https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4273-2923
CITY KNOW-HOW
Worrying trends in terms of human health and planetary health are receive increasing global concern, on a daily basis. City leadership, planning, development and governance can each be used to support positive change, or to place constraints on urban behaviours and lifestyles, and accelerating the problems. It is imperative that human health and environmental impacts become core foci in urban policies around the world. Changing our trajectory will require concerted action. Cities & Health aims to be part of that change; it is dedicated to supporting the flow of knowledge, in all directions, to help make this happen.
We support better communication between researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, communities, and decision-makers in cities. This is the primary purpose of this section of the journal. Whether you are a just starting out on your journey, or an old hand, please read and share the insights from these papers.
Marcus Grant
Editor-in-Chief, Cities & Health
Geraint Ellis
Guest Editor and Board Member, Cities & Health
On 25 March 2020, Cities & Health journal issued an international call for ‘Initial reflections and future challenges’ on what was being experienced in town and cities as they coped with the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. Wanting to publish around 10–20 think-pieces, the call had over 2000 online hits and we were inundated with 220 expressions of interest. After an extensive, but rapid, editorial and peer review process we were able to publish 51 of these short commentaries during Summer 2020.
The call asked for ‘Grand Challenges’ and for commentaries on urbanism and health, and urban governance and knowledge generation for health. The selected authors confronted the task with innovation and insight. We have collected all the published papers into a Special Issue: ‘Cities, health and COVID-19: Initial reflections and future challenges’.
These papers were written, peer reviewed and revised during various national lockdown regulations and as a result, represent a unique record of observations and thoughts. They capture a specific set of circumstances where individuals and communities all over the world were suddenly plunged into conditions of lockdown, hedged in by uncertainly but having the ability to access new perspectives on once habituated urban situations – now thrown into disarray. These conditions offered a novel lens to observe neighbourhoods, urban support systems and living conditions. In many cases, this showed that previous health challenges and vulnerabilities became further compounded during this time.
Our intention is that this collection supports the case for addressing the structural problems for urban health and city sustainability, and will act as a usable and useful resource for those actively thinking about how the aspirations of how ‘building back better’ may be implemented in practical and effective ways. Indeed, we hope that this collection becomes more than just a ‘timecapsule’ that records once glimpsed horizons and lost opportunities, but that it also stimulates deeper questions about the sustainability of human settlements and provoke future research themes.
Our full editorial for the Special issue (Ellis et al. Citation2021) provides a broader context for the papers published in this collection and describes the process through which the collection was assembled. The Special Issue is also true to an aspiration we had for the Journal as expressed in the founding ‘editorial as manifesto’ (Grant et al. Citation2017); we want it to be a vehicle for co-production of knowledge for all those with an interest in built environment and people’s health. Because of this we want these papers to be readily accessible, especially for practitioners and policy-makers, so we have gathered the 51 commentaries into six categories, adding also nine selected indicative cross cutting themes (). The purpose of the table is not pigeonhole any of the papers, as most do not sit comfortably with a single category and cover many themes, but to aid accessibility within the collection.
Figure 1. The COVID-19 Lockdown Papers.
In addition to these short think pieces, we have also included three longer papers in the special issue. These delve more deeply into questions arising for urban planning and use of space. In ‘The impact of COVID-19 on public space: an early review of the emerging questions – design, perceptions and inequities (Honey-Rosés et al. Citation2020) call for the critical study and measure of changes under lockdown in order to inform urban planning and design in a post-COVID world. Their paper was one of the first to raise the question of what the long-term impacts will be of the COVID-19 pandemic on public space once the restrictions have been lifted. In Frankfurt, a year-long experiment on the Mainkai river frontage area had already collected detailed base data in July 2019 for study of car restrictions and road closures (Pandit et al. Citation2020). This made the resulting snapshot of pedestrians, cyclists and other user-groups in May 2020 all the more poignant for lockdown and beyond. Finally, a review of the literature on public policy responses to pandemics observes that the current urban planning system in Ghana leaves many people behind and exposes the lives of many to current and future disease pandemics (Anaafo et al. Citation2021).
