Resilience vs Pandemics: Innovations in Cities and Neighbourhoods (Urban Sustainability) 9819979951, 9789819979950

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Urban Sustainability

Ali Cheshmehzangi · Maycon Sedrez · Hang Zhao · Tian Li · Tim Heath · Ayotunde Dawodu   Editors

Resilience vs Pandemics Innovations in Cities and Neighbourhoods

Urban Sustainability Editor-in-Chief Ali Cheshmehzangi , Qingdao City University, Qingdao, Shandong, China

The Urban Sustainability Book Series is a valuable resource for sustainability and urban-related education and research. It offers an inter-disciplinary platform covering all four areas of practice, policy, education, research, and their nexus. The publications in this series are related to critical areas of sustainability, urban studies, planning, and urban geography. This book series aims to put together cutting-edge research findings linked to the overarching field of urban sustainability. The scope and nature of the topic are broad and interdisciplinary and bring together various associated disciplines from sustainable development, environmental sciences, urbanism, etc. With many advanced research findings in the field, there is a need to put together various discussions and contributions on specific sustainability fields, covering a good range of topics on sustainable development, sustainable urbanism, and urban sustainability. Despite the broad range of issues, we note the importance of practical and policyoriented directions, extending the literature and directions and pathways towards achieving urban sustainability. The series will appeal to urbanists, geographers, planners, engineers, architects, governmental authorities, policymakers, researchers of all levels, and to all of those interested in a wide-ranging overview of urban sustainability and its associated fields. The series includes monographs and edited volumes, covering a range of topics under the urban sustainability topic, which can also be used for teaching materials.

Ali Cheshmehzangi · Maycon Sedrez · Hang Zhao · Tian Li · Tim Heath · Ayotunde Dawodu Editors

Resilience vs Pandemics Innovations in Cities and Neighbourhoods

Editors Ali Cheshmehzangi Qingdao City University Qingdao, Shandong, China Hiroshima University Hiroshima, Japan Hang Zhao University of Nottingham Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Tim Heath University of Nottingham Nottingham, UK

Maycon Sedrez Deakin University Geelong, VIC, Australia Tian Li University of Nottingham Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Ayotunde Dawodu Greenwich University London, UK

ISSN 2731-6483 ISSN 2731-6491 (electronic) Urban Sustainability ISBN 978-981-99-7995-0 ISBN 978-981-99-7996-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Paper in this product is recyclable.

We collectively dedicate this book to all those who sacrificed their lives to make our communities safer and more resilient during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acknowledgements

We would like to sincerely thank all authors and contributors for their hard work and dedication in writing their chapters. While we met some of them online in recent months, we hope we get the opportunity to meet all of them in person in the near future. Their support, dedication, and continuous efforts are recognised, genuinely valued, and highly appreciated. Ali Cheshmehzangi acknowledges and appreciates the support from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) and the Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS) at Hiroshima University, Japan.

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About This Book

The COVID-19 pandemic and other highly transmissible diseases outbreaks have given a new significance to the concept of “resilience”, placing it in the spotlight of built environment-related studies. New directions have emerged from expanding on adaptive planning, urban layouts, urban morphologies, spatial planning, healthy cities, etc. To enhance resilience in the post-pandemic era, various theories, practices, and hypotheses are being formulated by scholars around the world. In this volume, several leading scholars and practitioners provide forefront discoveries about the built environment resilience during and after the recent pandemic. Historical perspectives of resilience and other highly transmissible diseases are also relevant to understand the COVID-19 issues. The contributors elaborate on critical exploratory, innovative, and cutting-edge research approaches, highlighting the effects of COVID-19 and other highly transmissible diseases in the design, planning, and perception of the built environment. This prominent aim of this book is to gather scientific experiences, reviews, analyses, discussions, recommendations, and solutions in the fields of urban planning, urban design, urban management, environmental science, architecture, etc. Resilience vs Pandemics: Innovations in Cities and Neighbourhoods aims to document resilience-related innovations and new perspectives for the built environment, how people’s interactions adapt to new realities, and which mechanisms, tools, and strategies are required for such transformations in the following two scales of the built environments: (1) City/District; research on planning, commuting and mobility, politics, urban configurations, regulations, transmission and prevention, models, top-down processes, innovation processes, etc. (2) Community/Neighbourhood; research on collaboration, transmission and prevention, isolation and quarantine, social aspects, accessibility to services, technologies, education, policies, and innovative solutions. The volume covers a wide range of studies, including physical and non-physical studies, which may refer to the city infrastructure, green/blue spaces, housing, policymaking, health services, social and economic issues, etc. The findings and results ix

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contribute to the decision-making of governments, organisations, and institutions, as well as inspire scholars and future research for developing resilience in the postpandemic era. The book includes multidisciplinary studies from scholars, institutions, practitioners, and stakeholders performing research and plans in the fields of urban studies, architecture, urbanism, social sciences, computer sciences, history, politics, etc. The target audience recognises the relevance of resilience in the built environment to achieve more sustainable cities. Ali Cheshmehzangi Maycon Sedrez Hang Zhao Tian Li Tim Heath Ayotunde Dawodu

Contents

Urban Resilience to Future Pandemics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ali Cheshmehzangi, Maycon Sedrez, Ayotunde Dawodu, Tim Heath, Hang Zhao, and Tian Li

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Innovations in Cities Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics: Case of Four Large Indian Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sudha Panda and Soumyendu Shankar Ray

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The Healthy City: How Sustainable Mobility Policies Gave a Resilient Response to the COVID-19 Crisis Through Tactical Urbanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vicente Iborra Pallarés, María Flor García, Luís Aragonés Pomares, and Armando Ortuño Padilla

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Looking with Machine Eyes: City Monitoring for Urban Resilience . . . . Giulia Ceccarelli, Dante Presicce, and Diego Deponte Tackling the Pandemic at the Metropolitan Level. Looking for the Right Scale to Plan More Resilient Territorial Development Futures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giancarlo Cotella, Erblin Berisha, and Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone Enhancing Healthy Cities Through Urban Planning and Human Resilience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Rodrigo Brandini Bloes, Sidney Piochi Bernardini, and Luciano Bomfim dos Santos

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Innovations in Neighbourhoods Urban Resilience by Morphology? Reflections on Lockdown Urbanism in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Giaime Botti, Ali Cheshmehzangi, and Eugenio Mangi xi

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Impacts of the ‘3-layered Quarantine Zone’ on Compartmented Urban Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Maycon Sedrez, Ali Cheshmehzangi, Linjun Xie, Tian Li, and Hang Zhao Socio-Spatial Micro-Networks: Building Community Resilience in Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Asma Mehan, Neady Odour, and Sina Mostafavi Problem and Issues in Building City Resilience to Pandemic in Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 V. P. I. S. Wijeratne, G. N. Kaushalya, and L. Manawadu The Impact of Post-pandemic Lifestyle on Neighbourhood: Changes from 2020 to 2022 in Wuhan, China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Kangwei Tu and Andras Reith Towards Resilient Cities and Neighbourhoods to Pandemics . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Ali Cheshmehzangi, Maycon Sedrez, Ayotunde Dawodu, Tim Heath, Tian Li, and Hang Zhao

Editors and Contributors

About the Editors Ali Cheshmehzangi is the world’s top 2% field leader, recognised by Stanford University. He is an urbanist and an urban designer with over 17 years of academic and practice experience. He leads initiatives in applied research and diligently works on co-creating synergies between academia, industry, and government. He is currently in a senior leadership and management role at Qingdao City University where he is a professor of Urban Planning and the director/head of the Center for Innovation in Education and Research and leads international communications and certification for the university. He previously held several senior, leadership, and management roles as a full professor in Architecture and Urban Design, the head of the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, the founding director of the Urban Innovation Lab, the founding director of the International Network for Urban-Rural Research Director of Center for Sustainable Energy Technologies, the founder and the head of Research Group for Sustainable Built Environment, and the interim director of Digital Design Lab. He was a visiting professor and now a research associate of the Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS), Hiroshima University, Japan. So far, Ali has published over 300 journal papers, articles, conference papers, book chapters, and reports. He also has another 18 academic books. Ali is the editor-in-chief of Springer’s Urban Sustainability Book Series and is globally known for his research in this prominent field. He has several award-wining books and has received several scholarly awards for his contribution and impact on higher education, applied research, and policy development. Maycon Sedrez is a Brazilian architect and an urban designer, an artist, and an educator with a background in computational design and digital fabrication. His research areas include complexity and architecture, parametric design, digital fabrication, technologies, and urbanism. Maycon obtained his Ph.D. Diploma with excellence in Architecture, Technology, and City from the University of Campinas in

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2016. He contributed to the Institute for Sustainable Urbanism (TU Braunschweig— Germany) as a postdoc in the field of urban analytics. Later in 2019, he became a part of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China’s team, leading the Digital Design Lab, and acting as a course director and the deputy head of the department. He is now a lecturer in Architecture at Deakin University in Australia (2023). Hang Zhao is a researcher in the fields of urban planning, design, and management. She obtained Master of Urban Design at the University of Melbourne in 2021. Her professional skills cover city and regional planning, transportation design, landscape and architectural design, etc. Now Hang is researching resilient cities and built environment at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo Campus, China. Tian Li is a researcher who studies resilience-oriented urban planning and management. She has a background in urban and rural planning, urban design, and regional analysis and planning. Tian completed her master’s degree with distinction in M.Arch. Sustainable Urban Design at the University of Nottingham, UK. Currently, she is researching at the University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus, China, and her research mainly focuses on pandemic-resilient urban strategies and urban public spaces. Tim Heath is a qualified architect, a town planner, and an urban design practitioner having worked in the UK for over 30 years and for the past 15 years in China where he has undertaken consultancy and projects related to architecture, urban design and building, and urban environmental performance assessments. He is the course director of the M.Arch. Sustainable Urban Design and the director of Postgraduate Programmes. He has previously been the director of the Institute of Architecture, the head of the School of the Built Environment, and subsequently the head of the Department of Architecture and Built Environment. He has also been the associate dean for Internationalisation and External Relations in the Faculty of Engineering, and an acting vice provost for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo Campus, China. He has also acted as an external examiner in many prestigious universities around the world for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes as well as being a Ph.D. examiner. He has chaired many academic and professional accreditation and validation panels in the UK, Malaysia, China, and for the UAE’s Commission for Academic Accreditation. He is also a member of the Human Factors Research Group. Ayotunde Dawodu is a sustainable urban researcher and the energy engineer with a zeal for developing and implementing sustainable solutions across the urban fields: Waste Management, Transport, Energy (Efficient and Renewable), Spatial Planning, and Ecology Sectors, equipped with a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, M.Sc. in Sustainable Energy Engineering, and Ph.D. in Energy Technologies and Sustainable Development. He also possesses expertise in Sustainable Building Design/Analysis and strongly advocates integrated community participation in urban decision-making and planning. Ayotunde also specialises in sustainability assessment tool methods

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for evaluating, guiding, ranking, and assessing the sustainability of buildings and communities. He is currently a senior lecturer in the Built Environment at the University of Greenwich, UK. He is also a certified BREEAM assessor, a WELL accredited professional (AP), and a member of the WELL Concept “Communities” Advisory Group for International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), further attesting to his professional capabilities as a sustainability and health and wellbeing expert in the built environment.

Contributors Luís Aragonés Pomares Department of Civil Engineering, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain Erblin Berisha Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST), Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy Sidney Piochi Bernardini School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Design, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil Rodrigo Brandini Bloes Research Group on Urban Planning Methodology and Healthy Cities, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil Giaime Botti Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, China Giulia Ceccarelli Fondazione Transform Transport ETS, Milan, Italy Ali Cheshmehzangi Qingdao City University, Qingdao, China; Network for Education and Research On Peace and Sustainability (NERPS), Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan; School of Architecture, Qingdao City University, Qingdao, China Giancarlo Cotella Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST), Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy Ayotunde Dawodu University of Greenwich, London, UK Diego Deponte Fondazione Transform Transport ETS, Milan, Italy Luciano Bomfim dos Santos Department of the Environment, City Hall of Conchal, São Paulo, Brazil María Flor García University Institute of the Water and the Environmental Sciences, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain Tim Heath University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK Vicente Iborra Pallarés Department of Civil Engineering, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain

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G. N. Kaushalya Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka Tian Li Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus, Ningbo, China L. Manawadu Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka Eugenio Mangi Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, China Asma Mehan Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA Sina Mostafavi Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA Neady Odour Altopia, Nairobi, Kenya Armando Ortuño Padilla Department of Civil Engineering, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain; University Institute of the Water and the Environmental Sciences, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain Sudha Panda School of Architecture and Planning, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, India Dante Presicce Fondazione Transform Transport ETS, Milan, Italy Soumyendu Shankar Ray School of Architecture and Planning, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, India Andras Reith Advanced Building and Urban Design, Budapest, Hungary; BIM Skills Lab Research Group, Department of Engineering Studies, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary Maycon Sedrez School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Design, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil Kangwei Tu Marcel Breuer Doctoral School, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary; Department of Architecture and Urban Planing, School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environment, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, China Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST), Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy V. P. I. S. Wijeratne Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

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Linjun Xie Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus, Ningbo, China Hang Zhao Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus, Ningbo, China

Urban Resilience to Future Pandemics Ali Cheshmehzangi, Maycon Sedrez, Ayotunde Dawodu, Tim Heath, Hang Zhao, and Tian Li

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic is undoubtedly the most severe public event in recent years, revealing how vulnerable our cities and neighbourhoods are. Although the concept of resilience has already emerged for responding to multi-disasters in existing research, the highly transmissible diseases have given a new significance to “resilience” and placed it in the spotlight of city sustainability-related studies. This chapter is an introduction to the book, which briefly describes the research context, aim, and structure of this book and highlights the role that urban scholars can play in pandemics. In order to prepare better for future probable pandemics, this book mainly focuses on innovations for enhancing built environment resilience and urban sustainability. Keywords Resilience · Pandemics/Epidemics · Cities · Innovation · Neighbourhood · Urban sustainability

A. Cheshmehzangi (B) Qingdao City University, Qingdao, China e-mail: [email protected] Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS), Hiroshima, University, Hiroshima, Japan M. Sedrez Deakin University, Geelong Waterfront, Australia A. Dawodu University of Greenwich, London, UK T. Heath University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK H. Zhao · T. Li University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus, Ningbo, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_1

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1 Preparing for the Future: Resilience in Pandemics Now that COVID-19 is no longer a public emergency, it remains a threat to global health and not the only one [1]. It is predicted that infectious diseases such as dengue, Yellow fever, and Zika virus will affect about 60% of the population in the world by 2080, and 58% of known viruses will be exacerbated by the deteriorating climate [2, 3]. Thus, there is a call from the WHO chief that the world must be ready to respond to the next pandemic [1]. Although the disease outbreak is a public health emergency, in which the participation of medical health seems to be the most important, the planning and design professionals also cannot be absent in the discourses about the existing and post-epidemic actions [4]. In our previous books of the sustainability series, “resilience” was primarily discussed in the topics of climate change, green infrastructure, and urban transition. In fact, most traditional “urban resilience” concepts have relied on environmental dimensions, such as the mitigation of natural hazards [5]. Unlike “engineering resilience” which focuses on a single state of equilibrium, Walker [6] and Holling et al. [7] define resilience as systems’ capacity to adapt, adjust and transform instead of returning to their initial states, which laid the theoretical foundation of urban resilience research. Before COVID-19, little research combined health emergencies with urban resilient thinking and built-environment impacts. Instead most studies have been focused on risk management, medical services, social organisation, and governance. In fact, public health issues were positioned as the core of global sustainable development in the United Nations Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage in 2019 [8]. Moreover, the reduction of losses in disasters is mentioned in Sustainable Development Goal 11 to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable [9]. Therefore, more urban research is needed to address the city issues caused by epidemic events. In recent years, various issues brought on by diseases have further highlighted the city’s capacity for learning (preparedness), robustness (persistence), innovative capability (transformability), and flexibility (adaptability) [4]. And new directions have emerged from expanding on adaptive planning, social management, urban morphologies, healthy cities, etc. To enhance resilience in the multi-disaster era, scholars are formulating various theories, practices, and hypotheses worldwide. On the one hand, different evaluation methods are developed by global research groups. One initiative is the ARUP team’s holistic framework of city resilience, which structured indexes of health & well-being, economy & society, infrastructure & environment, and leadership & strategy [10]. Meanwhile, a Comprehensive Urban Resilience Framework is conceptualised by Ali Cheshmehzangi to support city management [11]. On the other hand, strategies and measures are also proposed by worldwide research. For instance, multi-purpose and multi-functional public spaces are applied for adaptive measures, especially green and blue infrastructures, as they are beneficial for citizen’s both physical and mental health during lockdown periods [12–16]. However, some pandemic issues still lack practical and effective solutions from urban stakeholders, and some of them are summarized from our previous work:

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A. the key factors and variables which build urban resilience in developing countries, especially the resource-limited regions; B. sustainable and alternative mobility solutions based on soft modes; C. accurate and effective city monitoring tool to access vitality and resilience during and after pandemics; D. the governance methods in metropolitan areas with sprawled urbanisation and integrated dynamic transportation systems; E. low-cost and accessible mechanisms and tools for promoting social participation and integrating multi-level public management; F. application of urban morphology analysis in pandemic studies; G. evaluation of feasibility and effectiveness of the quarantine regulations; H. the spatial solutions for challenges in vulnerable cities and informal communities; I. the impacts of changes in human behaviours and lifestyles on built environments. In light of the current progress in urban resilience studies and pandemic research, we note that there are still many possibilities that can be explored. For this book, we invite chapters that provide forefront discoveries about the built environment resilience during and after the pandemic, which covers a wide range of policies, strategies, guidelines, and discussions from various perspectives. Moreover, the authors highlighted the effects of COVID-19 and other highly transmissible diseases in the design, planning, and perception of the built environment, as well as elaborated on critical exploratory, innovative, and cutting-edge research experiences, reviews, analyses, discussions, recommendations, and solutions in the fields of urban planning, urban design, urban management, environmental science, and architecture.

