City Responses to Disruptions in 2020

Examining the multifaceted elements of urban economics, disruptions, and responses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic entails adopting a holistic perspective, encompassing the broader landscape, and exploring the diverse trajectories followed by regions worldwide in their recovery efforts. This chapter amalgamates economics and urban geography to establish a contextual framework that elucidates the stability of urban economies. Specifically, it highlights the significance of comprehending society-wide disturbances and their impact on urban economies, as well as the identification of vulnerabilities and economic factors that amplify such disturbances. The adoption of specific and case-related approaches is emphasized. A synopsis of the book “City Responses to Disruptions in 2020: From Lockdowns to Aftermath” delineates its chapters and illustrates the diverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby creating distinct scenarios in relation to global value chains, debt, digitalization, and the environment across various cities and urban areas. The chapter places a strong emphasis on acquiring insights into the consequences of disruptions in 2020 and their implications for the future, with the aim of facilitating enhanced preparedness for forthcoming shock events in order to work towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11: To make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Drawing upon empirical data, statistical models, and case studies, this interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach offers actionable insights for policymakers, economists, and researchers.

The 2020 economic crisis that stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse effect on economies worldwide. The effect of the crisis has not been homogenous, with some cities being more adversely impacted than others. The economic crisis provides an opportunity to examine the multi-scalar dimension of localities' resilience. In particular, the economic crisis originates partly due to containment measures, which allows the examination of how national and subnational policies influence localities' resiliency. Specifically, this chapter examines the resilience (i.e., resistance and recovery) of Canadian cities to the economic crisis, investigating the multi-scalar influences of provincial policies to reduce the spread of the virus to determine if various degrees of policy stringency influenced cities' resilience. The research finds that the degree of stringency of provincial policies did not significantly affect the resiliency of cities. Additionally, when decomposing localities' resilience (i.e., resistance and recovery) into local-specific factors and industrial mix using the shift-share analysis, it is found that local-specific factors significantly determined the cities' resilience, whereas the industrial mix had a marginal effect. Further, cities exhibited heterogenous resiliency to the crisis, with larger cities generally experiencing a greater capacity to recover. Also, it appears that the crisis has had hysteretic effects on cities, with some cities exited with a greater post-growth level. In comparison, others exited with a lower post-growth level. Overall, the findings have important policy implications for local economic development, especially regarding the importance of local capacity.

The recent pandemic has served as a wake-up call for policymakers and governments, highlighting the urgent need to regenerate our cities in preparation for future environmental shocks. Studies have indicated that the risk of COVID-19 transmission was significantly lower in urban green spaces, providing a safe and much-needed refuge for many individuals living in lockdown. Thus, in a post-pandemic world, it is essential to create inclusive and resilient human settlements, ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality green spaces. The provision of such green spaces not only enhances citizens’ quality of life but also improves human health and well-being while simultaneously reducing healthcare costs. Therefore, prioritising the opportunity to cultivate more food within our cities should be recognised as a public health priority. Within this chapter, a literature review is conducted to explore the role of landscape architecture in pandemic recovery, urban regeneration, and building resilience to future shocks. The pandemic has presented us with an opportunity to reintegrate nature into our built environment and establish more accessible green spaces. The findings from the literature demonstrate that landscape architecture will play a fundamental role in driving a green recovery and fostering the development of healthy communities.

This chapter presents a comparative analysis of urban interventions involving the use of public spaces that took place during the pandemic from May 2020 to July 2021 in Toronto (Canada), Recife (Brazil), and New York (USA). The identification and analysis of these transformations can contribute to the constitution of different regulations and urban plans, which go beyond the context of pandemics, supporting sustainable urbanism practices essential to the (re)balance of the ecosystem currently threatened by the appearance and proliferation of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The interventions observed in each city are based on the following conceptual foundations: principles of sustainable urbanism; research on the use of open spaces versus the detriment of closed spaces during the pandemic; recommendations and data from the World Health Organization; and definitions on tactical urbanism, and emergency urbanism. The analysis presented here focuses on practices of tactile urbanism (or “placemaking” or emergency urbanism), the understanding of the need for paradigm shifts for the use of public spaces in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the urgency to present urban actions in response to the new restrictions imposed. For this purpose, the following ways of using the city were observed: circulation, permanence, and commerce. It is argued that these three levels of action, acting together, generate conditions for the use of public space that strengthen the practice of sustainable urbanism in contemporary times.

