The dominant discourse of COVID 19 and cities seems to be built around a singular narrative, assuming the crisis has been more or less the same for different places with few variations. Yet this discourse fails to consider other street lives and urban cultures which exist in large parts of the world, and the most vulnerable populations, who are dealing with the hardest aspects of the pandemic. This article examines the lived experiences of women, and residents of the Global South.
Read MoreWe can regulate the tech sector in such a way that it must genuinely listen to and serve local communities. That way tech would play one part of a larger effort to address root causes, instead of a status quo which squeezes marginalized folks out of the process of finding solutions to the problems that are reaching a breaking point in cities around the world today.
Read MoreNot to spoil the reopening party (masks optional), but if we’re going to learn anything about what the next few months or years may look like, it appears essential to question what reopening means now and in the future.
Read MoreLike a living organism, cities have grown, expanded and developed according to their historical context. As history unravelled, so they changed, portraying the feelings and ideologies of the time. In the most recent history, we can look back at the two World Wars as prime examples of the relationship between history and urban development, as they affected citizens and intellectuals alike, leading to pivotal changes in all fields, namely urban planning and development.
Read MoreHow radical are the consequences of the change in our routine so far and in the future, because of quarantine? Are modern apartments prepared for this change?
Read MoreCan COVID-19 catalyze the de-urbanization of elites in the developing world? And how will tensions between urbanites and rural dwellers evolve if the trend towards de-urbanization is confirmed?
Read MoreAs the COVID-19 crisis has forced desk-bound workers to adopt the “home-office” model, many are wondering if this new reality is the answer to workers’ increasing demands in way of flexibility, rush hour commutes and rising office prices. And if that turns out to be the case, this is a change in our lifestyles that could have immense implications for the enormous amount of space we dedicate in cities to work. So it’s worth thinking about a bit further.
Read MoreLa Diada marks the beginning of spring. It is a national festival that forms one of the most important cultural events in the calendar. It dominates newspapers and television headlines every year. But on this 23rd of April, in these deserted times, St. Jordi is not here.
Read MoreIf this is how capitalistic societies work — with people constantly being productive, striving to occupy their time, almost ashamed when they have nothing to do — quarantine measures have suddenly and abruptly broken everyone’s routines
Read MoreDuring a health crisis, not everyone has the right to stay home. This concerns not only the most essential workers (i.e. doctors, sanitary operators and supermarket assistants), but, also, all those workers who are the real producers of the city, the ones that assure its growth and functioning.
Read MoreUrban lifestyles in Spain may have compounded the viral impact on the country. And they don’t seem likely to change once this is all over. So what solutions are out there?
Read MoreThis is what the deserted city reveals to us, uninhabited in its streets and squares, where no open space belongs to us anymore: to satisfy always and only the private means to confine everyone to their own positions and origins; to give oxygen to the public, to the open space, the means in which we learn to meet others.
Read MoreSmall groups in Oxford, largely on social media, have fostered a model and space for building social capital while indoors — one that could (and should) be replicated in urban neighborhoods everywhere, as infection and death tolls rise.
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