To access and read any individual Lockdown Paper, find it in one of the six category-defined boxes later in this paper and use its unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number to locate it on the internet.
Governance and Policy Framing
These nine papers consider different ways in which COVID-19 has provoked a consideration of the ways in which we frame urban health, city governance and public engagement. This includes Boyd’s deliberations over how the principles of UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Programme, established in 1971, may provide some key lessons for future human-nature relationships. Following similar themes, de Leeuw explores the virtues of the One Health paradigm in relation to healthy cities. Gatzweiler and research team provide a statement of the scientific committee of the International Science Council’s Programme on Urban Health and Wellbeing and what cities can learn from one another about containing and preparing for pandemics. Rastandeh and Jarchow discuss ways in which the pressures for increased urbanisation can be accommodated through more wildlife-supportive development, and Rippon and co-authors examine the WHO Europe approach to creating resilient communities. Next, Natarajan considers the ways in which the Pandemic has posed a number of important questions on urban governance and how this has revealed limitations on how the UK Government views public agency. Finally in this section, three papers set their sights firmly on Low- and Middle-Income countries including how to learn lessons for informal urban settlements. Cobbinah and team suggest the COVID-19 crisis as a pivotal point to transform urban planning in Africa, French and co-authors look at the role of people-centred planning and community expertise and Smit discusses possible impacts on infections diseases in urban periphery.
Inequalities and social vulnerabilities
This theme includes 13 papers that reflect on a wide range of pre-existing inequalities and vulnerabilities that have exacerbated the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and frustrated the effectiveness of health responses.
Drawing on experience in the USA, Berkowitz and fellow researchers highlight how the burden of COVID-19 has been hardest felt in disadvantaged and racially-segregated neighbourhoods and suggest how place-based interventions and the implementation of a Health in All Policies offer a progressive response. Biglieri and co-authors focus on the inequalities in the suburbs of Toronto (Canada) and Milan (Italy) while Cave and research team also take a comparative look at Sydney, Milan, Seoul and London to consider how the pandemic is reinforcing existing inequities. Cole at al draw on theories of environmental justice and gentrification to consider potential long-term implications of the health inequities exemplified by outbreaks of COVID-19 in the cities of the Global North while Tampe discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable groups living in slums in the Global South.
Papers included here also examine the impact of COVID-19 on specific vulnerable groups with Hartt discussing the consequences for loneliness amongst older adults and Kyriazis et al draw attention to the impact of lockdown on children. Sinha et al draw on a survey of youth in five cities to explore how mental health and discuss what this means o for creating ‘Mental Health Friendly Cities’. The papers from Black’s author team and Kataria and Morris, consider the consequences of pre-existing vulnerabilities arising from non-communicable diseases on how urban dwellers have coped with the pandemic conditions. Next, Newell and Dale highlight the similarities between the COVID-19 pandemic and the threats of climate change and argue for integrated approaches to community development that increase our capacity to respond to both. The final two papers in this section both tackle sex-based discriminatory practices. Ebron examines the UN ‘Leave No One Behind: A Call-to-Action for gender equality’ pledges against a background of the Sustainable Development Goals and Morgan, Ebron and Kipenda look at how women’s voices remain underrepresented in decision-making and leadership despite their enormous contribution during health crises.
Food environments
This theme includes three papers focused on how COVID-19 has revealed some key vulnerabilities in urban food systems, with Cummins and co-authors exploring the potential changes to the UK’s food retailing system in order to continue to provide good food to the whole of the population and Carey and co-authors reflect on the inequities in such systems and the need to increase resilience in broad terms. Abwe and Daniel take this discussion of food as local market infrastructure into the urbanization challenges facing small African cities, with resonance for all informal urban settlements.