A formalized workforce ensures economic stability, but the majority of the workforce engages in informal livelihoods. Professional women require support for which they engage women domestic workers (WDWs) hailing from marginalized and underprivileged sections. During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, such workers were the hardest hit. Middle-class and well-off sections managed to deal with the pandemic as the majority of them received salaries from their profit-making institutions while working from home, whereas WDWs were asked not to report for work to practise social distancing measures. They found it difficult to sustain their family due to the loss of income as fallout of stricter measures enforced to curtail the pandemic. The chapter aims at analysing the precarious socio-economic conditions faced by WDWs. The objectives are to analyse the causes accentuating the struggles of workers, their relationship dynamics with the employers and the role of stakeholders to balance the power relationship. The secondary data on the WDW’s conditions was collected from published journal and newspaper articles. Data about the informal settlements have been collected from the publications of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, the Government of India, the International Labour Organization and Participatory Research in Asia. The in-depth interviews using the snowball sampling technique were conducted with 5 WDWs in Bengaluru, to gather information on their socio-economic conditions in pre- and post-lockdown. The chapter concludes that WDWs, the providers of support to working professionals, are perceived as an obstacle during COVID-19. The multitudinous consequences of the lockdown impacted their socio-economic well-being. It recommends that capacity building is the way forward for ascertaining their rights and balancing the power dynamics. Civil society organizations shall play a proactive role to ensure their rights.

The COVID-19 pandemic led the Indonesian government to initiate the Omnibus Law, which has impacted all Indonesian legal frameworks, specifically in regard to economic law. As mentioned in the Governmental Regulation Number 11 of 2021, one breakthrough that has been proposed by the Government of Indonesia to accelerate economic growth is the narrative of Village-Owned Enterprise (or BUMDes). However, the regulation has become a polemic as it has deviated from the essence of Indonesia’s economic democracy. While the Constitution of Indonesia has clearly mandated the development of Indonesia’s economy through cooperativism, the government is instead focused on capital accumulation in the development of BUMDes. This chapter sheds light on the concept of BUMDes and how the village's economic independence can be achieved through law. This research article expounds on the subject in question in seven consecutive narratives. First, it explains the general background of the omnibus in lieu of law. It then expounds on the sudden shift that occurs in village economic policy because of the economic shock introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. It then explains the original design of economic democracy in Indonesia’s constitution. The fourth part elaborates on the structure of village-owned enterprises (BUMDes) as shaped by relevant regulations while the fifth part explains BUMDes’ status as a legal entity and a relevant problem regarding it. The last part presents cooperatives as a healthy alternative to and a recommended framework for BUMDes. The research finds that BUMDes was constructed to be similar to a limited company and is focused on the capital dimension and concluded that a reflection on cooperatives as values and institutional ideas is needed to construct BUMDes as an economic tool truly based on cooperativism.

This chapter examines the environmental consequences of excessive usage and improper disposal of plastics during the COVID-19 pandemic. The significant ecological impacts of plastic pollution during this period resulted from the high demand for single-use plastics and personal protective equipment (PPE), the increased production of medical waste, and the prioritization of incineration and landfilling. With the commencement of vaccination campaigns, the issue of generating plastic-based medical and household waste has further intensified. It is recommended that appropriate strategies for managing plastic waste, encompassing comprehensive and step-by-step approaches that involve adequate sorting, sanitization activities, proper technological intervention, and process optimization be implemented. In conclusion, pivotal solutions and recommendations such as the adoption of bioplastics and the substitution of fossil-fuel-based plastics with biodegradable or compostable materials could be utilized in future scenarios.

