6. The City and the Pandemic: The Cities’ COVID Mitigation Mapping (C2M2) Program

The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to cities across the world illuminated the need to understand the distribution of resources across urban areas. Urban geographies are complex and interdimensional. Unfortunately, the data needed to understand these critical socio-economic relationships is infrequently available, particularly in the lower- and middle-income countries. Human geography data applied in developing urban areas during the COVID-19 pandemic offers an understanding of how populations are dependent upon the infrastructure around them and the limitations of both data and infrastructure to support vulnerable populations. Using local knowledge to enhance and improve human geography data for analysis to mitigate COVID-19 impacts emphasizes the practical need for geospatial capacity and participatory mapping partnerships among stakeholders to support community recovery and resilience. The Cities’ COVID Mitigation Mapping (C2M2) Program led by the U.S. Department of State from summer 2020 through fall 2021 illustrates the reach of participatory mapping partnerships applied to second-order impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the geospatial model used offers lessons applicable for recovery from the pandemic as well as a wide range of issues that will continue to impact developing cities, to include resilience and sustainability.