Cities are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an estimated 90 percent of reported COVID-19 cases concentrated in urban areas and urban economies accounting for about 80 percent of global GDP. They face unprecedented public health and unemployment crises while also navigating sudden budget shortfalls. Moreover, the pandemic has exposed deep inequalities in and across cities, disproportionately impacting black people and people of colour, indigenous and low-income communities, the elderly, women, and those living in informal settlements.
The focus of COVID-19 response efforts should, therefore, be on addressing these inequalities, ensuring stimulus investment and recovery funds create more just and inclusive societies and communities. This brief looks at how governments, multilateral organisations, academia, and other actors at the national and international level reconsider how people live, work, and travel in and around cities – during and after the pandemic. It compiles the latest “green” stimulus measures and propositions on what a sustainable, inclusive and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic could look like.