2 The Aim and Objectives of the Book The book aims to document resilience-related innovations and new perspectives for the built environment, how people’s interactions adapt to new realities, and which mechanisms, tools, and strategies are required for such transformations in the following two scales of the built environments: (1) City Level: including the metropolitan areas, urbanized regions, transportation networks, city planimetric layout and fabric; (2) Neighbourhood Level: including network pattern, spatial morphology, streets and blocks form, and human activities. Based on the contributions of chapters at these two scales, the objectives of the book can be concluded as below: (1) To explore the possibility of linking pandemic innovations with built environment resilience from a comprehensive and interdisciplinary perspective in multi-scales and multi-contexts;

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(2) To share valuable insights into how pandemic innovations can be applied in cities and neighbourhoods specifically; (3) To provide strategies, guidelines, and experience to scholars, institutions, practitioners, and stakeholders performing research and plans in the fields of urban studies. The book covers both physical and non-physical studies, which refer to city infrastructure, public spaces, networks, policymaking, health services, and social issues. We hope the findings and results will expand the knowledge for government decisionmakers, organizations, and institutions, as well as inspire scholars to develop research about resilience in the post-pandemic era.

3 Structure of the Book The book is divided into two parts based on the studied scales of the built environment, and each part includes five chapters, including various case studies, theoretical research, or specific policies and strategies. The selection criteria are based on the subject scope (urban studies) and the aim of this book, which focuses on the pandemic impacts on built environments. The different scales ensure the comprehensiveness of the study, including both the macro planning of the city and the attention to the smallscale space. In addition, the different cases in the following chapters provide us with reflections from different countries, which may inspire related exploration in different regions. Meanwhile, we can compare and learn lessons from their experiences. This book responds to the call of WHO and aims to prepare for potential threats. Therefore, it is arranged based on the studied scales to cover the comprehensive and multi-context topics better. These are summarised as (1) Innovations in Cities and (2) Innovations in Neighbourhoods. PART 1: Innovations in Cities The first part provides five cases of resilience innovations at the city scale, including case studies in India, Brazil, America, and European cities. They discussed the determinants of urban resilience, mobility innovation, monitoring tools, multilevel governance, and human resilience. A perspective of master urban intervention is highlighted in these studies. Below is the summary of the five chapters included in this part. Chapter 2—“Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics: Case of Four Large Indian Cities” By Sudha Panda, and Soumyendu Shankar Ray Cities are the epicenters of people and economic activities but with Covid-19 affecting both lives and livelihoods, all economic activities have been brought to a grinding halt. It is important therefore for cities to understand the factors which build urban resilience to be in a better state of preparedness. The study aims to study some of the

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determinants of urban resilience against Covid-19 in the context of 4 large Indian cities across the first wave and second wave of the pandemic, in 2020 and 2021 i.e. Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Surat. The explanatory variables for the infection which have been taken are the crowding variables (population, gross density, net density, street crowding and indoor crowding), Health resources variable (hospital beds and medical facilities), Socio-economic variables (poverty) and Environmental variables (Solid waste generated, Sewerage discharged, Water Supply and Open Spaces). The analysis is done at a granular level: wards, the smallest administrative unit of a city. It uses the multiple linear regression method to find the coefficient of correlation between the dependent variable (infection rate) and independent variables under Crowding variables, Socio-Economic variables, Health Resources variables and Environmental variables. The test of an ideal urban development model, be it a compact city or a sprawling city, is its resilience to natural and manmade disasters. In a developing nation like India, where resources are limited, it is imperative that resources are optimally used, both under normal and pandemic conditions. Crowding variables are seen to have a much stronger influence in prevention and control of the virus transmission than Socio-Economic, Health Resources or Environmental variables which justifies the stringent lockdown measures taken by the Indian government. Chapter 3—“The Healthy City: How Sustainable Mobility Policies Gave a Resilient Response to the COVID-19 Crisis Through Tactical Urbanism” By Vicente Iborra Pallarés, María Flor García, Luís Aragonés Pomares, and Armando Ortuño Padilla City and public health is a binomial with a long common story. Throughout history, there have been many signs of linkages between adequate urban planning and the health of the inhabitants of our cities. A few months before the outbreak of the COVID-19 health crisis, this relationship was highlighted again by the United Nations Organization stating the links between Goals 3 and 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals. This health crisis changed our cities and the way we moved around them and we saw how some cities were more resilient than others. In this study, the dimension to be used to define the greatest resilience of a city is the reaction time from the moment the crisis broke out. The cities to which we are going to refer (Berlin, Milan, Oakland and Bogota) were able to adapt to the situation and overcome the critical period from a mobility point of view in record time (during the first six months of the COVID-19 crisis). That is precisely why these cities were cited as examples of good international practices by the general press worldwide. This media repercussion was relevant, since it showed to a wider audience, different sustainable mobility solutions based on soft modes, for trips of less than 5 km. All of these solutions shared two common aspects: they were based on “tactical urbanism” and constituted “urban laboratories”. This work has a double objective: on the one hand, to analyse the characteristics that defined the international good practices referenced by the generalist press; and

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on the other, to attempt to identify a common characteristic that explains the greater resilience (the shorter reaction time) of these cities. As a result, it will be shown that the common characteristic was the previous existence of sustainable urban mobility policies. Chapter 4—“Looking with Machine Eyes: City Monitoring for Urban Resilience” By Giulia Ceccarelli, Dante Presicce, and Diego Deponte The global spread of the Covid-19 pandemic led to significant disruptions in cities, posing new attention to the shape, accessibility, and vitality of dense urban environments. The need for accurate data has been becoming of decisive importance to investigate the unprecedented effects of the pandemic on urban mobility [17] and to assess the effectiveness of immediate and longer-term actions that cities have implemented to respond to the crisis [18]. Parallelly, technologies and open data availability are leading to new possibilities to develop an understanding of the urban fabric and its use [19]. This research focuses on the analysis of image data processed with deep-learning analytics, proposing lightweight practices for city monitoring and assessing neighbourhoods’ vitality and resilience. The study area gravitates around Corso Buenos Aires, Milan, one of the longest retail streets in Europe. An extensive dataset of 14,956 images was constructed, representing 12 daily timeslots (6–22) between January 2019 and May 2021. These were then analysed on the fly using Yolov5 (You Only Look Once) [20] as an object detection algorithm, together with an open-source model, trained on CCTV cameras in Montreal. The images dataset was divided into five subsets, considering the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. Then, hourly trends for workdays and weekends and for different day types were studied and compared among different restriction phases, to understand pedestrian walking patterns and their relationship with land use. The goal was to assess how different pandemic periods affected Corso Buenos Aires and to determine whether utilization differences could be recognized by pedestrian counting. Results outline how these analyses lead to significant outcomes on aggregated temporal periods, unveiling utilization patterns and posing questions on the influence of land use on neighbourhoods’ resilience. Chapter 5—“Tackling the Pandemic at the Metropolitan Level. Looking for the Right Scale to Plan More Resilient Territorial Development Futures” By Giancarlo Cotella, Erblin Berisha, and Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone The peculiar spatial features of metropolitan areas—sprawled urbanisation, integrated economic and transport systems, large commuting dynamics, etc.—have contributed to accelerate and maximise the diffusion of COVID-19. The impact of the pandemic spread outside the core municipalities following fluid functional patterns, in turn calling for actions that do not respond to traditional administrative units but should be tailored to softer functional geographies. Drawing on the results of the ESPON METRO research project and other parallel studies, this chapter argues that wide-area metropolitan governance arrangements are well positioned to mitigate the

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impact of pandemic events and, more importantly, to plan resilient territorial development futures in their aftermath. In this light, the authors discuss to what extent the pandemic has opened a window of opportunity for this to happen. The results of the analysis show that the scope and magnitude of metropolitan activity triggered by the pandemic in its early phase have been rather limited and mostly of a reactive nature. At the same time, in the recent period there is evidence of a growing metropolitan engagement, especially in the framework of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility initiative, a situation that, in the long run, may contribute to enhance the resilience of the European regions and their social, economic and territorial cohesion. Chapter 6—“Enhancing Healthy Cities Through Urban Planning and Human Resilience” By Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Rodrigo Brandini Bloes, Sidney Piochi Bernardini, Luciano Bomfim The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical link between urbanized areas and its population health. In light of the modern cities’ dominant role in human life, the decision-making processes employed by public officials have the power to determine whether a city or municipality promotes urban development that enhances human resilience and creates healthy and sustainable spaces. This chapter aims at identifying the interrelations of non-material elements of urban planning for healthy cities that foster human resilience during emergencies. Municipalities that participate in networks of healthy municipalities leverage a variety of methods, instruments, and technologies that rely on intersectoral and multidisciplinary strategies to implement cross-cutting actions in their territories. These actions prioritize health promotion and focus on the well-being of the population, valuing and strengthening individuals and communities in the context of a healthy city or municipality. To achieve these goals, urban planning should be based on principles and values of health promotion, centered on participatory processes that employ low-cost and easily accessible mechanisms and tools. These processes should stimulate social participation to promote inclusion and sustainable spaces and enable various sectors that contribute to the economic, social, and environmental dynamics of a city or municipality to develop healthy public policies. Additionally, intersectorality should facilitate dialogue between sectors and their intersections, enabling integrated decisionmaking to face adverse situations such as pandemics and natural disasters. Such efforts promote interaction between residents of urban and rural environments and allow for the exchange of theoretical and practical knowledge to construct a healthy city. Social participation, intersectorality, and the development of autonomy from a health promotion perspective are crucial factors in promoting human solidarity and coping with catastrophic situations through urban governance. An interdisciplinary approach to urban planning can serve as a focal point for linking city and municipality sectors, establishing parameters and guidelines for spaces conducive to collective resilience, and guiding public management in promoting global well-being and sustainable development.

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PART 2: Innovations in Neighbourhoods The second part focuses on the mesoscale built environment and micro spaces, including the cases from Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Chinese cities. In the studies, spatial morphology, quarantine policies, social-spatial network, informal settlements, and human behaviour are discussed for improving different dimensions of resilience. Below is the summary of the five chapters included in this part. Chapter 7—“Urban Resilience by Morphology? Reflections on Lockdown Urbanism in China” By Giaime Botti, Ali Cheshmehzangi and Eugenio Mangi The initial containment of the COVID-19 pandemic in China has been attributed by media and experts to the strict implementation of a generalised lockdown in Chinese cities, according to a system of policies and practices that, with some changes and updates, have been enforced until the present. This chapter addresses the problem of urban resilience in a pandemic context from the perspectives of architecture and urban morphology, focusing on the most diffused typology of urban blocks in contemporary China. After a detailed overview of significant settlement types, the chapter explores how the specific typo-morphology of large-scale gated communities, frequently encompassing a whole urban superblock, has proven its resilience during the ongoing pandemic. By mixing a typo-morphological reading with empirical observations, the article highlights how selected features of Chinese gated communities have helped residents deal with intermittent lockdowns. They include the combined factors of access restrictions and movement control, essential features of a gated community; the presence of generous outdoor space, also possible considering the large dimension of such settlements; the availability of commercial activities and other basic services within the compound. Chapter 8—“Impacts of the ‘3-layered Quarantine Zone’ on Compartmented Urban Spaces” By Maycon Sedrez, Ali Cheshmehzangi, Linjun Xie, Tian Li, and Hang Zhao The Coronavirus pandemic primarily affected urban populations due to its high transmissibility, constant mutations, and the unavailability of effective medication by far. As such conditions continue, prevention and control interventions are still required in urban spaces worldwide. In China, the national Zero-COVID policy and stringent protocols have been implemented, and its subsequent measures managed to contain the disease in the second half of 2020 and most of 2021; however, not without a toll on people’s lifestyles, physical and mental health, as well as the economy. In 2022, the Chinese central government proposed a pilot policy called “Community Prevention and Control Measures” to be implemented in several cities. The CPCM recommends three zone levels, with different levels of control (i.e., prevention zone, control zone, and close zone). As some of the recently developed Chinese urban spaces are extremely compartmented in the form of gated communities, responding to regulations and type of urban structure, this urban form easily adapts to the required closed

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9

quarantine boundaries. This chapter describes the implementation of the 3-layered policy in one of the pilot cities, i.e., Ningbo, China. This study examines the potential mobility of the policy by analysing its mutation and its impact on citizens. COVID19 policies can be dynamic and often under constant changes according to different contexts. Using a qualitative research method, this chapter explores the implications of the policy on citizens and its mutability as the pandemic shifts. In conclusion, the applicability of the CPCM can be only effective for immediate response to initial cases in highly compartmented spaces, such as gated communities and urban blocks, and where strict control policies (to prevent the movement of people) are sanctioned by the government and enforced by the authorities. Flexible boundaries suggest a balance between compartmentation and openness in future urban development. Chapter 9—“Socio-Spatial Micro-Networks: Building Community Resilience in Kenya” By Asma Mehan, Neady Odour, and Sina Mostafavi The adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have exposed the lack of multi-scalar community resilient strategies that catalyze the development of alternative coping mechanisms for future challenges. To address the immediate needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups, especially in times of crisis, as evidenced by the pandemic, micro-networks within communities have mitigated and reduced harm through selfdevised ingenuity based on local ways of life. Socio-spatial micro-networks have the potential to empower communities to self-organize, engage, collaborate, codesign, co-build, and connect with other communities to improve their resilience. This paper focuses on the impact of micro-networks of care, participatory action research, community health, solidarity and mutual aid in Nairobi (Kenya), comparing their resilience strategies, pre- and post Covid-19 pandemic era. Through analytical, empirical, and comparative studies, this paper envisions viable ways of augmenting and enhancing self-devised, self-sufficient, and resilient culture in marginalized communities in Africa and worldwide. Chapter 10—“Problem and Issues in Building City Resilience to Pandemic in Sri Lanka” By V.P.I.S. Wijeratne, G.N. Kaushalya, and L. Manawadu The coronavirus disease caused severe damage to the whole world. It exacerbated some of the socioeconomic vulnerabilities, structural inequalities and urban drivers of the lack of high-quality urbanization prior to the pandemic. In recent decades, urbanization has aggravated many of the most pressing challenges in the world. Recently, coping with the COVID-19 pandemic was the top priority for most cities in the world. Unplanned urbanization and the growth of slums and informal settlements make it impossible to implement urban pandemic resilience in such crowded areas. This chapter mainly focused on examining the main issues and challenges in building urban resilience to pandemics in Sri Lanka. The study specified to find the issues created behind the recent COVID-19 pandemic in an urban environment and to recognize how to build city resilience in future. The study used secondary data,

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semi-structured interviews, and related literature to achieve the intended objectives. The study revealed that as the country’s capital city, Colombo is an excellent example of the spread of disease in underserved settlements in urban areas. The group consists of small living spaces, with many families living on small land plots. These small housing units lack basic facilities such as sanitation, water and ventilation, and their location makes maintaining social distance an impossible task. In these communities, residents gather in public places and visit their neighbours. Tracking and controlling socialization patterns in highly congested areas adds challenges that make blockades and curfews redundant. Therefore, enhancing city resilience in unstructured urban areas is the main challenge. The government has taken many actions to make the city more structured. However, it is still not possible with many socio-economic difficulties in the country as a developing country. Therefore, more actions are essential to building resilience in the country. Urban planning should focus on informal settlements and the urban poor, particularly affected by the epidemic. A population density threshold per square mile can be used based on extensive research to solve very dense populations living in small areas. Disaster risk reduction, response, and epidemic prevention planning must be integrated into Sri Lanka’s urban planning. A pandemic makes it possible to rethink, re-plan and redesign the urban environment to be more resilient to future epidemics in the country. Chapter 11—“The Impact of Post-Pandemic Lifestyle on Neighbourhood: Changes from 2020 to 2022 in Wuhan, China” By Tu Kangwei and Andras Reith Major outbreaks in history have often been followed by massive retrofits of built environments in pursuit of “healthier” cities. The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in late 2019, has also prompted broader discussions about urban density, layout, and accessibility to public facilities. However, behind these indicators which can be quantified, it is easy to ignore the changes in values, needs as well as lifestyles of residents brought by the pandemic, which have quietly transformed the appearance of cities already. Through comparative analysis including random questionnaire, participant observation, in-depth interviews and multi-party workshop at three typical neighbourhoods in Wuhan from October 2020 to October 2022, this study sought to examine the key shifts in the lifestyle of Wuhan residents before and after COVID-19 and explored how neighbourhoods responded to the changes. It is found that after the pandemic, residents showed a main online trend in shopping, education and entertainment activities. The demand for green space and outdoor activity facilities increased sharply while the frequency of using indoor public space decreased, and the range of travel had been drastically reduced. In response, the neighbourhood transformed in three main dimensions in a short period of time: A number of new logistics space sprung up Sports facilities and venues were added Miniature public space had been opened up.

Urban Resilience to Future Pandemics

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Empirical studies have confirmed that community resilience lies in its great flexibility and spontaneity in coping with rapid changes. The embedding of logistics spaces, self-sufficient buildings adapting to multiple scenarios and neighbourhood co-governance are considered to be effective forms of neighbourhood in the postpandemic era. By introducing Wuhan’s experience, this paper calls on built environment professionals to join in the observation of environmental behaviour and draw available strategies to deal with future challenges. Lastly, the concluding chapter, “Towards Resilient Cities and Neighbourhoods to Pandemics”, serves as a summary chapter, which extracts lessons from previous chapters and points out new directions of built environment resilience studies in the post-pandemic era. It highlights the possibilities of resilient solutions and summaries each chapter’s key ideas and contributions. So far, it has been proven that urban studies need to investigate health and cities, and resilience is a concept that helps achieve sustainability. In this field, urban planners, designers, governments, and related institutions should take into full consideration better future preparedness and reflective management methods to build muchenhanced resilience [11]. Therefore, we connect “resilience” and “pandemic” in various built environments, hoping the chapters in this book can contribute to solving existing issues brought by the pandemic, learn lessons from previous experience, and prepare for future threats.

