Pandemic Urbanism: Praxis in the Time of COVID-19
Channel: Columbia GSAPP
Date: 2020-08-24

A conversation between Professor Hiba Bou Akar and urban planning students on their collectively developed pandemic urbanism reading list.  

On March 20, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo placed New York state on “lockdown” in response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic. Days later, faculty and students from Columbia University’s Urban Planning Program embarked on a project to consider COVID-19 in relation to the built environment. Drawing on  insights as planning scholars, teachers, and practitioners, the group developed an open source, annotated reading list engaging urbanism, governance, and planning during the COVID-19 pandemic (https://bit.ly/pandemicurbanism).  

The syllabus shows how space is key to understanding and combating disease and how, historically, public-health crises have impacted disadvantaged communities more severely than others. The readings also reveal how responses to disease often further exclude or segregate marginalized populations. Yet, the syllabus also touches on glimmers of hope that emerge during times of crisis: for instance, public interventions or urban policies once deemed impossible become, suddenly and fleetingly, realizable. 
 
Contributions by (in alphabetical order): Maureen Abi Ghanem; Sebastian Andersson; Dare Brawley; Jenna Davis; Lanier Hagerty; Joe Huennekens; Martine Johannessen; Juan Sebastián Moreno; Stefan Norgaard; Zeineb Sellami; and Wenfei Xu.

Introduction | 00:00
Overview of topic areas [presentations] | 05:30 
Collective work process [discussion] | 20:20
Pandemic urbanism [discussion] | 24:16