Toward greener and pandemic-proof cities: policy responses to Covid-19 outbreak in four European cities

  • Gennaro Angiello University of Naples Federico II
Keywords: Covid-19, Urban policies, Madrid, London, Milan, Brussels

Abstract

Starting from the relationship between urban planning and mobility management, TeMA has gradually expanded the view of the covered topics, always following a rigorous scientific in-depth analysis. This section of the Journal, Review Notes, is the expression of a continuous updating of emerging topics concerning relationships among urban planning, mobility and environment, through a collection of short scientific papers. The Review Notes are made of four parts. Each section examines a specific aspect of the broader information storage within the main interests of TeMA Journal. In particular, the Urban practices section aims at presenting recent advancements on relevant topics that underlie the challenges that the cities have to face. The present note provides an overview of the policies and initiatives undertaken in four global cities in response to the Covid-19 outbreak: Madrid (ES), London (UK), Milan (IT) and Brussels (BE). A cross-city analysis is used to derive a taxonomy of urban policy measures. The contribution discusses the effectiveness of each measures in providing answers to epidemic threats in urban areas while, at the same time, improving the sustainability and resilience of urban communities.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Gennaro Angiello, University of Naples Federico II

Gennaro Angiello is a Senior IT Consultant, currently auditing for the European Commission, where he leads the analysis and design of Information Technologies aimed at supporting data-driven policy-making in the domain of public health and food safety. Prior to moving to the private sector, Gennaro has worked as researcher at the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering of the University of Naples Federico II and has been Visiting Fellow at the Department of Human Geography of the Complutense University of Madrid

References

Barbarossa, L. (2020). The Post Pandemic City: Challenges and Opportunities for a Non-Motorized Urban Environment. An Overview of Italian Cases. Sustainability, 12(17), 7172. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177172.

City of Brussels (2021). Coronavirus measures by the City of Brussels. Available at: https://www.brussels.be/coronavirus. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

City of Madrid (2021). Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for the City of Madrid. Retrieved from: https://www.madrid.es/UnidadWeb/NxC/PlanRecuperacion/rtsingles.pdf. Last accessed: 05 October 2021.

City of Milan (2020). Milano 2020. Strategia di adattamento. Retrieved from: https://www.comune.milano.it/aree-tematiche/partecipazione/milano-2020. Last accessed: 05 October 2021.

Chiesura, A. (2004). The role of urban parks for the sustainable city. Landscape and urban planning, 68(1), 129-138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2003.08.003.

Cotella, G., & Vitale Brovarone, E. (2020). Questioning urbanisation models in the face of Covid-19. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 105-118. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/6913.

Desai, D. (2020). Urban Densities and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Upending the Sustainability Myth of Global Megacities. Observer Research Foundation. ISBN: 978-93-90159-00-0. Retrieved from: https://www.orfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ORF_OccasionalPaper_244_PandemicUrbanDensities.pdf. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

Frank, L. D., Sallis, J. F., Conway, T. L., Chapman, J. E., Saelens, B. E., & Bachman, W. (2006). Many pathways from land use to health: associations between neighborhood walkability and active transportation, body mass index, and air quality. Journal of the American Planning Association, 72(1), 75-87. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360608976725.

Greater London Authority (2020). London Recovery Programme. Retrieved from: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/recovery_programme_overview.pdf. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

Ison, S., & Shaw, J. (2012). Cycling and sustainability. Emerald Group Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-78052-298-2.

Lai, S., Leone, F., & Zoppi, C. (2020). Covid-19 and spatial planning. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 231-246. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/684.

Li, W., Joh, K., Lee, C., Kim, J. H., Park, H., & Woo, A. (2014). From car-dependent neighborhoods to walkers’ paradise: Estimating walkability premiums in the condominium housing market. Transportation Research Record, 2453(1), 162-170. https://doi.org/10.3141/2453-20.

Megahed, N. A., & Ghoneim, E. M. (2020). Antivirus-built environment: Lessons learned from Covid-19 pandemic. Sustainable Cities and Society, 102350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102350.

Morawska, L., & Cao, J. (2020). Airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2: The world should face the reality. Environnent International, 105730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105730.

Neiderud, C.-J (2015). How urbanization affects the epidemiology of emerging infectious diseases. Infect. Ecol.Epidemiol. 2015, 5, 27060. https://doi.org/10.3402/iee.v5.27060.

Nobajas, A., i Casas, J. G., i Agusti, D. P., & Peacock, A. J. (2020). Lack of sufficient public space can limit the effectiveness of Covid-19's social distancing measures. medRxiv. Retrieved from: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.07.20124982v2. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2020a). OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19). Cities policy responses. Retrieved from: http://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/cities-policy-responses-fd1053ff/. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2020b). Skill measures to mobilise the workforce during the COVID-19 crisis. Retrieved from: http://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/skill-measures-to-mobilise-the-workforce-during-the-covid-19-crisis-afd33a65/. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

Pierantoni, I., Pierantozzi, M., & Sargolini, M. (2020). COVID 19—A Qualitative Review for the Reorganization of Human Living Environments. Applied Sciences, 10(16), 5576.

Pinheiro, M. D., & Luís, N. C. (2020). COVID-19 could leverage a sustainable built environment. Sustainability, 12(14), 5863. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145863.

Pisano, C. (2020). Strategies for Post-COVID Cities: An Insight to Paris En Commun and Milano 2020. Sustainability, 12(15), 5883. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12155883.

Razani, N., Radhakrishna, R., & Chan, C. (2020). Public lands are essential to public health during a pandemic. Pediatrics, 146(2):e2020127.

Sharifi, A., & Khavarian-Garmsir, A. R. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts on cities and major lessons for urban planning, design, and management. Science of the Total Environment, 142391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142391.

Template: COVID-19 pandemic data. (2020 August 6). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:COVID-19_pandemic_data. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

UN – United Nation (2020). Policy Brief: COVID-19 in an Urban World. Retrieved from: https://unsdg.un.org/resources/policy-brief-covid-19-urban-world. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

UCCN - UNESCO Creative Cities Network (2020). Cities' Response to COVID-19. Retrieved from: https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

WHO – World Health Organization. Strengthening Preparedness for COVID-19 in Cities and Urban Settings. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/teams/risk-communication/cities-and-local-governments. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

Wu and Wang (2021). Influence of Covid-19 on China's Urban Planning and Design Regulations: A Systematic Review of Recent Policy and Regulatory Changes. Retrieved from: https://www.thegpsc.org/sites/gpsc/files/influence_of_covid-19_on_chinas_urban_planning_and_design_regulations_pn.pdf. (accessed: 05 October 2021).

Published
2021-12-30
How to Cite
AngielloG. (2021). Toward greener and pandemic-proof cities: policy responses to Covid-19 outbreak in four European cities. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 14(3), 507-514. https://doi.org/10.6093/1970-9870/8313

Most read articles by the same author(s)