References 1. UN News (2023) World must be ready to respond to next pandemic: WHO chief. UN News. Retrieved 25 June, 2023 from https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136912 2. Houtman J, Shultz L, MPH, Gilmour J (2022) The increasing burden of dengue fever in a changing climate—multiple effects of climate change affect the incidence and severity of dengue fever. https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/the-increasing-burden-of-denguefever-in-a-changing-climate/#:~:text=If%20nothing%20is%20done%2C%20Zika,on%20h ealth%20are%20already%20happening 3. Mora C, McKenzie T, Gaw IM, Dean JM, von Hammerstein H, Knudson TA, Setter RO, Smith CZ, Webster KM, Patz JA (2022) Over half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by climate change. Nat Clim Chang 12(9):869–875 4. Allam Z, Jones DS (2020) Pandemic stricken cities on lockdown. Where are our planning and design professionals [now, then and into the future]? Land Use Policy 97:104805. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104805 5. Masnavi M, Gharai F, Hajibandeh M (2019) Exploring urban resilience thinking for its application in urban planning: a review of literature. Int J Environ Sci Technol 16:567–582 6. Walker B, Holling CS, Carpenter SR, Kinzig A (2004) Resilience, adaptability and transformability in social-ecological systems [Article]. Ecol Soc 9(2):Article 5. https://doi.org/10.5751/ ES-00650-090205 7. Holling CS (1973) Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 4(1):1–23 8. Yang L, Fang X, Zhu J (2022) Knowledge mapping analysis of public health emergency management research based on web of science. Front Public Health 10 9. UN Environment Programme (n.d.) GOAL 11: sustainable cities and communities. UN environment programme. Retrieved 25 June, 2023 from https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/sus tainable-development-goals/why-do-sustainable-development-goals-matter/goal-11

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10. ARUP (n.d.) City resilience index. ARUP. Retrieved 25 June, 2023 from https://www.arup. com/perspectives/publications/research/section/city-resilience-index 11. Cheshmehzangi A (2020) The city in need: urban resilience and city management in disruptive disease outbreak events. Springer, Singapore 12. Cheshmehzangi A (2020a) 10 adaptive measures for public places to face the COVID 19 pandemic outbreak. City Soc (Washington, DC) 32(2) 13. Cheshmehzangi A (2021) Urban health, sustainability, and peace in the day the world stopped. Springer, The Netherlands 14. Cheshmehzangi A (2021) Revisiting the built environment: 10 potential development changes and paradigm shifts due to COVID-19. J Urban Manage 10(2):166–175 15. Cheshmehzangi A, Li Y, Li H, Zhang S, Huang X, Chen X, Su Z, Sedrez M, Dawodu A (2022) A hierarchical study for urban statistical indicators on the prevalence of COVID-19 in Chinese city clusters based on multiple linear regression (MLR) and polynomial best subset regression (PBSR) analysis. Sci Rep 12(1):1964 16. Pamukcu-Albers P, Ugolini F, La Rosa D, Gr˘adinaru SR, Azevedo JC, Wu J (2021) Building green infrastructure to enhance urban resilience to climate change and pandemics. Landscape Ecol 36(3):665–673 17. Geospatial Commission (2020) Unlocking the power of location. The UK’s Geospatial Strategy, 2020 to 2025. Cabinet Office. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/public ations/unlocking-the-power-of-locationthe-uksgeospatial-strategy/unlocking-the-power-oflocation-the-uks-geospatial-strategy-2020-to-2025 18. European Platform on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (2020) COVID-19 SUMP practitioner briefing. CIVITAS SATELLITE CSA. Available at: https://www.eltis.org/sites/default/files/ covid-19_sumppractitionersbriefing_final.pdf 19. Foth M, Choi JH, Satchell C (2011) Urban informatics. In: Proceedings of the ACM 2011 conference on Computer supported cooperative work. pp 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1145/1958824. 1958826 20. Jocher G, Chaurasia A, Stoken A et al. (2021) ultralytics/yolov5: v5.0 – YOLOv5-P6 1280 models, AWS, Supervise.ly and YouTube integrations (v5.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ zenodo.4679653

Innovations in Cities

Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics: Case of Four Large Indian Cities Sudha Panda and Soumyendu Shankar Ray

Abstract Cities are the epicenters of people and economic activities but with Covid19 affecting both lives and livelihood, all economic activities have been brought to a grinding halt. It is important therefore for cities to understand the factors which build urban resilience to be in a better state of preparedness. The study aims to study some of the determinants of urban resilience against Covid-19 in the context of 4 large Indian cities across the first wave and second wave of the pandemic, in 2020 and 2021 i.e. Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Surat. The explanatory variables for the infection which have been taken are the crowding variables (population, gross density, net density, street crowding and indoor crowding), Health resources variable (hospital beds and medical facilities), Socio-economic variables (poverty) and Environmental variables (Solid waste generated, Sewerage discharged, Water Supply and Open Spaces). The analysis is done at a granular level taking wards which is the smallest administrative unit of a city. The analysis is done using the multiple linear regression method and finding the coefficient of correlation between the dependent variable (infection rate) and independent variables under Crowding variables, Socio-Economic variables, Health Resources variables and Environmental variables. The test of an ideal urban development model, be it a compact city or a sprawling city, is its resilience to natural and manmade disasters. In a developing nation like India, where resources are limited, it is imperative that resources are optimally used, both under normal and pandemic conditions. Crowding variables are seen to have a much stronger influence in prevention and control of the virus transmission than Socio-Economic, Health Resources or Environmental variables which justifies the stringent lockdown measures taken by the Indian government. Keywords Covid-19 · Urban resilience · Crowding variables · Health resource variables · Environmental variables · Socio-economic variables

S. Panda (B) · S. S. Ray School of Architecture and Planning, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_2

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1 Introduction Cities are the hubs of economic activities which thrive on economy of scale arising from human proximity but with COVID 19 wreaking havoc across the world, many questions have been raised about the efficacy of dense urbanization. Urban resilience is the capability of cities to absorb, adapt and transform the disasters which strike, so that it can continue to function normally. Goal 11 of UNSDG goals speaks of making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. To promote a high population density and stop the downward trend of urban sprawl worldwide, UN-Habitat recommends a minimum of 15,000 people per square kilometer. Compact cities are resilient against pandemics as they are more accessible to healthcare facilities during lockdown besides having shorter commute times, lesser air and sound pollution. Studies of urban centers in China have found Governance capacity as a significant factor in building urban resilience as compared to city’s demographic characteristics like population size, density etc. [1]. Urban characteristics, such as city size, density, geographic distance to the domestic epicenter and health infrastructure, have large impacts on resilience of a city against the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic [2]. COVID Vulnerability Index for India has been built using variables such as population density, residential building quality, and distance from drinking water [3]. Peters (2020) creates a COVID-19 susceptibility scale at the county level in USA using indicators like population density, percentage of elderly population, and COVID19-related disease mortality. Our study aims to fill in the research gap to provide further solid empirical evidence by identifying the urban resilience factors which are important for a highly populated country where only 3.5% of the GDP is spent on health, compared to almost 10–20% of GDP as in the western world (UK and US).

2 Background Big cities with higher scale of economic activities are usually associated with higher propensity of social contact and transmission from various factors including crowded indoor and outdoor living, closely packed public transport systems, higher difficulties for isolation and social distancing, they thus intuitively appear to has less resilience against the outbreak of epidemic [4]. It is not clear from literature if density is conclusively responsible for the spread of virus infection and if so to what extent [5].

2.1 Literature Review See Table 1.

Factors

Demographic/ crowding factors

Socioeconomic factors

S. No.

1

2

A. B. C. D.

Ethnicity Poverty level Gender Age

A. Density variables B. Population variables

Parameters

C. UN report D. UN report

A. Ahmed et al. [7] B. UN-habitat global urban indicators database 2021

A. Chen et al. [6] B. Chu et al. [1] C. Ahmed et al. [7]

Source

Indonesia

China New York, New Jersey, Lombardy, Hubei, Madrid and Catalonia

Study Area

(continued)

A. Socioeconomic indicators played a significant role in spread of Covid B. Health experts have warned that poorer households breathe some of the world’s dirtiest air, leaving them disproportionately at risk of dying from the virus C. The largest vulnerable group are women. As they make up large parts of the healthcare workforce and are often primary caregivers to the ill, they are in higher risk of infection and do not always receive adequate protection D. In a pandemic scenario, elderly people will generally be classified as having a higher risk of infection and lower rate of recovery due to weaker immune systems or a higher rate of preexisting health conditions

A. Large and high-density cities with high inter-city and intra-city mobility flows have more difficulties in containing the epidemic spread B. COVID-19’s occurrence in cities and the effects of prevention and control efforts are not directly related to city size, but city governance capacity C. New York, New Jersey, Lombardy, Hubei, Madrid and Catalonia were the epicenter of the COVID-19 due to their dense population

Findings

Table 1 Literature review on factors building urban resilience against COVID-19 pandemic from the experience of cities worldwide

Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics … 17

A. Chen [6] B. Hamidi et al. [13]

Mobility

5

C. Water supply D. Solid waste collection

A. Cardoso et al. [10] B. UNICEF Bangladesh (undated) Von Seidlein et al. [11] C. UN report D. Sinha et al. [12]

1. Air pollution 2. Sewerage pollution

Environment

Source

4

Parameters

A. Chen [6] B. Qiu et al. [8] C. Janke et al. [9]

Factors

Health Resources

S. No.

Table 1 (continued)

China

Italy Bangladesh Egypt, Iraq, Ghana, Kenya, Cambodia and Myanmar C. Kenya Asian cities of Manila, Jakarta, Hanoi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur

China China USA

Study Area

A. Economic activity leading to higher frequencies of travel and business meetings create more opportunities for the pandemics to spread B. They are more likely to exchange tourists and business people with each other and with other parts of the world, thus increasing the risk of cross-border infections

A. One study of Italian cities found a significant link between chronic exposure to air pollution and the number of severe COVID-19 cases The contribution of nature to health and well being in cities was clear long before the current pandemic: trees in urban areas, for example, by removing pollutants, cooling temperatures and capturing carbon, are estimated to provided long-term benefits “more than twice their planting and maintenance costs B. To mitigate the emergence and spread of future infectious diseases and enhance long-term health and resilience, emphasis in land use and environmental planning should be put on preserving and restoring blue-green networks 27 Adequate sanitation facilities as an important deterrent to COVID-19 transmission, as recent COVID-19 virus “sheds in faeces and can be detected in wastewater C. During the first lockdown, the main barriers to regular hand washing were lack of access to water at home (25% of respondents) and the un-affordable costs of extra soap or water (32%) D. Household medical waste generation increased by around 500% due to the pandemic.34 As a result, municipal waste has increased substantially, overwhelming the already stretched collection and disposal services in many cities. At the same time, a reduction in recycling activities has exacerbated the challenges in this sector, affecting many of the estimated 15 million informal workers in this sector

A. Healthcare infrastructure adequacy is the key for preparing for such disasters, while previous pandemic disease handling experiences do not factor into city resilience against COVID-19 B. City lockdown and local public health measures imposed in late January significantly decreased the virus transmission rate C. Geographic areas with fewer intensive care unit beds, nurses, and general medicine/surgical beds per COVID-19 case were statistically significantly associated with an increased incidence rate of death in April 2020

Findings

18 S. Panda and S. S. Ray

Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics …

19

2.2 Empirical Model Based on the Literature Study, the following linear model has been obtained. Urban Resilience to Covid 19 = α1 + β1Crowding factors (f(population, gross density, net density, indoor density , street density)) + β2socio-economic factors (f(poverty, vulnerable groups)) + β3health care resources( f(beds, hospitals)) + β4Environment (f(solid waste collection, sewerage, water supply, open spaces)) + εi. The smallest administrative unit in a city is a ward and collecting ward wise data is appropriate as it gives the city picture at a very granular level. The infection transmission occurs with the interactions and movement of people, and peoples’ movements in times of lockdown rarely extend beyond their immediate neighborhoods except for persons working for essential services. Hence the mobility factor has been eliminated. The final empirical model has been shown graphically in Fig. 1.

2.3 Methodology To explore the strength of relationship between Urban resilience variables and COVID-19 infection rate the research followed the following steps as seen in Fig. 2 1. Obtaining a model for explanatory variables which will determine the outcome variable (COVID-19 incidence rate). 2. Studying the effect of explanatory variables through Regression analysis and Correlation Coefficient in a case study for 4 cities (Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Surat) with wards as the unit of analysis. 3. Discussion and analysis to explain which factors are most important in the context of India to build up its urban resilience.

2.4 Variables Definition Crowding variables 1. Population is the total number of people in that locality. 2. Gross Density is the total population of the area divided by the total area of the locality (which includes the street area, open spaces and water bodies). 3. Net Density is the population of a locality divided by the buildable plot area. The buildable plot area is obtained by excluding street areas, open spaces and water bodies from the locality area. 4. Indoor Crowding is the number of people indoors per square kilometer of built area. The built area is obtained by buildable plot area times the Floor Space Index (FSI) of that locality. This includes all built area under residential, commercial,

20

S. Panda and S. S. Ray Population Gross Density

Net Density

Indoor density Crowding Factors Street Density

Socio-Economic Variables Covid 19 Infection Rate

Poverty

Hospital Beds Health Resource Variables

Hospitals

Solid Waste Collection

Environment Variables

Sewerage Discharge

Water Supply

Open Spaces

Fig. 1 Model showing the role of explanatory variables on COVID-19. Infection rate in India (Source Author (2022))

institutional and industrial use. Since most cities in India are under lockdown with the working population and students working from home, the Indoor population is assumed at 90% of the population. 5. Street Crowding is the number of people on the streets per sq.km of street area. This would be a critical measure to evaluate how crowded the street life is likely to be. By street area we mean the public, shared space, used for circulation of pedestrians and vehicles. Mass transit systems have not been included as these transit systems are working in a restricted manner in the lockdown phase.

Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics …

21

Fig. 2 Research steps (Source Author (2022))

Socioeconomic Variables The key socioeconomic and environmental variables affecting the transmission rate for this research is: 1. Low income level population is the percentage of population in that locality who are below the national poverty line. The percentage of people living in slums have been taken as a proxy for low income level population as they live in overcrowded conditions which make social distancing difficult. Citizens above the age of 60 and Literate Population are also key Socioeconomic variables but have been excluded as ward-wise data for the same are not available for all four cities. Health care Resources 1. Hospital Beds is the number of normal hospital beds which are available in that locality which doesn’t include beds with ventilator provision. 2. Medical facilities is the number of hospitals/ health centers/COVID care centers (Private and Government) which are available in that locality. Environmental Variables 1. Solid Waste Collection is measured by solid waste collection in kilograms per capita per day in that locality.

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S. Panda and S. S. Ray

2. Sewerage Discharge is the sewerage discharge for the ward in liters per capita per day. 3. Water Supply is the water supply for the ward in liters per capita per day. 4. Open Spaces is the open space available for the ward in sqft per capita. Air Pollution is measured by PM2.5 per cubic meter (micrograms per cubic meter). Air pollution aggravates respiratory disease and lowers natural immunity. But this variable has been omitted as ward wise data for this variable is not available.

3 Comparative 4 City Data to Study the Urban Resilience Versus COVID-19 Incidence Rate 3.1 Sampling The research is focused on Mumbai, Bengaluru, Surat and Pune which are ranked 1st, 3rd, 8th and 9th among the ten most populated cities of India. The COVID19 incidence rates were taken during the during the crest of COVID-19 wave i.e. April to July of 2020 and 2021, to be able to find the real factors responsible for the transmission of COVID-19 (Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5).

