Emerging infectious disease outbreaks have transformed the very nature
of urban life worldwide, even as the extent and experience of pandemics
are shaped by the planetary urban condition. Pandemic Urbanism
critically investigates these relationships in a world faced with its
first pandemic on a majority urban planet.
The authors reveal the social and historical context of recent
infectious disease events and how they have variously transformed the
urban fabric. They highlight the important role played by
socio-ecological processes associated with the global urban periphery -
suburban or post-suburban zones and hinterland areas of "extended"
urbanization - changing mobility patterns, and new forms of urban
governance and pandemic response. The book develops novel insights for
post-pandemic urban governance and planning grounded in the quest for
social and spatial justice. In doing so, it reveals a paradox at the
heart of pandemic urbanism: urban life enables contagion to spread
easily, yet at the same time offers unique possibilities to contain and
respond to disease outbreaks.
Multidisciplinary in approach and written by experts in the field, this
book is an invaluable primer on the origins, pathways, and management of
infectious disease.