further, the experience of dense cities such as Hanoi in Vietnam and New York in the US differs regarding the spread of COVID-19. Hence, the government's response to the pandemic is also a major factor in containing the outbreak. Our findings suggest that a crisis in a city is exacerbated by its inability to take advantage of its density, inequality in the distribution of resources, lack of inclusiveness, and centralized governance mechanisms that make it difficult to respond quickly to situations. Thus, urban planning scholarship and practice should take an interdisciplinary approach to make cities equitable, inclusive, and adaptive. Social media summary Cities in the developing world have an opportunity for more resilient renewal in the post-COVID world. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059479821000107/type/journal_articlePakistanpublic healthsustainable citiesurban densityurban recovery |
| spellingShingle | Iman Khan Muhammad Naveed Iftikhar Saleem H. Ali Shua Khalid Cities and COVID-19: navigating the new normal Global Sustainability Pakistan public health sustainable cities urban density urban recovery |
| title | Cities and COVID-19: navigating the new normal |
| title_full | Cities and COVID-19: navigating the new normal |
| title_fullStr | Cities and COVID-19: navigating the new normal |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cities and COVID-19: navigating the new normal |
| title_short | Cities and COVID-19: navigating the new normal |
| title_sort | cities and covid 19 navigating the new normal |
| topic | Pakistan public health sustainable cities urban density urban recovery |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059479821000107/type/journal_article |
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