4 Discussion and Result Analysis This study uses multiple linear regression taking 4 large Indian cities with wards as analytical units. The goal of multiple linear regression (MLR) is to model the linear relationship between the explanatory (independent variables—“Crowding”,”Socioeconomic variables”, “Health Resources” and “Environment”) variables and response (dependent variables—COVID-19 positives per 1 million Population) variable. The Normal distribution of Residuals in histogram and P-P chart for all four cities shows MLR is statistically fit for conducting the tests. As can be seen in Fig. 3 the R2 values (for all four cities) in 2020 and 2021 are the highest for Crowding variables and Environmental variables followed by Health Resources variables. This implies that there is a strong prediction of Covid infection rate by the Crowding variables taken (Population, Gross density, Net density, Indoor crowding and Street crowding) and Environmental variables taken (Solid waste collection, Sewerage discharge, water supply and Open Spaces). However there is a medium prediction of Covid infection rate by the Health resources variables taken (beds and medical facilities) and weak predictability by the socioeconomic variable taken (Poverty). Among all the sub-variables in Environment variable, the strongest sub-variable is solid waste collection which undoubtedly has a very strong influence on the COVID19 infection rate. The strongest sub-variable in Health Resources is the Medical

Sandhurst Road

41,130

34,800

14,030

Parel

36,920

29,140

7010

Khar

7390

8570

6760

Chembur W

Ghatkopar

Malad

30,420

39,580

40,290

20,010

18,770

5360

4660

Kurla

46,740

8970

Andheri W

Chembur E

62,790

36,540

8620

7760

Bandra

Andheri E

40,270

10,250

11,990

Dadar

Elphinstone

37,330

10,120

7800

Byculla

10,660

Matunga

32,850

61,780

Marine Lines 8430

Grant Road

58,340

23,310

12,640

7140

Colaba

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 23 July, 2021)

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 15 July, 2020)

Ward area Indoor crowding

Street crowding

941,366

622,853

411,893

807,720

902,225

748,688

823,885

307,581

557,239

377,749

599,039

360,972

529,034

393,286

346,866

166,161

127,290

185,014

14,801

49,286

23,956

21,123

24,853

56,744

31,995

33,221

26,516

41,277

37,775

65,828

25,784

40,695

53,147

52,555

92,312

50,916

58,616

26,104

25,776

26,500

65,856

39,178

37,012

30,820

45,304

47,756

72,000

27,767

48,138

67,808

70,789

159,770

69,557

17,243

21,102

9398

9279

9540

23,708

14,104

13,324

11,095

16,309

17,192

25,920

25,763

51,576

30,211

35,792

69,131

34,587

4240

71,970

64,881

36,308

55,605

65,643

41,250

57,214

27,403

80,935

44,127

133,120

51,841

48,985

34,197

39,692

26,635

20,205

9026

(continued)

75.24

40.01

40.06

84.93

84.03

28.81

69.53

26.84

69.79

32.91

60.38

49.9

45.01

31.58

10

9.97

9.99

12.04

Poverty-slum population%

Net density

Population

Gross density

Socio economic

Crowding variables

Table 2 The ward wise data of Mumbai with the independent variable

Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics … 23

30,900

7470

6350

7960

Kandivili

Bhandup

23,310

12,640

7140

Colaba

Sandhurst Road

10,660

10,120

Byculla

10,250

Dadar

34,800

37,330

41,130

7800

14,030

Matunga

Parel

36,920

32,850

61,780

Marine Lines 8430

Grant Road

58,340

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 23 July, 2021)

12,340

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 15 July, 2020)

Mulund

Ward area

42,360

31,520

5750

Dahisar

46,360

57,870

6960

8160

Borivli

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 23 July, 2021)

Goregaon

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 15 July, 2020)

Ward area

Table 2 (continued)

Indoor crowding

Street crowding

18,996

22,051

7938

100

381

228

327

80

0

318

50

15

10

15

10

18

8

5

11

Medical facilities

0.66

2.27

0.68

1.86

2.34

0.07

0.52

1.61

239

135

201

78

91

35

40

93

Solid waste Seweragecollection in No of public kg/day/capita toilets

3623

4546

16,085

9688

4204

Hospital beds

10,064

12,628

44,682

26,910

11,678

Environment

7521

11,622

38,833

23,965

11,243

Health resources

341,463

743,783

691,229

431,368

562,162

463,507

4.25

5.03

3.3

4.87

3.45

1.53

1.88

2.46

Water supply-hours/ day

32,062

42,501

51,598

39,257

62,987

20,089

5.9

8.9 (continued)

18.9

10.9

23.3

8.5

3

43

Open spaces-sqft/ capita

25.06

54.91

59.95

65.18

30.75

49.8

Poverty-slum population%

Net density

Population

Gross density

Socio economic

Crowding variables

24 S. Panda and S. S. Ray

46,360

57,870

6960

Goregaon

39,580

30,900

7470

6350

7960

12,340

Kandivili

Bhandup

Mulund

Indoor crowding

Street crowding

345

250

390

265

150

100

352

434

80

200

202

385

366

202

625

191

10

6

9

5

9

4

15

11

7

12

17

8

15

6

9

15

1.81

0.32

0.29

0.29

0.29

0.33

0.18

0.27

0.38

0.19

0.25

1.15

0.35

1.42

0.27

0.22

216

1043

395

399

254

335

1268

524

217

429

777

215

791

173

357

110

24

11.25

4.86

2.43

2.2

2.73

3.89

15.61

11

7.56

8.97

3.5

6.48

3.25

3.11

5.53

64.6

17.9

15.4

19.5

16.7

23

18.9

20.4

58.3

6.1

8.7

34.3

13.6

17.1

9.8

35

Poverty-slum population%

Net density

Population

Gross density

Socio economic

Crowding variables

Source (Data Source: *MCGM, Census 2011 ** BMC COVID-19 Response War Room Dashboard, July 15, 2020 and 23 July 2021) (No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population as of 2020 and 2021) against dependent variables for “Crowding”, “Socioeconomic variables”, “Health resources” and “Environment”

42,360

31,520

8160

5750

Borivli

Dahisar

30,420

8570

6760

Ghatkopar

40,290

Malad

7390

Chembur W

18,770

20,010

5360

4660

Kurla

36,540

46,740

7760

8970

Andheri E

Andheri W

Chembur E

62,790

8620

Bandra

40,270

29,140

11,990

7010

Khar

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 23 July, 2021)

Elphinstone

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 15 July, 2020)

Ward area

Table 2 (continued)

Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics … 25

12,810

3130

East

10,760

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 4 July, 2021)

3330

2440

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 15 July, 2020)

South

Bommanahalli

Ward area

2160

Rajarajeshwari

17,780

20,530

10,760

2000

770

Yelahanka

Dasarahalli

21,460

11,750

14,510

20,290

4250

1620

West

Mahadevapura

17,780

770

2160

Dasarahalli

Rajarajeshwari

445,604

15,971

29,239

11,696

1445

515

667 10

15

14

0.33

0.45

0.33

165.8

165.8

165.8

Solid waste Sewerage-discharge collection in litre/capita kg/day/capita

5740

18,948

3090

20,964

9547

4394

Hospital beds

15,946

63,162

6866

69,879

31,825

10,986

4052

Indoor crowding (persons/sqkm)

Environment Medical facilities

29,776

27,438

5125

32,386

18,366

6743

7878

Net density (persons/ sqkm)

Health resources

908,906

1,961,797

878,991

1,275,992

1,684,175

742,411

5496

20,530

2000

Yelahanka

545,799

No of Crowding variables COVID-19 positives per Population Gross 1 million (persons-2011) density population (as (persons/ of 4 July, sqkm) 2021)

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 15 July, 2020)

Ward area

42.01

42.01

155

Water supply-litres/ capita

2233

4851

2022

6036

4458

1631

3571

1818

Street crowding (persons/sqkm)

(continued)

36.81

5.38

22.83

Open spaces-sqft/ capita

9.5

9.1

4.1

10.8

7.5

12.6

7.9

4.33

Poverty-slum population%

Socio economic

Table 3 The ward wise data of Bengaluru with the independent variable (No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population as of 2020 and 2021) against dependent variables for “Crowding”, “Socioeconomic variables”, “Health resources” and “Environment”

26 S. Panda and S. S. Ray

20,290

11,750

1620

3330

2440

Mahadevapura

South

Bommanahalli

21,460

450

1932

680

382

260

19

38

18

42

34

12,810

14,510

3130

4250

East

No of Crowding variables COVID-19 positives per Population Gross 1 million (persons-2011) density population (as (persons/ of 4 July, sqkm) 2021)

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 15 July, 2020)

West

Ward area

Table 3 (continued)

0.85

0.65

0.39

0.67

0.48

Net density (persons/ sqkm)

165.8

165.8

165.8

165.8

165.8

Indoor crowding (persons/sqkm)

93.75

54.64

36.9

54.64

54.64

Street crowding (persons/sqkm)

17.52

19.47

7.48

19.42

26.48

Poverty-slum population%

Socio economic

Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics … 27

1161

30

20

120

1130

270

Aundh

Kothrud (Karve Road)

Bibwewadi

Sangamwadi

Nagar road (Yerwada)

11,620

9430

570

Dankawadi

14,000

3530

1440

2680

Kasbavishrambaug

Bahavani Peth

1600

14,580

60

710

Tilak road

Shakarnagar

5820

1910

60

Ghole road

Warje Karvengar

8240

24,150

230

2640

Hadapsar

191,787

222,684

203,321

240,740

236,621

232,725

171,756

155,307

280,215

261,307

295,667

209,046

180,264

238,434

Dole Patil road

Indoor crowding (persons/sqkm)

Street crowding (persons/sqkm)

66,133

44,537

22,100

16,366

21,829

15,301

13,471

10,608

11,308

8194

8903

16,113

12,856

4424

87,854

51,956

31,942

16,433

28,750

15,569

15,439

19,771

17,827

10,257

36,693

26,023

17,864

8194

71,881

42,509

26,135

13,445

23,523

12,739

12,632

16,176

14,586

8392

30,022

21,291

14,616

6704

39,560

22,839

14,766

12,411

10,067

13,659

9944

14,418

5337

3597

11,771

21,122

15,066

13,020

31.61

3.99

34.87

34.72

2.22

22.45

49.14

46.39

30.14

12.49

44.54

5.25

38.77

23.01

(continued)

Poverty-slum population%

Net density (persons/ sqkm)

Population (persons-2011)

Gross density (persons/ sqkm)

Socio-economic

Crowding variables

9690

2670

3980

8120

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 28 May, 2021)

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 11 May, 2020)

Ward area

Table 4 The ward wise data of Pune with the independent variable (No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population as of 2020 and 2021) against dependent variables for “Crowding”, “Socioeconomic variables”, “Health resources” and “Environment”

28 S. Panda and S. S. Ray

14,000

1910

Ghole road 472

1303

197

8240

24,150

230

2640

Hadapsar

Dole Patil road

787

270

Nagar road (Yerwada)

322

9690

3980

436

20

51

32

15

16

10

25

9

20

0.7

0.9

0.42

0.33

0.38

0.32

0.49

0.59

Environment Solid waste collection in kg/day/ capita

Medical facilities

Health resources Hospital beds

27

2670

Street crowding (persons/sqkm)

669.55

206.04

160.59

377.46

68.88

57.5

239.18

721.16

Sewerage-discharge litre/capita

139

219

140

200

219

157

192

149

Water supply-litres/ capita

94

436

323

245

850

236

218

1040

(continued)

Open spaces-sqft/ capita

Poverty-slum population%

Indoor crowding (persons/sqkm)

Socio-economic Net density (persons/ sqkm)

Population (persons-2011) Gross density (persons/ sqkm)

Crowding variables

8120

120

20

Kothrud (Karve Road)

1161

1130

30

Aundh

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 28 May, 2021)

Bibwewadi

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 11 May, 2020)

Ward area

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 28 May, 2021)

Sangamwadi

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 11 May, 2020)

Ward area

Table 4 (continued)

Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics … 29

1600

3530

Street crowding (persons/sqkm)

800

547

127

98

240

42

39

25

44

14

19

22

0.81

0.83

0.69

0.52

0.25

0.35

156.42

516.43

157.39

186.92

380.36

128.91

358

260

222

157

138

166

37

32

139

2.5

110

11

Poverty-slum population%

Indoor crowding (persons/sqkm)

Socio-economic Net density (persons/ sqkm)

Population (persons-2011) Gross density (persons/ sqkm)

Crowding variables

Source (*Census 2011 ** Pune municipal corporation)

2680

Bahavani Peth

14,580

710

1440

Shakarnagar

Kasbavishrambaug

9430

60

Tilak road

5820

11,620

60

570

Warje Karvengar

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 28 May, 2021)

Dankawadi

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 11 May, 2020)

Ward area

Table 4 (continued)

30 S. Panda and S. S. Ray

22,150

52,060

No of Health resources COVID-19 Hospital beds Medical positives per (nos) facilities 1 million (nos) population (as of 1 May, 2021)

15,490

35,090

18,240

3270

1070

3150

3150

2010

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 31 July, 2020)

2150

3000

3270

1070

North

South

Central

South-West

South-East

Ward area

East

West

North

South

11,150

12,290

11,150

18,240

35,090

3000

West

642

1187

1243

2820

754,128

348,423

408,760

781,070

716,110

449,943

10

36

48

54

33,787

3108

49,971

8893

13,970

5194

12,633

15,490

2150

East

1,186,950

No of Crowding variables COVID-19 Population Gross positives per (persons-2011) density 1 million (persons/ population (as sqkm) of 1 May, 2021)

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 31 July, 2020)

Ward area

26,307

7604

24,624

23,574

23,133

16,082

23,102

Indoor crowding (persons/sqkm)

0.52

0.32

0.39

0.3

128

333.7

255.6

84.2

Solid waste Sewerage-discharge collection in litre/capita kg/day/capita

Environment

58,460

16,897

54,720

52,386

51,408

35,738

51,339

Net density (persons/ sqkm)

185.3

240.4

239.4

135.9

Water supply-litres/ capita

58,567

5387

86,620

15,415

24,216

9003

21,897

Street crowding (persons/sqkm)

2.11

2.49

7.81

5.16

(continued)

Open spaces-sqft/ capital

19.5

9.75

12.07

9.73

8.14

5.78

7.67

Poverty-slum population%

Socio-economic

Table 5 The ward wise data of Surat with the independent variable (No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population as of 2020 and 2021) against dependent variables for “Crowding”, “Socioeconomic variables”, “Health resources” and “Environment”

Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics … 31

2010

South-East 584

50

16 0.17

0.42

0.29

Net density (persons/ sqkm)

Data Source (*Census 2011 **Surat Municipality website www.office.suratmunicipal.org)

12,290

2772

89

3150

961

22,150

3150

Central

South-West

52,060

No of Crowding variables COVID-19 Population Gross positives per (persons-2011) density 1 million (persons/ population (as sqkm) of 1 May, 2021)

No of COVID-19 positives per 1 million population (as of 31 July, 2020)

Ward area

Table 5 (continued)

196.9

416.2

244.6

Indoor crowding (persons/sqkm)

88.1

217

47

Street crowding (persons/sqkm)

0.58

41.05

2.22

Poverty-slum population%

Socio-economic

32 S. Panda and S. S. Ray

Exploring the Determinants of Urban Resilience Against Pandemics …

33

Fig. 3 R2 values of independent varibles (for all four cities) in 2020 and 2021. Source Author (2022)

facilities variable. Among the crowding variable, no particular sub variable has a uniformly high influence uniformly for all 4 cities. Population is the only sub variable which is not excluded from the Crowding variables in its influence on COVID-19 infection rate.

5 Conclusion Based on the COVID-19 experience of several countries, this research draws out some common variables which have had a very vital role to play in building urban resilience against pandemics like COVID-19 and tries to find out for India which of those variables (Crowding characteristics (urban population density and economic activity size), healthcare resource adequacy, Socioeconomic conditions, Environmental factors) are more significant. The result analysis reveals that Crowding factors and Environmental variables are the most important variables which influence the resilience against Pandemics in India. With crowding having such a major impact on the spread of pandemic in India, the lockdown during the first and second wave, was the only answer to nip the transmission rate, in spite of its severe impact on livelihood. It is imperative to promote equal access to basic urban amenities through compact, well-planned densities and mixed-use developments that motivate neighborhood cohesion and encourage healthy lifestyle habits like walking and cycling and accessible open spaces. The results also show that Population has a stronger effect than density on the transmission rate of the virus and lack of basic amenities like waste collection, sewerage disposal, water supply and open spaces in congested settlements are more powerful in promoting the spread of the virus than the poverty of the people residing in these areas. Together with high density levels it is important to plan for sustainable mixed use neighborhood with well laid out basic amenities and transport infrastructure.

34

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The Healthy City: How Sustainable Mobility Policies Gave a Resilient Response to the COVID-19 Crisis Through Tactical Urbanism Vicente Iborra Pallarés, María Flor García, Luís Aragonés Pomares, and Armando Ortuño Padilla

Abstract City and public health is a binomial with a long common story. Throughout history, there have been many sings of linkages between adequate urban planning and the health of the inhabitants of our cities. A few months before the outbreak of the COVID-19 health crisis, this relationship was highlighted again by the United Nations Organization stating the links between Goals 3 and 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals. This health crisis changed our cities and the way we moved around them and we saw how some cities were more resilient than others. In this study, the dimension to be used to define the greatest resilience of a city is the reaction time from the moment the crisis broke out. The cities to which we are going to refer (Berlin, Milan, Oakland and Bogota) were able to adapt to the situation and overcome the critical period from a mobility point of view in record time (during the first six months of the COVID-19 crisis). That is precisely why these cities were cited as examples of good international practices by the general press worldwide. This media repercussion was relevant, since it showed to a wider audience, different sustainable mobility solutions based on soft modes, for trips of less than 5 km. All of these solutions shared two common aspects: they were based on “tactical urbanism” and constituted “urban laboratories”. This work has a double objective: on the one hand, to analyse the characteristics that defined the international good practices referenced by the generalist press; and on the other, to attempt to identify a common characteristic that explains the greater resilience (the shorter reaction time) of these cities. As a result, it will be shown that the common characteristic was the previous existence of sustainable urban mobility policies. Keywords City/district · Environment · Sustainable mobility · Tactical urbanism · Urban laboratory V. Iborra Pallarés (B) · L. Aragonés Pomares · A. Ortuño Padilla Department of Civil Engineering, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain e-mail: [email protected] M. Flor García · A. Ortuño Padilla University Institute of the Water and the Environmental Sciences, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_3

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1 Introduction Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, underlines the importance of urbanism to achieve sustainable development through the goals defined by the United Nations (UN) [1]. These goals, in turn, show an intense relationship between cities and public health and also parallelisms with those objectives sought by the different hygienist theories that emerged from the mid-nineteenth century [2–4]. In fact, this relationship was highlighted again by The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (ONU-HABITAT) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020, just before the outbreak on a global scale of the crisis caused by coronavirus in 2019 (COVID-19), in the document Integrating health in urban and territorial planning: a sourcebook. This document indicated the close relationship between the above-mentioned Goal 11 and Goal 3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”, indicating that urban and territorial planning is a fundamental instrument to achieve the protection of health and the promotion of healthy ways of life [5]. This relationship was manifested again with the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis and has been the object of many studies. We can specifically refer to those that seek to indicate how the urban factors affected the spread of the virus: urban density [6], socio-political factors [7], vulnerability [8] or mobility [9]. In fact, during the first wave of the pandemic in Europe and America, the generalist media repeatedly referred to the transformations taking place in the cities in terms of mobility in order to adequately respond to the existing demand but with appropriate conditions from a health point of view. Basically, these articles alluded to the possibility that these transformations could consolidate or evolve into other more permanent transformations in the post-pandemic era [10–12]. During the first six months of the health crisis in Europe and America (between March and September 2020), some cities were more resilient than others in terms of mobility. In this case, greater resilience is considered as the shortest reaction time from the outbreak of the health crisis. These cities were portrayed by the generalist press to the general public as examples of good practice. This study has a dual objective: on the one hand, to analyse the characteristics of the transformations in terms of urban mobility emerging in the cities under study. It should be noted that this study does not seek to constitute a repository of all the actions undertaken in the field of mobility on a global scale. This can be found in other sources, such as Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center [13] or COVID Movility Works [14], among others. On the other hand, it seeks to determine why, faced with the public health problem caused by COVID-19, these cities were able to respond quickly in the field of urban mobility, and, therefore, be more resilient to the crisis. This study will analyse those practices related exclusively to sustainable modes of transport. Therefore, it does not contemplate those modes based on private vehicles with combustion engines. A classification can be made of the sustainable modes of transport to cover the demand depending on the distance travelled, distinguishing

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between three possible segments: pedestrian displacement, soft mobility by bicycle or personal mobility vehicles (PMV) and public transport systems (bus, tram or metro). The objective of this study is limited to analysing the first two segments. In other words, the pedestrian movements made over distances of approximately 1 km and cyclist or PMV movements of approximately 5 km.