Living conditions, environmental quality and well-being
Under this theme, we have ten papers that considered a variety of aspects of environmental quality that have been challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a reflection on urban conditions that gave rise to Ebola, from Vanhove and co-authors, and the consequences for health of living conditions in Latin American cities from Diez Roux and her research team. Patel and Shah increase the focus on the pandemic’s impact on slum dwellers, whilst Wilkinson, Conteh and Macarthy also look at informal settlements, but in relation to chronic diseases.
Jenkins suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic can be used as a lens to determine how cities might provide a good quality of life during times of crisis while Jefferies with co-authors examine the contrasting conditions of lockdown in Wuhan (China) and Manchester (UK) to identify lessons in urban liveability. Jones and Grigsby-Toussaint focus on the socio-spatial consequences of COVID-19 emerging from the security of tenure faced by low-income ethnic minority groups in the US. Brittain’s team discuss the consequences of poor air quality and the design strategies that can be used to improve this, and Obonyo and James Mutunga include air quality and ventilation in their proposal for a global building network research initiative to advancing healthy and affordable housing. In the final paper of this section, De Vito and co-authors consider outdoor air quality and how this improved under conditions of lockdown, identifying how this situation might be maintained.
Mobility and active neighbourhoods
The eight papers included under this theme consider different aspects of mobility and physical activity. Here, the papers from both Nurse and Dunning and Gutiérrez’s team consider the impact of the pandemic on urban transport systems, while McDougall and co-authors and Koehl consider what changes in mobility patterns could mean for the future of urban living. Adlakha and Sallis review the health benefits of walkable, active-friendly neighbourhoods under COVID-19 and Russell and Stenning draw attention to changes in urban residential streets and opportunities for children’s’ play and physical activity. Both Payne and Lawanson’s group examine the consequences of the pandemic on physical activity in cities, with the latter focusing on Lagos, Nigeria. Lawanson and co-authors’ paper highlights the shift from ordinary known interactions into the extra-ordinariness of the pandemic and raises possibilities of rethinking urban development with wider post-pandemic implications.
Open space and public realm
In this final section, we have eight think-pieces that discuss different aspects of how the significant of open and public space have changed under COVID-19. In an interesting commentary, Grigoriadou specifically focuses on the role of the urban balcony as a public space under social distancing. Lennon and also Wray’s author team discuss the role of green space and public parks. With a case study from Tehran, Kordshakeri and Fazeli argue that in the absence of adequate, accessible, inclusive and usable public spaces, including streets and semi-private or semi-public spaces of residential areas, a city becomes less resilient against virus outbreaks.
The remaining four papers consider aspects of open space and contact with nature can contribute to well-being. McCunn looks at the importance of nature in city living from vantage of environmental psychology, with Niala focusing on urban food. Hanzl explores the framework of ecosystem services to examine the temporary interventions introduced in response to challenges of the pandemic, while Gillis explores the need for more injections of nature throughout our cities to create ‘restorative environments’.
Also included with these shorter think-pieces is a longer paper by Honey-Rosés and team, who review how the pandemic may change city dwellers relationships with public space and the implications for research and practice.
Thank you to our Special Issue partners
Our special issue partners have supported this endeavor from the start. They disseminated the call for contributions, provided additional reviewers for the papers and co-authored the Leading Editorial. They are involved in the dissemination of these papers and helping us all distill the lessons they contain.