Recognizing the recent pace of urbanization and carbon emissions growth, this study investigates the dependence of CO₂ emissions on the urbanization of European Union (EU) countries, economic growth, total energy consumption, the amount of energy produced from renewable sources, and nuclear energy as low-carbon energy source. The main questions addressed in this study are: (1) Are there long-term and short-term relationships between the variables examined? (2) What is the connection between carbon emissions and the independent variables at different periods? (3) Can urbanization, economic development, total energy consumption, and the share of renewable and low-carbon energy sources predict the evolution of carbon emissions and thus the achievement of the EU’s carbon neutrality targets? We analyze a sample of 22 European countries for the period 1992–2019. Concerning the COVID-19 pandemic that hit Europe in early 2020, this study can be used as a comparative sample and can serve to assess the impacts of the pandemic on the evolution of greenhouse gas emissions during the pandemic as well as after the pandemic has subsided and economies have restarted. The models used in the study are as follows: threshold cross-sectional model, panel threshold models with threshold variable (urbanization of the country), Panel Models (Fixed Effects (FE), Random Effects, Least Squares Dummy Variables), Fully Modified OLS, Dynamic OLS, Panel VAR model, Pooled Mean Group Estimation, Mean Group Estimation, and Dynamic FE estimation. General moments methods (GMM) were used in the estimation of short-run relationship dynamics. The impulse response functions were used to analyze the results obtained in the GMM model. The Stata 15.1 econometric software environment was used to test unit root, variable cointegration, and to estimate the models. The best-fitting models were selected from the above models using statistical tests. Understanding the relationship between these variables is essential for informed and evidence-based decision-making and the adoption of new or revision of existing policies and strategies promoting the carbon–neutral and green economy at the EU and national levels.

Bike sharing and scooter sharing services are seen as elements that can effectively contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in terms of creating sustainable and livable cities. However, in recent years, bike sharing systems in Poland have faced a period of crisis. Introduction of e-scooter sharing services and COVID-19 created economic shocks on the micro-mobility market in cities in Poland. Bike sharing systems were shut down during the 2020 lockdown, but e-scooter sharing systems were not. This led to the fast development of e-scooter sharing which was perceived by users as safer than public transportation in terms of the threat of contagion. Most of the urban bike sharing systems recovered after these economic shocks, but e-scooter systems dominated micro-mobility market in Poland. By 2022, the e-scooter fleet was almost four times the size of bike sharing systems. In the two years from 2020 to 2022 the number of e-scooter sharing systems has quadrupled reaching 181, and the fleet size has increased fivefold reaching 94 thousand e-scooters. To compete with growing e-scooter sharing, operators of BSS in cooperation with municipal authorities should modernize their fleet to make it more attractive for users. Some of the bike sharing system operators in Polish cities have already introduced changes in their systems and improved their services by introducing new vehicles, technologies, and changes in fleet management to meet the needs of their customers.

Safety of the state and citizens is based on an efficient system of protection against natural and other disasters and is implemented by protection, rescue, and relief forces. Today, the volunteer firefighting organizations in Slovenia are the largest and most efficient part of the system of protection, rescue, and relief forces. The high operational capability and good equipment of the firefighting units enable them to be on standby 24 h a day to respond to natural and other disasters throughout the country. The crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown had a massive impact on the activities and preparedness of the protection, rescue, and relief forces, which will have long-term consequences. Due to the lockdown in 2020, all activities such as education and training were disrupted, which are essential to maintaining preparedness for emergencies. In addition, the disruption of various social activities that are essential for building and sustaining the system could lead to a lack of volunteers in the near future. It is therefore important that governments, municipalities, and other local authorities immediately direct their action plans toward measures that will restore the operational capacity of these forces.

Urbanization has profoundly affected the environment and climate on a global scale which has led to intensified weather changes around the world. The aim of this chapter is to examine the effects of urbanization in Africa on climate change using a holistic approach known as the dynamic’s technique. Temperature and precipitation are the two dimensions of climate change measured to show a correlation between climate change and urbanization on the African continent. Using a sample of 52 African countries, the research estimates a panel data model using the ordinary least squares and the general least squares methods over the period 1991–2020. The results show preliminary conclusions that regardless of the dimension considered, urbanization increases climate change in Africa. The research was conducted using robustly formulated datasets, encompassing urban population growth as an indicator of urbanization and sensitivity calculations to test agglomeration urban population, urban area, and urbanization rates.