2 Study Cases Taking the afore-mentioned conditions into account, Berlin and Milan have been selected as case studies for Europe and Bogota and Oakland for America. This selection is broad in terms of sustainable mobility, contemplating the physical, urban and social characteristics that can be influential (see Table 1).

3 Methodology The afore-mentioned document Integrating health in urban and territorial planning: a sourcebook encourages the use of tactical urbanism, characterised by its lightness, speed, low cost and co-creation. It indicates that these strategies “can be useful for pilot projects and for testing ideas and options with the public. These projects and ideas may be low-tech implementations or be a step on the way to winning support for more substantial investment. Tactical urbanism is also referred to as using the city as a «laboratory for change»” [5]. Here we find, therefore, two tools to fulfil the objective of a healthy and sustainable city: tactical urbanism and urban laboratories [18]. This affirmation was made at the time of the publication of this document (before the COVID-19 health crisis). After the outbreak of the pandemic, which required temporary decisions to be made in very short periods of time, the use of these two tools was even more crucial. In this way, the methodology used in this study consists in analysing the mobility actions taken in the areas of study based on the characteristics that define these two tools: tactical urbanism and urban laboratories.

3.1 Tactical Urbanism Within the urban context, tactical urbanism “refers to a city, organizational, and/or citizen-led approach to neighborhood building using short-term, low-cost, and scalable interventions to catalyze long-term change.” [19]. One of the most characteristic instruments of tactical urbanism projects is the catalogue of materials used for their implementation. These materials, that include road signs, paint or traffic dividers, among others, characterise their image and enable the reuse of elements that usually already exist in the inventories of the local councils or bodies responsible for urban

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Table 1 Characteristics of the cities in the study City

Characteristics

Berlin

Berlin covers a total area of 892 km2 divided into 12 districts or neighbourhoods. With a density of 4147 hab/km2 and a population of almost 3.7 million inhabitants, it is the most populated city in Germany. It is worth pointing out that, within the city, 264 km2 are occupied by woodland, green spaces and recreational areas and another 60 km2 by lakes and rivers, all accessible by public transport, as, given its size, the city has a complete local public transport network which includes a metro, railway, tram and buses. Furthermore, the low rates of car ownership, their relatively flat terrain and the large cycle lane system of the city are the reasons why cyclists have accounted for more than 10% of Berlin’s traffic in the last decade. Berlin’s climate is characterised by partially cloudy summers and long, very cold, windy and mostly cloudy winters. During the course of the year, the temperature generally varies between −2 °C and 25 °C and very occasionally it falls below −10 °C or rises above 31 °C [15]

Milan:

This is the second largest municipality in Italy in terms of population with more than 1.3 inhabitants and constitutes the largest metropolitan areas of Italy (over 3 million inhabitants). It is located in the Padana plain, one of the most developed regions of Italy and covers an area of 182 km2 . With a population density of 7572.3 hab/km2 , the city has a radiocentric layout characterised by the existence of a central nucleus from which a series of roads and streets run in a radial direction, which facilitates communication with the periphery of the city. The public transport in Milan is fairly efficient. It is relatively economic and has an extensive timetable. Furthermore, the urban public transport network has common tariffs for the metro, tram and bus. The city has a flat topography and the highest point is 122 m above sea level. It has a mild and warm climate. It has significant rainfall, with precipitations even during the driest month. The average temperature in Milan is 13 °C [15] (continued)

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Table 1 (continued) City

Characteristics

Oakland Oakland is a city in California, located in the easterly part of San Francisco Bay in the United States. It is the third largest city of the Bay and the eighth most populated city of California. It covers an area of 202.4 km2 and has a population of 433,031 inhabitants. The inhabitants of Oakland refer to the land of their city as “the plains” and “the hills.” These terms also symbolise the profound economic divide of the city, where “the hills” are more prosperous areas. Approximately two thirds of Oakland is located on the flat plain and a third on the foothills and hills of the city. The public transport system is heavily used with an efficient bus service (AC Transit) and metro (BART). The ferry service to San Francisco is also highly used (Alameda/Oakland Ferry). The Bay Bridge, which connects Oakland and San Francisco (Interstate 80) is used by thousands of people every day, although there are many other bridges and tunnels also heavily used by its citizens. The average temperatures fluctuate between maximums of 14 °C in winter and 23 °C in summer and minimums of 8 °C in winter and 13 °C in summer. [16] Bogota

The largest and most populated city of the country, with more than 7.7 million inhabitants. It is also the most important cultural, industrial, economic and tourist city of Colombia and among the most important in Latin America. It is located on the Cundiboyacense plateau, a plain at 2630 m above sea level, which makes it the highest megalopolis in the world. It has a total area of 1776 km2 and an urban area of 307 km2 . The territory on which the city is located was formerly a lake. Its urban layout is based on a focal point (a central square), typical of the Spanish settlements, but the design has gradually become more modern in the peripheral neighbourhoods. It has a BRT system (TransMilenio) and a cable car system (TransMiCable). Furthermore, it has one of the most extensive cycle path systems in America, with 550 km of paths for the exclusive use of bicycles. Cars and motorbikes also play a very important role. Bogota has a mountain climate; due to its low latitude it has a thermal fluctuation throughout the year between 5 and 19 °C, with an annual average of 13 °C. There is abundant rainfall between March and May and in October and November [17]

Source own elaboration

management. Furthermore, to this usually pre-existing catalogue other elements can be added that appear in the co-design or co-creation processes with the participation of citizens or stakeholders. In this way, the afore-mentioned conditions of temporariness, adaptability, reversibility and low cost can be fulfilled. A catalogue of these materials can be found in the document Tactical urbanist’s guide to materials and design [20, p. 21] (see Table 2). Additionally, in the COVID-19 context, the document Streets for pandemic response & recovery [21], showed a specific guide for the development of tactical urbanism projects, that were named emerging practices (see Table 2). Therefore, the aspects of the tactical urbanism actions analysed in this study are: the characteristics of the emerging practices developed and the materials used to execute them.

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Table 2 Characteristics of the tactical urbanism actions within the context of the COVID-19 crisis Tactical urbanism Emerging Practices

Materials

Critical services

Managing speeds

Sidewalk extensions

Safe crossings

Slow streets

Open/play streets

Bike and skating lanes

Transit lanes

Transit stops and access

Pick-up and delivery zones/outdoor dinning

Markets

School streets

Streets for protests

Gatherings and events

Barrier elements Surface treatments Street furniture Landscaping elements Signs Programming

Source Own elaboration based on data from the documents: Tactical urbanist’s guide to materials and design and Streets for pandemic response & recovery

3.2 Urban Laboratories With respect to the second of the tools indicated by ONU-HABITAT and the WHO [5], Steen and Bueren [22] indicate that the principal characteristics of these “urban living labs” are those included in Table 3: Table 3 Overall panorama of the characteristics of an urban living lab Urban laboratories Aspects

Characteristics

Aims

Aimed at innovation Aimed at formal learning for replication Aimed at increasing urban sustainability

Activities

Development (all phases of the product development process) Co-creation Iteration (feedback, evaluation and improvement)

Participants Public and private actors, users and knowledge institutes Stakeholders Context

Activities take place in the real-life use context of the innovation (in the context of this research: neighbourhoods, districts or cities)

Source Own elaboration based on data from the document: The defining characteristics of urban living labs

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As we shall see later, many of the urban actions related to the COVID-19 crisis were clearly aligned with many of these characteristics, for example: the objectives of increasing urban sustainability, innovation or the replication of experiences (through the formulation of exportable good practices); co-creation and iteration activities, the latter being fundamental in changing contexts affected by the virus; the participation of many actors in the formulation, execution and evaluation of the actions; and, most of all, the development of the actions within real urban contexts. Therefore, we can consider that these urban actions applied the urban laboratory tool.

4 Discussion and Implications By way of summary, Table 4 indicates the aspects that characterise the case studies, showing that they all use the tools identified by ONU-HABITAT and the WHO: tactical urbanism and urban laboratories. It should be indicated that in the case of the urban laboratories, all of the actions are aimed at innovation and urban sustainability. Urban innovation because they use a pre-existing tool (tactical urbanism) to respond to a new problem, the health crisis. Sustainability, because they are all based on pre-existing sustainable mobility policies.

4.1 Berlin The German capital was one of the first to establish soft mobility measures to cover the travelling demand due to the COVID-19 crisis. The district of Kreuzberg decided to take action with respect to cyclist mobility, considering that this would guarantee a safety distance of 1.5 m. In this way, existing cycle lanes were lengthened or other vehicle lanes were converted into cycle lanes. This was done using materials of tactical urbanism: paint, road signs traffic division elements. The new cycle routes that enabled urban mobility while maintaining the necessary public health conditions were created where cycle lanes had already been planned [23]. Therefore, the health crisis served as a catalyst for a sustainable mobility policy that had previously been announced and was in the implementation phase. Furthermore, a very simple colour code was established. The cycle lanes of the Berlin cyclist infrastructure are characterised by the colour green while the tactical urbanism actions related to COVID-19 use the colour yellow, typical of civil engineering works. Almost from the very beginning of the actions, a technical solutions catalogue was published, in accordance with different types of road sections, in order to implement these temporary cycle lanes [24]. It indicated the dimensions of the lanes, the signs to apply, both vertical and horizontal, or the resolution of intersections, which could be used as a base for implementing these solutions in other places. Therefore, on the one hand, we can affirm that it was an urban laboratory, given that the actions were aimed at the formal learning for replication and increasing

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Table 4 Characterisation of the case studies according to the characteristics of tactical urbanism and the urban laboratories Cities

Tactical Urbanism

Urban Laboratories

Emerging practices

Employed materials

Berlin

Bike and skating lanes Safe crossings

Barrier elements Surface treatments Signs

Aimed at innovation and urban sustainability Aimed at formal learning for replication Different actor participation Urban real-life context

Milan

Sidewalk extensions Safe crossings Open/play streets Bike and skating lanes Pick-up and delivery zones/ outdoor dinning School streets Gathering and events

Barrier elements Surface treatments Signs Street furniture Landscaping elements Programming

Aimed at innovation and urban sustainability Aimed at formal learning for replication Iteration Different actor participation Urban real-life context

Oakland

Open/play streets Safe crossings Critical services

Barrier elements Surface treatments Signs

Aimed at innovation and urban sustainability Aimed at formal learning for replication Iteration Different actor participation Urban real-life context

Bogotá

Bike and skating lanes

Barrier elements Signs Street furniture

Aimed at innovation and urban sustainability Aimed at formal learning for replication Urban real-life context

Source Own elaboration

urban sustainability; the participation of different actors was encouraged, among other ways, through the publication on the website of the projects that had been planned, that were being implemented or that had been executed (see Fig. 1); and the actions were developed in a real context. On the other hand, the public information website of this public mobility policy [23] indicated that, although the cycle lanes were temporary, the objective was to replace them with equivalent and permanent measures in the future and, as a result, they corresponded to the previously mentioned definition of tactical urbanism action.

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Fig. 1 Image of the map of the InfraVelo portal which shows the projects that have been planned, those in the implementation phase and those that have been executed in Berlin. Source InfraVelo GRÜNBERLIN-Mapa [25]

4.2 Milan In the case of Milan, first we can refer to the document named Piano di azione per la mobilità urbana post COVID published by a company related to cycling projects, Bikenomist, and the cycling association BIKEITALIA [26]. This document was published at the beginning of the crisis (16/04/2020) and was created as a guide (similar to those we have seen previously published or guided by NACTO) for the implementation of tactical urbanism projects essentially focused on cycling infrastructure, given that it is considered that this is the mode of transport that should be promoted for journeys of up to 10 km. Second, we can refer to the document Milán 2020. Strategia di adattamento (strategy of adaptation of the city) [27], published by the city council of Milan, also during an early phase of the crisis (27/04/2020). It was created as a strategic plan for the possible scenarios that could have arisen during the course of the health crisis, covering different aspects, not only those related to urban or mobility issues, including a plan with specific actions. The first document (Piano di azione per la mobilità urbana post COVID) had the principal objective of raising awareness about the use of cyclist mobility as an instrument able to respond to the mobility demand as an alternative to the private vehicle. This was done after verifying the increase in this mode of transport in the city of Wuhan (China) after it had overcome the first phases of the pandemic (the share of cycling of the different modes of transport increased from 34 to 66% in detriment to public transport which decreased from 56 to 24%) [26]. In light of this problem, it establishes the different distance thresholds associated with modes of transport, indicating: up to 3 km (pedestrian mobility, including the widening of pavements), from 3 to 10 km (reinforcing the cycling infrastructure) and over 10 km (public transport). Taking into account the authorship of the document, it logically focuses on the second threshold (3–10 km) with the implementation of what it calls

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Fig. 2 Map of the strategic actions of Milan. Source Comune di Milano

the Emergency Mobility Network (RME),1 which was the principal instrument for implementing the resizing of the lanes for vehicle traffic to a minimum width of 275 cm, or their elimination. With respect to the strategy of the adaptation of the city of Milan, is a more extensive document resembling those elaborated by cities on a global level referring to “reconstruction plans.” However, in this case, it includes elements of an action plan, indicating specific actions in specific places, which is why it is included in this study. The section on mobility highlights the project strade aperte, which proposes the creation of a network of pedestrian and cycle paths characterised by the use of signage, with low costs and construction times. The strategy indicates those streets in which the actions would be developed, beginning with main streets. It includes explanatory images of the actions to be carried out. It also includes a map of the city which not only indicates the strade aperte, but also: the streets in which the pedestrian space would be widened, the streets to be closed on public holidays, the proposals to widen the cycle lanes, the new cycle parking areas or the new navigable areas of the canals (see Fig. 2). This map proposes actions in the city that combine spaces and radial and round routes that are clearly related to Zones B and C of the city’s Limited Traffic restrictions. In this way, Zone C of the centre of the city, the most restrictive area with an access charge, corresponds to a pedestrian priority area, while the area of Zone B essentially corresponds to the area of actions proposed in the adaptation strategy of the city. Therefore, it seems clear that the actions described in the strategy are aligned with the Limited Traffic Zones and their operation. These actions would enable the mobility demand to be satisfied during the different scenarios derived from the health

1

Rete di Mobilità d’Emergenza.

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situation and, after the crisis, would reinforce the situation mobility network of the city. It can be indicated that the actions proposed were intended to be implemented in a real context, with a public participation process [28] and associated with an iterative process. Furthermore, the actions indicated in the Piano di azione per la mobilità urbana post COVID are aimed at formal learning for replication in other urban environments.

4.3 Oakland In this case, we refer to the slow streets programme of Oakland, in the United States. This city, located in San Francisco Bay, implemented this programme early on (11 April 2020) “with the objective of promoting physical exercise and ensuring social distancing” [29]. It consisted in the implementation of a shared space in which all modes of transport coexisted together but in which the most vulnerable had preference: pedestrians or cyclists. Therefore, drivers were encouraged to avoid the streets that form part of this slow street programme except when necessary to reach their final destination. This programme was then extended, with the creation of the essential spaces programme (22 May 2020) which incorporated elements of traffic control in order to permit the safe access of essential services to the neighbourhoods, including food stores, food distribution points and COVID-19 testing points [29]. In this way, it consisted in the implementation of several of the previously mentioned emerging practices: slow traffic streets (slow streets) and safe road intersections/critical services (essential spaces). The implementation of this emergency programme was based on a sustainable mobility policy which was then being implemented. Its objective was to establish a network of slow streets with a total length of 74 miles (120 km) in phases, which could be consulted on an interactive map of the network (Fig. 3). As previously indicated, the rapid application of the first actions can be explained by the existence of a prior urban sustainability policy. The programmes were developed based in the 2019 cyclist plan for the city of Oakland (Let’s bike Oakland) in which a cycle network was proposed for the city. This plan identified local routes through residential streets which did not conflict with streets with a high traffic intensity. At the same time, the plan was object of citizen participation (with the participation of more than 3500 people) and the approval by the municipal technicians and politicians, connecting all of the communities of the city. In this way, the streets and spaces (implemented and proposed) forming part of the programmes were already integrated in the city’s cycling plan. Therefore, we can classify these actions as an urban laboratory, given that they had the object of replication (through an urban network of Oakland but also in other cities, such as San Francisco); they were developed through the participation of the different agents involved and iteration [31] and, similarly to the rest of cases, they were implemented directly in the urban reality.

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Fig. 3 Slow streets (corridors and locations) implemented in Oakland on 7 August 2020. Source ArcGIS-OakDOT slow streets program [30]

4.4 Bogota Bogota is a global benchmark for urban sustainability where two sustainable mobility policies are particularly noteworthy. The first, TransMilenio, prioritises public transport objectives, responding to the demand for urban mobility [32]. The second, Ciclovía, addresses objectives related to the promotion of public health and social sustainability. In addition to the Transmilenio system and the Ciclovía on Sundays, the city has 550 km of cycle routes (for 7.5 million inhabitants). On the one hand, TransMilenio is a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system which was created in the year 2000 and currently has more than 80 km of specific lanes. Furthermore, the same entity also manages the city’s public cable car transport system (TransMiCable). On the other hand, the Ciclovía is an extensive network of cycle routes which are implemented every Sunday and bank holiday in the city from 7:00 to 14:00, using tactical urbanism tools. The Ciclovía is an appropriation of the public space for recreational uses which is programmed and equipped. It is important to stress that only a small part of the Ciclovia route of Bogota is made up of the cycle routes (permanent cycle lanes physically established in the streets of Bogota), which means that each day the Ciclovía is implemented, more than 120 km of roads usually used for private vehicles are closed to traffic. The practice of these sustainable mobility policies seemed to facilitate a fast response in the city of Bogota to the health emergency. Again, the use of the bicycle as an alternative mode of public transport, ensuring the safety distance in mediumdistance journeys, was established from the outset [33]. A total of 117 km of temporary cycle lanes were created in different phases (22 km as early as 17 March 2020) which ran almost in parallel with the routes of the Transmilenio system and which were added to the existing 550 km (Fig. 4). The rapid implementation of these cycle lanes seems to be due to the experience accumulated in the two afore-mentioned urban mobility policies. On the one hand, they were established in parallel with the BRT corridors to decongest this service,

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Fig. 4 Network of existing cycle routes and temporary lanes implemented. Source Gobierno de Bogotá [34]

reinforcing already implemented structural public transport routes which the citizens know and use. On the other hand, the establishment of these temporary cycle lanes must have been based on the experience accumulated over decades in the implementation of the recreational Ciclovía each weekend, given that the moveable elements and materials used are similar or reused. As a result, this constitutes a case of an urban laboratory, implemented in a real context and with a vocation of formal learning for replication.