BOVA Network (Building Out Vector-borne diseases in sub-Saharan Africa)
The BOVA Network is a coalition between vector biologists and building and engineering experts, working together to reduce the burden of insect transmitted (i.e. vector-borne) diseases such as malaria and dengue. We support the development of novel products and interventions, which protect people from mosquitoes and other insects, in and around their homes. Our remit includes basic research, seeking better understanding of transmission ecology, assessing new tools and control measures, and exploring pathways for scale-up. A multi-disciplinary approach involving communities, the health and building sectors, local government leaders and other stakeholders is essential. Homes that are healthier and more environmentally sustainable in general are surely everybody’s right; we are pleased to sponsor this important, special COVID-19 issue of Cities & Health. www.bovanetwork.org
Design Council
The Design Council commissions pioneering evidence-based research, develops ground-breaking programmes and delivers influencing and policy work to demonstrate the power of design. We bring together non-designers and designers – from grassroots to government – and share with them our design expertise to transform the way they work. Our strategic priorities are to improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities; to enable sustainable living, focusing in particular on climate action; and to increase design skills across the UK and beyond to respond effectively to major challenges and contribute to the economy. We welcome the opportunity collaborate with Cities & Health for this COVID-19 special issue and hope it will bring people together and empower them to respond through the creation of better places for all. www.designcouncil.org.uk
International Society for Urban Health (ISUH)
The International Society for Urban Health is the only global non-governmental organization solely focused on advancing urban health and health equity by addressing the broader determinants of health. Through its annual global conference and program activities, ISUH serves as a platform for interdisciplinary academic researchers and educators, practitioners and policymakers from multiple sectors in government and the private sector – NGOs and businesses – to learn from each other and advance evidence and action that improves urban health. ISUH is honored to have partnered with Cities & Health to deliver this special issue highlighting urban health challenges in the early stages of COVID-19 and providing important insights on how to build back better more equitable and healthy cities. www.isuh.org
Thank you to our team reviewers
On behalf of the journal, the full journal Editorial Board would like to thank the large team of reviewers. You provided very valuable comments on the papers and were able to return your reviews with speed. This made the task of editing such a large quantity of papers so much easier for the editors, elevated the quality of the papers and gave the authors a speedy submission to publication time.
Editorial Board for this Special Issue
Lead Editor: Geraint Ellis, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland Team: Walseska Caiaffa, Universidade Federal De Minas Gerais, Brazil Caroline Brown, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland Marcus Grant, Environmental Stewardship for health, England
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Geraint Ellis
Geraint Ellis is Professor of Environmental Planning in the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queens University, Belfast. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Cities & Health and the Co-editor of the Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning. With a background in geography, planning and community engagement, his research interests are in planning, sustainability and governance, particularly in terms of health and the built environment, and energy transition. He has researched and published widely in the areas, and is the Lead Coordinator of the “https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/ILXlCjRvnlfYAMmnDiWwqhl?domain=mistral-itn.eu/” MISTRAL network. He has held many advisory roles to governments, community organisations and businesses and is currently an Independent Member of the National Economic and Social Council of Ireland.
Marcus Grant
Marcus Grant is Editor-in-Chief of Cities & Health and former deputy director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Healthy Cities. With a background in ecological systems and urbanism, he is a practitioner scholar for healthy urban planning, healthy placemaking and planetary health. Marcus is an expert advisor to the WHO and UN-Habitat, a contributor to “Health as the Pulse of the New Urban Agenda’ and author of the WHO UN Sourcebook: Integrating health into urban and territorial planning. Marcus is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, a member of the Landscape Institute and is based in Bristol, England.
References
- Anaafo, D., Owusu-Addo, E., and Takyi, S.A., 2021. Urban planning and public policy responses to the management of COVID-19 in Ghana. Cities & health, 1–15. doi:10.1080/23748834.2021.1876392
- Ellis, G., et al., 2021. The urban syndemic of COVID-19: insights, reflections and implications. Cities & health, 1–11. doi:10.1080/23748834.2021.1894843
- Grant, M., et al., 2017. Cities and health: an evolving global conversation. Cities & health, 1 (1), 1–9. doi:10.1080/23748834.2017.1316025
- Honey-Rosés, J., et al., 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on public space: an early review of the emerging questions – design, perceptions and inequities. Cities & health, 1–17. doi:10.1080/23748834.2020.1780074
- Pandit, L., et al., 2020. How do people use Frankfurt Mainkai riverfront during a road closure experiment? A snapshot of public space usage during the coronavirus lockdown in May 2020. Cities & health, 1–20. doi:10.1080/23748834.2020.1843127