Major cities around the world have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like it has been throughout history. The Black Death ravaged every major European city in the Middle Ages. This time too, the virus originated in Wuhan, the most populous city in Central China, before spreading to other major cities around the world. If New York has so far been the grimmest example of a COVID-19 hotspot, the scene has been only a shade better for London, Madrid, New Delhi, Mumbai, Sao Paulo or Moscow. Urban areas have been most affected because of a combination of factors such as city size, population, connectivity to other major cities whether nationally or internationally, health infrastructure, and most importantly, the sizeable number of the urban poor.
The current chaos has exposed some of the fundamental flaws in the way our cities were planned and designed, or, in some cases, not planned or designed at all. It has also exposed the vulnerabilities in our public health systems, quality of governance and growing inequalities, bursting the bubble around some of the concepts of smart cities.
Is there an opportunity here for urban planners to plan for the future? Right now, the imperative is to contain the spread of the virus and reopen the economy to start production. Towards that, the immediate shifts could be felt in rising remote work culture, digitalization of retail and move to a cashless economy. In the longer run, there could be an acceleration towards contactless smart infrastructure, driverless cars and total automation of assembly lines.
This is also an opportunity now for city planners to focus on green initiatives, upgrade their zoning and procurement policies to promote smart density and greener investment. The lessons learnt from this crisis should be used to make our cities more resilient, more sustainable and smarter in their use of technology.
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