5 Concluding Remarks The health crisis caused by COVID-19 has once again revealed the intense relationship between city and illness. Throughout history, urban actions have been developed to achieve healthy cities. The principal conclusion of this study is that the sustainable urban mobility strategies and plans those cities had previously implemented before the outbreak of the health crisis formed the basis for implementing smoothly and, therefore, more resiliently, the tactical urbanism actions necessary during the health crisis. This is because the objectives of the sustainable city and healthy city coincide to a large degree and precisely why these cities were singled out by the generalist media on a global level as examples good practices. In summary, the following conclusions can be drawn: • The urban laboratories and tactical urbanism actions were valid tools to implement in this context of the first months of the health crisis. • Tactical urbanism tools were used in order to implement some of the practices or types of this urban technique: the selective closure of a road to motor traffic, the re-ordering of the directions of pedestrian traffic, the creation of provisional cycle corridors, etc.

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• All of the good practices on an international level selected as case studies had a common denominator: the prior existence of a public sustainable urban mobility policy. • Each of the cities selected, with different characteristics in terms of climate, topography, urban density or pre-existing public transport, opted for differentiated materials and emerging practices typical of tactical urbanism in order to respond to the specific needs of their urban characteristics. • Tactical urbanism shaping an urban laboratory was an appropriate tool, irrespective of the characteristics of the cities in which the measures were implemented. Finally, we can indicate two possible lines of research to develop based on this study and the SDGs. On the one hand, in relation to Goal 11 “Sustainable cities and communities”, an analysis of whether the practices studied here have been able to catalyse a post-pandemic urban transformation in terms of mobility as predicted by the afore-mentioned general media. On the other hand, in relation to Goal 3 “Health and well-being”, a study of whether these measures were efficient from a public health point of view in order to control or mitigate the expansion of the virus in comparison with cities with similar characteristics that did not adopt these kinds of measures. Acknowledgements This study originates in the Specialist University Course in Smart Urban Mobility, organised by the Chair Vectalia of Mobility and the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Alicante.

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9. AbouKorin SAA, Han H, Mahran MGN (2021) Role of urban planning characteristics in forming pandemic resilient cities—case study of Covid-19 impacts on European cities within England, Germany and Italy. Cities 118:103324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103324 10. Medina MA (15 June 2020) The wave of sustainable mobility wants to keep going after the coronavirus. El País. https://elpais.com/sociedad/2020-06-13/la-ola-de-la-movilidad-sos tenible-quiere-mantenerse-tras-el-coronavirus.html 11. RFI.fr (1 July 2020) Paris’s temporary bike lanes to become permanent after Hidalgo’s re-election. https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20200701-paris-temporary-bike-lanes-to-become-per manent-after-hidalgo-re-election-mayor-green-pollution-cars 12. The Guardian (26 March 2020) Cities after coronavirus: how Covid-19 could radically alter urban life. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/life-after-coronavirus-pandemicchange-world 13. Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (2020) Shifting streets COVID-19 mobility dataset. https://www.pedbikeinfo.org/resources/resources_details.cfm?id=5235 14. COVID Movility Works (2020) Find mobility responses to COVID-19. https://www.covidm obilityworks.org/ 15. Spanish Institute of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce [ICEX] (n.d.) Network of Spanish economic and commercial offices abroad. Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. https://www.icex.es/icex/es/navegacion-principal/todos-nuestros-servic ios/informacion-de-mercados/paises/mapa/index.html 16. United States Census Bureau (n.d.) QuickFacts Oakland city, California. https://www.census. gov/quickfacts/oaklandcitycalifornia 17. Bogotá (n.d.) General information on Bogota. https://bogota.gov.co/informacion-general-debogota 18. Yassin HH (2019) Livable city: an approach to pedestrianization through tactical urbanism. Alex Eng J 58(1):251–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.02.005 19. Lydon M, Garcia A (2015) A tactical urbanism how-to. In: Tactical urbanism. Island Press, Washington, DC, pp 171–208 20. Lydon M (2016) Tactical urbanist’s guide to materials and design. http://tacticalurbanismgu ide.com/ 21. National Association of City Transportation Officials Nacto (2020) Streets for pandemic response and recovery. National Association of City Transportation Officials. https://nacto. org/streetsfor-pandemic-response-recovery/ 22. Steen K, Van Bueren E (2017) The defining characteristics of urban living labs. Technol Innovation Manage Rev 7(7): 21–33. https://doi.org/timreview.ca/article/1088 23. InfraVelo GRÜNBERLIN (n.d.a) Temporary bike lanes: more space for cyclists in the Corona crisis. https://www.infravelo.de/temporaere-radfahrstreifen/ 24. Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz (2020) Regular plans for the temporary establishment and expansion of cycling facilities. Berlín: Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection. https://www.berlin.de/sen/uvk/verkehr/verkehrsp lanung/radverkehr/weitere-radinfrastruktur/temporaere-radfahrstreifen/ 25. InfraVelo GRÜNBERLIN (n.d.b) [Map]. https://www.infravelo.de/karte/ 26. Pinzuti P, Gandolfi P (2020) Post Covid urban mobility action plan. RME emergency mobility network 27. Comune di Milano (2020) Milan 2020. Adaptation strategy. Open document to the city’s contribution. Milán: Comune di Milano. www.comune.milano.it/documents/20126/95930101/ Milano+2020.++Strategia+di+adattamento.pdf/c96c1297-f8ad-5482-859c-90de1d2b76cb?t= 1587723749501 28. Partecipazione (2020) Milano 2020. Adaptation strategy. https://partecipazione.regione.emi lia-romagna.it/news/normali/news-2020/milano-2020-strategia-di-adattamento 29. City of Oakland (n.d.) Oakland slow streets. https://www.oaklandca.gov/projects/oaklandslow-streets 30. ARCGIS (2020, August 7) OakDOT slow streets program. https://www.arcgis.com/home/ webmap/viewer.html?webmap=b2f8989fdb514d2fb511067a11ad65f0,extent=-122.2896,37. 8028,-122.2366,37.83

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Looking with Machine Eyes: City Monitoring for Urban Resilience Giulia Ceccarelli, Dante Presicce, and Diego Deponte

Abstract The global spread of the Covid-19 pandemic led to significant disruptions in cities, posing new attention to the shape, accessibility, and vitality of dense urban environments. The need for accurate data has been becoming of decisive importance to investigate the unprecedented effects of the pandemic on urban mobility (Geospatial Commission in Unlocking the power of location. The UK’s Geospatial Strategy, [1]) and to assess the effectiveness of immediate and longer-term actions that cities have implemented to respond to the crisis (European Platform on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans in COVID-19 SUMP practitioner briefing, [2]). Parallelly, technologies and open data availability are leading new possibilities to develop an understanding of the urban fabric and its use (Foth et al. in Proceedings of the ACM 2011 conference on computer supported cooperative work, pp. 1–8, [3]). This research focuses on the analysis of image data processed with deep-learning analytics, proposing lightweight practices for city monitoring and assessing neighbourhoods’ vitality and resilience. The study area gravitates around Corso Buenos Aires, Milan, one of the longest retail streets in Europe. An extensive dataset of 14,956 images was constructed, representing 12 daily timeslots (6–22) between January 2019 and May 2021. These were then analysed on the fly using Yolov5 (You Only Look Once) (Jocher et al. in ultralytics/yolov5: v5.0—YOLOv5-P6 1280 models, AWS, Supervise.ly and YouTube integrations (v5.0). Zenodo, [4]) as an object detection algorithm, together with an open-source model, trained on CCTV cameras in Montreal. The images dataset was divided into five subsets, considering the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. Then, hourly trends for workdays and weekends and for different day types were studied and compared among different restriction phases, to understand pedestrian walking patterns and their relationship with land use. The goal was to assess how different pandemic periods affected Corso Buenos Aires and to determine whether utilization differences could be recognized by pedestrian counting. Results outline how these analyses lead to significant outcomes on aggregated temporal periods, unveiling utilization patterns and posing questions on the influence of land use on neighbourhoods’ resilience. G. Ceccarelli (B) · D. Presicce · D. Deponte Fondazione Transform Transport ETS, Via Lovanio 8, 20121 Milan, Italy e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_4

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Keywords Video-analytics · Deep learning · Resilience · Covid-19 · Land use

1 Introduction Urban resilience is defined as the ability of a city to absorb, adapt, and react to disruptions [5]. Within a rapidly changing society, the need to assess resilience is ever-growing to enable fast responses to disruptions. In this context, the development of new technologies is shaping the growth of cities in many ways. Among these, the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), the high-resolution Global Positioning System (GPS) and big data are expected to transform cities’ core functioning elements, affecting all aspects of our lives [1, 6]. When technology is combined with the growing availability of open data, new possibilities emerge to develop a novel understanding of the urban fabric and its use. Deep learning algorithms are a subset of machine learning ones, that process and combine their input in ever-growing abstractions to obtain meaningful outputs. Deep learning algorithms are of particular interest in the field of computer vision, enabling the manipulation of large datasets in an automatic way. In the past years, the rising availability of deep learning techniques led to new frontiers in the automatic understanding of images and estimating the number of objects within an image. Deep learning methods obtained state-of-the-art results for image classification, and object detection [7]. Furthermore, in the past years, the availability of pre-trained weights for deep learning algorithms has grown. This research focuses on the integration of deep learning methodologies in computer vision to assess the vitality and resilience of Corso Buenos Aires throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The Chapter is structured as follows, Sect. 2 presents background knowledge and research linked to the use of urban informatics to assess the use of public spaces; Sect. 3 outlines methodological processes implemented to analyse pedestrian patterns in Corso Buenos Aires. These include datasets and tools, pre-processing methods and analyses related to the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on the study area. Section 4 outlines reflections on results, investigating the role and the usability of deep learning methods to assess vitality; last, Sect. 5 describes conclusions and future directions in this field.

2 Background Knowledge Urban Informatics [3] provides innovative assessment tools and metrics to support the effective planning of mobility services, within an evidenced-based and multidisciplinary approach. Thanks to the recent development of advanced ICT solutions, sensor-based methodologies are becoming widely used for monitoring urban environments at different scales, ranging from whole cities to individual activities. Urban

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Sensing is defined as the collection of technologies from space, air, ground, underground and on individuals, including Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), Global Positioning System (GPS), Wi-Fi, and camera sensors among others [8]. Camera sensor data can portray urban environments at multiple granularities through satellite, drone, or CCTV sensors. Furthermore, camera data can be retrieved for multiple purposes, such as social media geo-tagged images or CCTV security videos. Reference [9] provide a comprehensive overview of how airborne and groundbased camera solutions can be coupled with computer vision analyses to study urban environments for multiple tasks. Reference [10] focus on the joint use of street view imagery and GIS to assess features such as transport safety, urban morphology, urban perception, and walkability. Data retrieved through camera sensors can be then analysed by means of computer vision methodologies. At the urban level, these can be used for tasks as classification, semantic segmentation, object detection and tracking [9]. Reference [7] describe state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms for object detection, while [11] focus on tracking methodologies and results. Related works to this research include image-based methodologies for the evaluation of the usage of public space, vitality, and resilience. Reference [12] describes a DIY multi-sensor to evaluate public spaces. The sensor was placed in movable benches, and it was composed by a camera, a GPS tracker, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and a cellphone and Wi-Fi systems to transmit data. The authors argue that image-based analyses better describe usage patterns when compared to others. The use of public space is also investigated by ref. [13]. The authors calculate a measure of vitality, including the amount of detected people and duration of stay, through the analysis of trajectories’ diversity and complexity. Reference [14] propose a methodology for assessing street vitality based on the quantification of pedestrians’ volumes and activities in Street View Images (SVI), and the development of a regression model to estimate the influence of urban factors on vitality. Furthermore, related works include the application of image analytics techniques to the understanding of the Covid-19 pandemics. Reference [15] structure a collection of studies that relate smart cities solutions to resilience and the Covid-19 pandemics under four categories, namely, planning and preparation, absorption, recovery, and adaptation. Among these, reference [16] describe a deep learning-based solution to monitor social distancing through object detection and georeferencing techniques, proposing a large-scale implementation through the CCTV infrastructure. With a similar goal, [17] implement DeepSOCIAL, a deep-learning model to detect and track pedestrians under social distancing conditions. Then, the authors test the model to identify high-risk zones and long-term patterns in people’s movements.

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3 Methodology This chapter describes the methodological process implemented to gather, process, and analyse images of Corso Buenos Aires, Milan, together with the dataset definition and tools needed.

3.1 Dataset and Tools An extensive dataset of 14,956 images was constructed, representing 12 daily timeslots (6–22) between January 2019 and May 2021, to depict patterns in the use of Corso Buenos Aires (Fig. 1). These were then analysed on the fly using Yolov5 (You Only Look Once) [4] as an object detection algorithm. The goal was to recognize pedestrians and locate them in an image.

Fig. 1 CCTV image of Corso Buenos Aires, analysed with YOLOv5. Copyright 2023 by MilanoCam, Hotel Galles, IMB—Istituto Moda Burgo, IQ2RD, Meteomilano. Reprinted with permission

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YOLOv5 represents an evolution of the YOLO architecture, which enables faster and more accurate class predictions. This architecture relies on CSPDarknet53 as the backbone and PAN as an aggregator level. Furthermore, it uses image augmentation methods in training to improve the accuracy of the results [18]. An open-source model was used to detect objects in the images, which was trained on CCTV cameras in Montreal. The dataset represents vehicles, pedestrians, constructions, cyclists, and bus instances, obtaining a mean Average Precision (mAP) equal to 0.809 in pedestrians’ recognition on the original training set [19].

3.2 Analyses The study develops from previous research [20] and it focuses on the analysis of pedestrian patterns in Corso Buenos Aires with increasing temporal granularity (i.e., months, day types, hours). First preliminary analyses and performance assessment of YOLOv5 trained on the Montreal dataset were performed, then baseline patterns in the use of Corso Buenos Aires were studied, with an in-depth analysis of pedestrian volumes in 2019; last, disruptions and changes due to the Covid-19 pandemics were quantified with respect to the baseline period.

3.2.1

Preliminary Analyses

To quantify limitations and the model’s fitness for use, two performance evaluation metrics were calculated. The first one aimed at quantifying the deviations of the model’s performance for different weather and lighting conditions, identifying systematic inaccuracies in the detections. Here, a manual validation methodology was implemented on 10% of all images, comparing the amount of automatically detected pedestrians with those counted manually. Results demonstrate how darkness and rain worsen overall accuracy, leading to a mean absolute difference with manual counts above 10%. Instead, shadow and sun conditions affect results slightly, leading to a mean absolute difference equal to 7.7%. The second metric aimed at defining the reliability of the dataset through a sensitivity analysis of data robustness and outliers. Data for the year 2019 was analysed to ensure consistency in the analysis. First, a mean hourly number of detected pedestrians was computed for each daily timeslot (6-22) in 2019. These should be used as baseline values for comparisons. Then, hourly detections were grouped in random clusters. For each, the mean hourly value was computed to assess its deviation from the mean 2019 hourly value. Graph 1 shows how splitting 2019 data into 5 random groups leads to a deviation from the mean lower than 5% for all moments of the day, with an exception for 7 and 8. This may be due to differences in footfall patterns during the weekday and weekends. Instead, splitting data into 10 random groups leads to a higher deviation from the mean, above the 5% threshold at multiple moments throughout the day.

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Deviation [%]

15% 10% 5% 0% 6

7

8

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10

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21

22

Hour 5 Groups

10 Groups

Graph 1 Deviation from mean hourly pedestrian volume in Corso Buenos Aires, 2019

3.2.2

Baseline Analysis—2019

Mean pedestrian volunme

Following preliminary exploratory analyses, compound pedestrian patterns were quantified, for the year 2019. Graph 2 presents aggregated hourly profiles for workdays and weekends. In general, higher volumes were registered during the weekends between 11 and 22, with peaks at 12 and 19. Workdays showed a morning peak, corresponding to arrival times to offices. Graph 3 presents overall trends in registered pedestrian footfall in 2019, showing average monthly hourly profiles for workdays and weekends. Overall, these present expected patterns, with peaks in correspondence to morning and evening hours. The month of August shows lower volumes in general. Anomalies in weekend volumes occur in June and September, when extraordinary events, which led to the closing of the street to vehicles, (i.e., Fashion week, Giro d’Italia, etc.) took place in Corso Buenos Aires. These anomalies mainly affect monthly volumes, not modifying hourly profiles’ patterns. Last, Table 1 summarizes monthly deviations from hourly mean pedestrian volumes calculated over 2019. Mean yearly volumes are listed in the second column, followed by their monthly variations. Overall, January, August and December

Mean pedestrian volumes 2019 150 100 50 0 6

7

8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Hour Weekend

Workday

Graph 2 Mean pedestrian volumes registered in Corso Buenos Aires, 2019

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Mean pedestrian volume

Monthly mean pedestrian volumes 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

2019 Weekend

Workday

Graph 3 Monthly mean pedestrian volumes registered in Corso Buenos Aires, 2019

present the greatest negative deviations, while March, June and September show the greatest positive ones. Specific monthly patterns are also outlined. Pedestrian volumes increase in summer months’ evenings (e.g., June, July, September), while decreasing in January, November, and December. Volumes grow in mid-day hours (15–16) mainly in March, April, and May. Last, a strong negative variation in pedestrian volumes is shown at 8 o’clock in August, followed by the negative variations detected in July, December, and June.

3.2.3

Covid-19 Phases Analysis

The second phase of the study investigated specific patterns in the use of Corso Buenos Aires throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The dataset was divided into five subsets, considering Covid-19 related restrictions. These can be classified as “Necessity” restrictions, namely, movements were limited to necessity reasons, such as work and grocery shopping, and “Soft” restrictions, namely, leisure movements were allowed, such as shopping. Table 2 details the sequence of restriction phases, which started in the first week of May 2020. These were analysed until the last week of May 2021. Within this period, eight main restriction phases were implemented. These presented different durations, ranging from 10 days of ad-hoc soft restrictions enforced before Christmas, to 144 days of soft restrictions in the summer of 2021. Restriction phases were thus analysed, with the aim to determine whether differences in Corso Buenos Aires’ use could be recognized by means of pedestrian counting. Graph 4 outlines daily pedestrian volumes for the study period, underlying disaggregated temporal trends and the duration of each restriction phase. Outliers can be seen in the pre-Covid phase in September, these were analysed as preliminary analyses. Furthermore, recurrent patterns emerge for similar time periods, despite Covid-19 restrictions. One example of this phenomenon is represented by the lowered

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Hour

Jan

-7% -7% -5% -13% -10% -7% -10% -9% -4% -33% -13% 2% -8% -7% -8% -24% -38%

Mean pedestrian volumes

5.3 7.38 27.14 35.64 52.09 71.08 76.53 71.47 70.93 63.44 70.03 81.14 91.88 92.93 73.68 42.06 35.8

-18% -11% 10% 7% -5% -10% -5% -1% -8% -16% -5% -10% -2% -3% -4% -3% 7%

Feb

11% -6% 18% 11% 2% 7% 7% 5% 2% 10% 17% 6% 10% 9% -1% 4% -3%

Mar

13% -4% 16% -2% -6% -3% 5% 2% 3% 18% 16% 14% 9% 3% 3% 0% 1%

Apr

-4% 2% 28% 3% 3% -2% -1% 1% 9% 20% 16% 7% -1% 4% 1% -5% -5%

May

July

Aug

-2% -9% 1% 15% 14% -16% -15% -26% -51% 7% 0% -31% 6% 8% -15% 3% 2% -15% 0% 7% -17% 5% 6% -21% 5% 6% -18% 2% 0% -10% -1% 0% -15% 7% -2% -22% 6% 4% -12% 15% 8% -14% 18% 19% -8% 29% 13% -9% 38% 15% 0%

June

Table 1 Mean pedestrian volumes and monthly variations in Corso Buenos Aires, 2019 Sept

19% 27% 8% 12% 16% 21% 18% 14% 13% 15% 9% 6% 5% 8% 3% 11% 21%

Oct

14% 11% 18% 10% 0% 0% -1% 0% -5% 6% -2% -7% -7% -3% -6% 2% 6%

Nov

-6% -2% 22% 4% 0% -8% -4% -4% -6% 9% 7% 2% -5% -12% -9% -7% -17%

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-11% -22% -20% -6% 3% 11% 2% 2% 2% -21% -29% -3% 3% -6% -7% -10% -23%

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Table 2 Covid-19 restriction phases, Italy COVID-19

First wave

Second wave

Third wave

Beginning 09/03/2020 04/05/2020 15/06/2020 06/11/2020 13/12/2020 23/12/2020 01/02/2021 01/03/2021 26/04/2021

End 08/03/2020 03/05/2020 14/06/2020 05/11/2020 12/12/2020 22/12/2020 31/01/2021 28/02/2021 25/04/2021 31/05/2021

Duration 56 days 42 days 144 days 37 days 10 days 40 days 28 days 56 days 36 days

Restriction Pre-Covid Lockdown Necessity Soft Necessity Soft Necessity Soft Necessity Soft

Daily pedestrian volume

Moving Average - pedestrians 2019 - 2021 2000 1500 1000 500 0

Day

Graph 4 Overview of Covid-19 restriction phases and overall footfall trends

pedestrian volumes for the month of August 2019 and 2020. In general, after the lockdown phase, pedestrian volumes never reached pre-Covid levels, however, this level of disaggregation does not allow for further recognition of repeated movements’ patterns. Thus, an aggregation process was performed, with the aim to obtain a description of mean patterns for pedestrian volumes for day-types (e.g., Sundays (1), Saturdays (7)) in each phase of the study period. These are synthesized in Graph 5. Factors that influence the accuracy of results might be the different duration of each restriction phase, which determines the robustness of averaged values, and the seasonal effects of phases, which evolve from summer months to winter. Overall, necessity phases present lower volumes than the soft ones, with similar trends shown with respect to day-types’ volumes. Furthermore, Saturdays emerge for the highest pedestrian volumes, mainly due to the shopping nature of Corso Buenos Aires. Table 3 quantifies day-type patterns presented in Graph 5, showing overall variations in daily volumes throughout the pandemics. In general, this analysis underlines a great difference in pedestrian footfall during the pre-Covid period, the lockdown (−90%), necessity phases (−40%) and soft phases (−21%). Furthermore, it shows paradigm changes in the daily presence of pedestrians in Corso Buenos Aires. These can be read horizontally, as daily changes within one restriction phase, or vertically, as differences throughout phases. Overall, the lockdown period presented a uniform decrease in registered footfall, while necessity and soft phases showed

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Mean pedestrian volume

Pedestrian volume trends by day type – Covid-19 phases 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1234567123456712345671234567123456712345671234567123456712345671234567 P

L

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4S

Graph 5 Mean pedestrian volumes by day type in Corso Buenos Aires, 2019

Table 3 Mean pedestrian volumes, Covid-19 variations by day type in Corso Buenos Aires, 2019

Covid-19 phases Pre-Covid L 1N 2N 3N 4N 1S 2S 3S 4S

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thur

Fri

Sat

54.78 -94% -39% -40% -32% -35% -23% -31% -23% -9%

51.51 -87% -45% -35% -36% -44% -25% -8% -17% -35%

54.32 -88% -46% -47% -38% -36% -24% -4% -19% -35%

53.7 -88% -46% -51% -34% -37% -20% -5% -30% -27%

54.53 -90% -49% -37% -37% -37% -25% -4% -19% -33%

56.71 -90% -41% -51% -49% -34% -30% -14% -18% -32%

62.45 -93% -37% -44% -35% -31% -23% -10% -14% -26%

Overall deviation -90% -43% -43% -37% -36% -24% -13% -20% -28%

scattered patterns. Low negative deviations emerge in the second soft phase (2S) from Monday to Thursday. This phase corresponds to pre-Christmas festivities in 2021. Then, hourly trends for workdays and weekends and for different day types were studied and compared among different restriction macro-phases (Pre-Covid 19, Lockdown, Necessity, Soft). Chart 1 outlines detected pedestrian volume trends by hour. The Pre-Covid 19 phase shows the most robust patterns, thanks to a longer observation period. Weekends present the highest volumes, while morning hours the lowest ones. Low volumes were registered at lunch time and in the evening during the necessity phases, while high volumes can be seen at weekends during soft phases. Furthermore, the effects of the curfew implementation in the city at 22 can be seen in the necessity phases. Table 4 quantifies patterns shown in Chart 1, as a variation from mean hourly volumes registered in the pre-pandemic phase. The lockdown phase is characterized by a strong, homogeneous decrease throughout the day, with exceptions in the early morning. These are related to a lower average footfall in Corso Buenos Aires between 6 and 7. Necessity phases are distinguished by medium to light negative

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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Pedestrian hourly patterns

Hour

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

1 102

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Lockdown

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Soft

Chart 1 Mean pedestrian volumes by hour in Corso Buenos Aires, 2019

deviations throughout the day (10–18), while morning and evening hours are highly affected by restrictions. Morning deviations are linked to remote work patterns, instead, evening deviations are influenced by the implementation of the curfew at 22. This rule determined a strong decrease in registered volumes up to three hours before its enforcement. Soft phases present diversified patterns. Higher freedom in movements’ purposes leads to diverse uses of Corso Buenos Aires, further influenced by seasonal effects. The first soft phase is identified by low negative deviations throughout the day. The second soft phase was implemented before Christmas, it is characterized by increased variations with respect to baseline values in the afternoon and strong negative variations in the evening due to curfew effects. Table 4 Mean pedestrian volumes and Covid-19 variations by hour in Corso Buenos Aires, 2019 Covid-19 phases P L 1N 2N 3N 4N 1S 2S 3S 4S

6

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8

9

10

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12

13

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18

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21

22

5.3 -57% -49% -63% -63% -52% -11% -41% -50% -33%

7.38 -72% -38% -50% -56% -15% -6% -46% -36% -33%

27.1 -88% -68% -58% -57% -53% -41% -49% -46% -56%

35.6 -87% -55% -43% -45% -39% -27% -26% -27% -40%

52.1 -88% -40% -37% -31% -33% -21% -1% -13% -27%

71.1 -87% -37% -29% -25% -35% -19% 5% -15% -29%

76.5 -89% -42% -31% -22% -35% -20% 0% -16% -26%

71.5 -91% -52% -38% -28% -37% -27% -10% -18% -30%

70.9 -91% -54% -45% -33% -38% -31% -7% -13% -32%

63.4 -90% -37% -38% -35% -28% -20% 14% -1% -16%

70 -90% -28% -25% -24% -20% -15% 11% -1% -8%

81.1 -91% -27% -24% -20% -22% -25% -1% -10% -14%

91.9 -90% -34% -37% -25% -24% -26% -15% -9% -27%

92.9 -92% -42% -53% -39% -28% -26% -11% -9% -32%

73.7 -94% -58% -72% -65% -55% -32% -35% -42% -40%

42.1 -91% -57% -80% -78% -66% -26% -61% -60% -41%

35.8 -92% -52% -87% -85% -79% -15% -81% -76% -39%

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4 Discussion and Implications This chapter aims at summarizing reflections on analyses and results obtained, with a focus on the reaction of Corso Buenos Aires to the Covid-19 pandemic. In general, disruptions introduced by the pandemic affected greatly the overall patterns of the study area, a street with a strong commercial vocation. However, the turmoil and the measures enforced to reduce the spread of the pandemic did not flatten out seasonal or weekly practices, with diverse patterns emerging in each restriction phase. Results presented in this research pose a fundamental question on how much time do cities, neighbourhoods or streets need to absorb stress. Long-term implications related to the pandemics led to light strong negative variations in pedestrian volumes throughout restriction phases in Corso Buenos Aires. From the beginning of May 2020 to May 2021, positive variations to baseline footfall were registered only at specific hours, during the ad-hoc soft period implemented before Christmas 2021. To further develop an understanding of this matter, Tables 5 and 6 and Graph 6 present a vertical comparison of the months of April and May from 2019 to 2022. These are selected as they were consistently under different restriction measurements in each year of the analysis. Table 5 Mean pedestrian volumes and Covid-19 variations by hour, April 2019–2022 April

6

2019

6.4 -59% -66% -24%

2020 2021 2022

7

8

9

10

7.68 31 35.6 48.8 -81% -93% -90% -89% -27% -65% -51% -38% -44% -39% -36% -25%

11

12

13

14

15

16

68.1 -89% -40% -28%

79.4 -92% -41% -28%

70.3 -93% -42% -28%

73.4 -93% -46% -27%

75.8 -94% -46% -28%

80.4 -94% -36% -26%

17

18

19

20

89.5 98 95.2 74.5 -95% -94% -96% -96% -32% -36% -40% -59% -30% -29% -30% -26%

21

22

41.9 -92% -69% -35%

34.6 -92% -80% -15%

21

22

Table 6 Mean pedestrian volumes and Covid-19 variations by hour, May 2019–2022 May

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

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2019

4.86 -58% -34% -22%

7.29 -46% -32% -23%

34.6 -77% -65% -40%

36.8 -58% -41% -17%

53.5 -45% -30% -27%

69.6 -42% -28% -21%

75.6 -45% -24% -24%

71.6 -59% -31% -24%

2020 2021 2022

14

15

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78.9 76 80.8 85.8 -64% -56% -44% -38% -40% -28% -22% -19% -28% -23% -27% -22%

18

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88.8 -40% -23% -18%

96.3 -50% -32% -27%

20

74.5 39 33.5 -65% -59% -55% -39% -33% -32% -23% -8% -4%

Mean pedestrian volume

Monthly variations - april, may 2019-2022 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

2019 2020 2021 2022 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 April

May

Graph 6 Mean pedestrian volumes registered in Corso Buenos Aires, 2019–2022

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Two main results emerge from this analysis. First, while pedestrian volumes continue growing in Corso Buenos Aires, neither of the two case studies presented positive variations with respect to the baseline in 2022. For both months, the lowest negative deviations were registered in the evenings, as opposed to the highest ones, which were detected in the morning. Second, 2022 hourly profiles are increasingly similar to the ones registered in 2019 for both months, as shown in Graph 6. Here, morning and lunchtime peaks emerge again, underlying the ever-growing shift to work-related patterns, as the arrival to workplaces and lunchtime shopping in their proximity. Insights presented in this study underline the need to monitor our cities, with the goal to integrate short- and long-term patterns related to everyday use and disruption scenarios into planning practices.

5 Concluding Remarks and Future Work This research tests a deep learning methodology for monitoring streets and gives instruments to recognize patterns in their use at different temporal granularities. This approach proves to be efficient and lightweight, enabling practitioners to get an understanding of how Covid-19 related restrictions affected the use of the street with respect to the baseline year 2019. The level of accuracy and the details inferred demonstrate the ability to detect practices in street use throughout the pandemics while guaranteeing the privacy of individuals [21]. Furthermore, the use of an extensive dataset led to statistically significant results on aggregated temporal periods, overcoming the uncertainties of a single image. Thus, the study gives valuable insights on how Corso Buenos Aires reacted to Covid-19 pandemic disruptions in the long-term period (2019–2022). Limitations of this study include the low controllability of deep learning based results on each image, as they are affected by diverse weather, lighting, and crowding conditions. Additionally, the lack of an ad hoc trained model poses limits to the quantification of errors and of critical areas in images. However, the use of a large dataset statistically reduces the influence of outliers in results. Improved results could be obtained through data augmentation, limiting the effects of meteorological factors on image quality, and by fine-tuning the open-source models. Future works include the growing integration of modelling outputs with real data, the replication and forecast of complex pedestrian patterns at both urban district and city levels and integrating multiple datasets. An example is represented by the usage of this information and other data from different sources (wi-fi hot spots, mobile and telco data, etc.) to implement innovative predictive models able to replicate and forecast complex pedestrian flow patterns at both urban district and city levels, as implemented in the city of Melbourne [22] and in the city of Liverpool, Australia [23].

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Acknowledgements We thank Systematica and Transform Transport for their fruitful collaboration. The analysed data were treated according to the GDPR-General Data Protection Regulation (EU, 2016/679). This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

References 1. Geospatial Commission (2020) Unlocking the power of location. The UK’s Geospatial Strategy, 2020 to 2025. Cabinet Office. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/public ations/unlocking-the-power-of-locationthe-uks-geospatial-strategy/unlocking-the-power-oflocation-the-uks-geospatial-strategy-2020-to-2025 2. European Platform on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (2020) COVID-19 SUMP practitioner briefing. CIVITAS SATELLITE CSA. Available at: https://www.eltis.org/sites/default/files/ covid-19_sumppractitionersbriefing_final.pdf 3. Foth M, Choi JH, Satchell C (2011) Urban informatics. In: Proceedings of the ACM 2011 conference on Computer supported cooperative work, pp 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1145/1958824. 1958826 4. Jocher G, Chaurasia A, Stoken A et al (2021) Ultralytics/yolov5: v5.0—YOLOv5-P6 1280 models, AWS, Supervise.ly and YouTube integrations (v5.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ zenodo.4679653 5. UN-Habitat (2018) City resilience profiling tool. UN-Habitat. Available at: https://unhabitat. org/guide-to-the-city-resilience-profiling-tool 6. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Baranzelli C, Vandecasteele I, Aurambout J (2019) The future of cities: opportunities, challanges and the way forward. In: Baranzelli C, Vandecasteele I, Aurambout J, Siragusa A (eds) Publications Office. https://data.europa.eu/ doi/10.2760/375209 7. Zhao Z, Zheng P, Xu S, Wu X (2019) Object detection with deep learning: a review. IEEE Trans Neural Networks Learn Syst 30:3212–3232. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1807.05511 8. Shi W (2021) Introduction to urban sensing. In: Shi W, Goodchild MF, Batty M, Kwan MP, Zhang A (eds) Urban informatics. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-981-15-8983-6_19 9. Ibrahim MR, Haworth J, Cheng T (2020) Understanding cities with machine eyes: a review of deep computer vision in urban analytics. Cities 96:102481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities. 2019.102481 10. Biljecki F, Ito K (2021) Street view imagery in urban analytics and GIS: a review. Landsc Urban Plan 215:104217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104217 11. Ciaparrone G, Sánchez FL, Tabik S, Troiano L, Tagliaferri R, Herrera F (2020) Deep learning in video multi-object tracking: a survey. Neurocomputing 381:61–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.neucom.2019.11.023 12. Williams S, Ahn C, Gunc H, Ozgirin E, Pearce M, Xiong Z (2019) Evaluating sensors for the measurement of public life: a future in image processing. Environ Plann B: Urban Analytics City Sc 46(8):1534–1548. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399808319852636 13. Niu T, Qing L, Han L, Long Y, Hou J, Li L, Tang W, Teng Q (2022) Small public space vitality analysis and evaluation based on human trajectory modeling using video data. Build Environ 225:109563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109563 14. Li Y, Yabuki N, Fukuda T (2022) Exploring the association between street built environment and street vitality using deep learning methods. Sustain Cities Soc 79(103656):103656. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103656 15. Sharifi A, Khavarian-Garmsir AR, Kummitha RKR (2021) Contributions of smart city solutions and technologies to resilience against the COVID-19 pandemic: a literature review. Sustainability 13(14). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13148018

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Tackling the Pandemic at the Metropolitan Level. Looking for the Right Scale to Plan More Resilient Territorial Development Futures Giancarlo Cotella, Erblin Berisha, and Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone

Abstract The peculiar spatial features of metropolitan areas—sprawled urbanisation, integrated economic and transport systems, large commuting dynamics, etc.— have contributed to accelerate and maximise the diffusion of COVID-19. The impact of the pandemic spread outside the core municipalities following fluid functional patterns, in turn calling for actions that do not respond to traditional administrative units but should be tailored to softer functional geographies. Drawing on the results of the ESPON METRO research project and other studies, this chapter argues that wide-area metropolitan governance arrangements are well positioned to mitigate the impact of pandemic events and, more importantly, to plan resilient territorial development futures in their aftermath. In this light, the authors discuss to what extent the pandemic has opened a window of opportunity for this to happen. The results of the analysis show that the scope and magnitude of metropolitan activity triggered by the pandemic in its early phase have been rather limited and mostly of a reactive nature. At the same time, there is evidence of a growing metropolitan engagement, especially in the framework of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility initiative. A situation that, in the long run, may contribute to enhance the resilience of the European regions and their social, economic and territorial cohesion. Keywords COVID-19 pandemic · Multilevel governance · Metropolitan areas · Functional urban areas · Resilience · Recovery and resilience facility

1 Introduction In Europe, COVID-19 hit particularly strong in those metropolitan areas that have through time consolidated as the main drivers of development [1, 2]. Their peculiar spatial features (sprawled urbanisation, integrated economic and transport systems, G. Cotella (B) · E. Berisha · E. Vitale Brovarone Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST), Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_5

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large commuting dynamics, etc.) allowed the pandemic impact to spread outside the administrative borders of the core municipalities following fluid functional patterns, hence requiring the implementation of policies and actions that do not respond to traditional administrative boundaries but should be tailored on softer functional geographies [3]. Acknowledging the above, in this chapter, we argue that wide-area metropolitan governance arrangements are better positioned than traditional governance structures to plan more resilient built environments in the aftermath of the pandemic, and we explore whether the latter has opened a window of opportunity in this direction. More in detail, we draw on the results of the ESPON METRO project [4] and on the information included in a number of reports produced during the pandemic and analysing the responses put in place to tackle the latter from a multi-level perspective, to discuss the extent to which wide-area, future-oriented policies and actions have been put in place in selected metropolitan areas in Europe. After this introduction, the contribution reflects on the challenges that have accompanied the establishment of successful metropolitan governance in Europe. Section three then introduces the multi-scalar impact of the pandemic, reflecting on how the latter has been particularly strong in those territories characterised by a higher degree of metropolitan functional integration. Section four constitutes the core of the chapter, discussing how metropolitan areas have reacted to the pandemic and whether the activation of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility has favoured the introduction of long-term development policies aimed at a more sustainable and resilient territorial development. The concluding section rounds off the contribution, summarising its main arguments and discussing the implications of the collected evidence.

2 The Rise of Metropolitan Governance. Challenges and Perspectives In the last 40 years, new territorial configurations have emerged in Europe and beyond, due to the consolidation of complex spatial relations between the core urban centres and their suburbs, gaining significance against the background of the growing urban archipelago of distinct economic and social spaces [5–7]. Whereas an overall agreement exists on the relevance of these metropolitan phenomena [4, 7–10], their conceptual delimitation and possible governance continue to inspire a large number of scientific contributions [11–14]. On the one hand, various methodologies to define and compare functional urban areas in a consistent way have been developed through time, conceptualising them as characterised by densely inhabited urban cores and less-populated municipalities whose labour market is highly integrated with the cores (among others, see: [15–17]). On the other hand, these efforts have inspired the action of national and local governments, supporting virtuous changes in how policies are planned and implemented.

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As a consequence of this process, since almost three decades, metropolitan areas in Europe have been both the scope of and the reason for institutional experimentation. Public authorities across the continent have progressively engaged in the development of strategic visions and plans that tackle metropolitan challenges (i.e. housing, mobility, urban planning, employment, economic development, culture etc.), as a way to guide the integration of different spatial developments and engage public and private actors at different scales, beyond the core city alone [10, 18]. Whereas these metropolitan activities often occur via informal inter-municipal cooperation, which varies through time and in relation to the issues at stake, several governance structures have been institutionalised from the bottom-up, aiming at strategic planning and policy coordination across local governments. At the same time, in some countries, formal administrative bodies have been established top-down and provided with the responsibility to manage and promote the development of metropolitan territories. Overall, various ‘forms’ and ‘models’ of metropolitan governance have been identified, that differ greatly in relation to their level of institutionalisation, the distribution of powers, competencies and resources, their internal structure and the actors involved [14, 19]. The exact nature of the cooperation is often unique, and different arrangements also depend on the different multi-level regional development governance and planning systems that characterise the European continent and their path-dependent evolutionary patterns [20–22]. Various authors, exploring more closely these institutional experimentations, highlight the interpretative and administrative difficulties that have characterised the rise of metropolitan governance, and in particular, the emergence of ‘soft spaces with fuzzy boundaries’ for planning and policy approaches that are more liquid and process-oriented [4, 7, 14, 23]. Metropolitan institutional structures and governance practices often remain geared towards core-centric urban models, putting outer areas in a ‘dependent position’. However, recent studies argue that fragmented metropolitan governance structures have lower levels of productivity then those featuring legally established metropolitan governance bodies [24]. This governance conundrum often prevents politicians from adequately tackling problems like spatial fragmentation, uneven development, differences in quality of life, social disparities etc. [25]. To tackle these issues, the key challenge seems to find the right problem ‘owner’ or ‘owners’, able to address the metropolitan dimension at the right scale and with adequate instruments in order to grasp the changing metropolitan landscape, challenges and dynamics [9]. That is to say that the functional, political and representational relations within a given metropolitan area need to be understood in their institutional context before taking action [7, 26]. This would contribute to overcoming fragmentation and inefficient actions caused by administrative boundaries and ensuring more coordinated action between territories and the planning of more resilient development futures. Nevertheless, the complexity of the challenges at stake and the inertia of traditional institutional structures have until now prevented it to happen to any reasonable extent [27].

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3 The Multi-Scalar Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Spreading over large distances via multi-scalar networks, the COVID-19 pandemic hit particularly hard in large metropolitan areas. A ‘topological diffusion’ has been observed, with reticular spreading in metropolitan networks, innerved by relations between mobile and immobile territorial components and social relations [1, 28]. The arguments in favour of the causal relation between density and the COVID-19 outbreak insist on the fact that, especially in the first phases of the pandemic, large, dense urban cores around the world have been disease hotspots where the higher absolute values were concentrated. However, as Carozzi et al. note in their accurate statistical analysis of the correlation between urban density and COVID-19, “cities get hit first, but do not get hit harder” [29, p. 21]. In fact, the outbreak occurred earlier in large dense areas, but looking at time-adjusted COVID-19 cases and deaths, its expansion in these areas was no faster than in smaller towns and rural areas located within metropolitan regions. The work of Cremaschi et al. [30], analysing the territorial diffusion of the virus in the area of Bergamo (Italy), where the outbreak hit particularly early and hard, strengthens this argument, pointing out that the effects of agglomeration can also be appreciated in terms of ‘topological density’ over a metropolitan area featuring different degrees of density. According to the authors, the various nodes that constitute a metropolitan area are organised in inter-local agglomerations, extending their influence to multiple scales, and urban density taken alone is not a sufficient indicator to justify the spread of the virus. In particular, they show how COVID-19 had particularly severe impacts in ‘metropolitan boroughs’, i.e. those intermediate territories between the centre and periphery that combine hypermodernity and ‘nonurban’ social structures. These findings are also in line with what Hamidi et al. [31] discovered through their analysis of the spread of the virus in 913 U.S. metropolitan counties. Using structural equation modelling to analyse direct and indirect impacts of density on the COVID-19 infection and mortality rates, they found the metropolitan population to be a significant predictor of infection rates, with higher values in larger metropolitan areas. In particular, large metropolitan areas with several counties tightly linked together through economic, social and commuting relationships resulted to be the most vulnerable. Moreover, the authors show that connectivity and preparedness mattered more than density in the spread and severity of COVID19, as also noted by Moosa and Khatatbeh [32]. For instance, lower virus-related mortality rates were found by Hamidi et al. [31] in metropolitan counties with higher densities than in counties with lower densities. And preparedness for epidemics and pandemics, as well as the timing and nature of action taken to prevent the spread of the virus, better explains the number of deaths than density [32]. This can be due to several factors, among which better healthcare systems, but also sociocultural and institutional differences that separate the ‘urban’ from the ‘rural’ [33]. The latter were also noted as key factors by the already mentioned work authored by Cremaschi et al. [30], highlighting the possibility of a correlation between the spread of the virus and

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the absence of appropriate and adequate institutions to manage multiscale and translocal relationships. In other words, as also emphasised by Biglieri et al. [34], it is not only that COVID-19 had particularly severe impacts in extended forms of urbanisation—as metropolitan areas are—but also that “where the virus is concentrated, you find the peripheral, in the city and in society” (id., p. S63). This has significant implications also in terms of reinforcing and deepening spatial disparities and calls for reflections not only on the policy response to the impact of the pandemic but also on the possibility of changing some of the principles and scales on which these policies are pivoted [35, 36]. When looking for evidence of metropolitan activity in response to the pandemic, a number of reports highlight the proliferation of ad hoc projects and short-term initiatives aimed at softening the impact of COVID-19. Cooperation between neighbouring municipalities enabled the implementation of special regulations for public transport systems and other mobility measures within urban agglomerations in several European metropolitan areas [37], and the enhancement of urban–rural relations facilitated the management of food supply [38] as well as continuity of basic service provision such as water, sanitation and waste management [39]. Where existing, metropolitan governance arrangements able to address the multifaceted and multiscale implications of functional relations across space and time have played an important role in the management of the pandemic emergency [40]. In this light, one could argue that the pandemic potentially opened a window of opportunity [41] for the development and consolidation of innovative, future-oriented metropolitan policies, altogether aiming at planning more resilient territorial development futures [35, 42–44]. In the remaining of the chapter, we discuss the extent to which this window of opportunity has been seized, and what the future appears to entail.

4 Metropolitan Governance Engaging with the COVID-19 Pandemic. From Reaction to Future-Oriented Action Arguments in favour of a growing role for metropolitan areas in territorial development have multiplied in the last two years, also as a consequence of the important role that effective metropolitan governance models and mechanisms could play in the aftermath of the pandemic [45–47]. In this light, it is worth reflecting on how metropolitan areas in Europe have reacted to the outbreak of COVID-19, and to what extent has the latter opened a window of opportunity for the development of metropolitan policies and actions aiming at planning more resilient territorial development futures. The empirical evidence upon which the analysis is based has been collected in the framework of the ESPON METRO project [4]. The engagement of metropolitan governance with the COVID-19 pandemic has been explored in relation to 8 metropolitan contexts in Europe (Barcelona, Brno, Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot, Florence, Lisbon, Lyon, Riga and Turin), following a so-called ‘tandem-approach’ to case study research [48]. More in detail, the research team maintained close and

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direct contact with selected key metropolitan stakeholders throughout the whole project’s timespan (2020–2022), favouring a thorough understanding of the issues at stake and maximising the direct observation of the ongoing policy processes. For each case study, an average of 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted, with metropolitan decision and policymakers as well as other stakeholders active within national and regional institutions. The collected evidence was then complemented and triangulated with the information included in international reports, focusing on the multilevel governance of the response to the pandemic. The results of this activity are compared and discussed in the two subsections that follow, respectively focusing on the reaction of metropolitan areas to the pandemic and on their engagement in future-oriented development strategies in the framework of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility.

4.1 Metropolitan Reactions to the Pandemic Due to the urgency imposed by the pandemic emergency, the reaction has followed a certain degree of centralisation in almost all European countries. The national governments introduced measures aimed at containing the health and socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic and/or at reacting to the latter, most often disregarding local specificities and territorial dynamics. Within this scenario, although in some contexts municipalities were given a certain leeway in issuing ad hoc regulations to further tailor national responses to their own peculiar needs, in most cases widearea, functional-related governance arrangements lacked the necessary power and financial resources to intervene [49]. The metropolitan areas under investigation reacted to the pandemic in different ways, depending on their institutional legitimation and configuration as well as on other contextual contingencies (general political attitude, socio-spatial organisation, economic structure etc.). The governments of some of the most institutionalised metropolitan authorities have been involved in the development of sectoral interventions addressing the pandemic emergency and its impacts. This is the case of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, that has launched a structured set of interventions financed by two extraordinary investment programmes and framed by its New Mobility Pact, altogether aiming at accelerating the sustainable mobility and energy transition, while having at the same time the immediate goal of decongestioning the public transportation system and limiting the opportunities for contagion (see also [50]). In parallel, the ApropAMB programme allocated to local communities e16.6 million to reactivate local economies and strengthen social cohesion by financing a range of recovery projects in the metropolitan area. A similarly overarching approach has been undertaken by Lyon Metropole, even though more focusing on the consequences of the pandemic than on its causes. More in detail, in April 2020 the metropolitan government launched a e100 million emergency fund in favour of local businesses, to then adopt a series of actions supporting health and social facilities, psychological support services and services dedicated to

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child protection and social inclusion. Several initiatives, although of a less structured nature, were put in place also in the Metropolitan area of Lisbon, where the pandemic was tackled by the metropolitan authority in collaboration with the regional government, through the adjustment of a number of priorities of the EU cohesion policy ERDF Regional Operational Programme (namely those focusing on social inclusion, education and training). According to the interviewees, the pandemic crisis put under stress the metropolitan administration’s capacity to deal with emergencies, at the same time highlighting a gap between the institutional metropolitan competences and expectations and leading to the development of further vertical coordination ties with the regional government. When it comes to the two Italian cases under investigation (the metropolitan areas of Florence and Turin), only in the case of Florence it has been possible to observe a direct action of the metropolitan authority. More in particular, Florence Metropolitan City has taken advantage of the EU cohesion policy resources distributed through the National Operational Programme METRO to strengthen its sustainable mobility system. Whereas some similarities may be traced with the case of Barcelona, however, due to their ad-hoc and rather core-centric nature, it is hard to read the metropolitan added value of the implemented interventions. Despite possessing the same institutional legitimation, the government of the Metropolitan City of Turin did not play any substantial role in addressing the pandemic emergency. Overall, these results are rather disappointing in presence of highly institutionalised metropolitan authorities and may be the consequence of the institutional problems that still concern the Italian Metropolitan cities (e.g., their urban-centric nature and scarce political legitimation) [51, 52]. Of the three metropolitan territories under scrutiny that are not characterised by any metropolitan level institutional authority (Brno, Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot, and Riga) the only one that had featured some sort of metropolitan response to the pandemic is the Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot metropolitan area. Here the metropolitan association responsible to manage the Integrated Territorial Investment, introduced by the Polish government as a way to establish a national metropolitan development policy, used the resources channelled through the instrument to undertake various initiatives related to COVID-19, mainly of ‘soft’ nature. These include measures in support to the local tourism industry, cultural initiatives, social initiatives in support to local restaurants, and social inclusion measures. On the contrary, neither in the case of Brno nor in the case of Riga any relevant metropolitan reaction to the pandemic has been identified. When exploring the nature of the policy responses adopted in the areas under investigation, a number of differences emerge. More in detail, only the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona seems to have adopted a proactive approach. In particular, although of sectoral nature, the New Mobility Pact aimed at influencing the metropolitan mobility system in relation to the medium and long-term post-pandemic scenario, in so doing providing a framework for the development of a more resilient development future for the metropolitan area. On the other hand, the approaches adopted by the metropolitan authorities of Florence, Lisbon and Lyon have focused more on the containment of the pandemic spread and of its impacts, and in most cases consisted in

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redirecting funds towards measures aimed at strengthening soft mobility, reinforcing health and social facilities etc. Finally, in the Gda´nsk-Gdynia-Sopot metropolitan area the majority of initiatives have been of a reactive nature, trying to provide support to local businesses and tourist activities aiming to make them survive the pandemic emergency, instead of being driven by more long-term oriented strategies and priorities. Overall, the heterogeneity of policy responses shows how articulated and challenging the pandemic has been for each territory, and how the urgency generated by the latter has somehow prevented the development of forward-looking policies aimed at increasing territorial resilience in the long-term.

4.2 Metropolitan Engagement in the Post-Pandemic Recovery At the European level, one of the main political reactions to the pandemic has been the introduction of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). According to the European Commission, the aim of the RRF is to mitigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient, and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transition. As a consequence of the RRFs framework, each EU member state has to develop its own National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) through which to address its territorial development priorities as interrelated to the EU 2050 objectives. At the same time, each NRRP defines the multilevel system of governance that will underpin its implementation and the role that the various territorial levels play within the latter, in so doing potentially carving some room for metropolitan authorities to play a role in the game. Whereas the RRF and the deriving NRRPs have generally been criticised from multiple sides for being rather hierarchic, top-down oriented and featuring rather limited room for consultation [53, 54], the room for action granted to subnational governments varies from context to context and, in some cases, provides metropolitan authorities with the possibility to undertake actions aimed at immediate recovery as well as at planning a more resilient territorial development trajectories [49, 54]. For instance, in the occasion of the drafting phase of the Italian NRRP, the country metropolitan authorities have been required to identify and propose a number of socalled ‘flagship projects’. To this end, the Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Florence activated a local working group aimed at collecting proposals from municipal actors and other local stakeholders from the bottom-up, to then conjugate them into a coherent metropolitan proposal. Similarly, the Metropolitan City of Turin proposed 20 projects related to green transition, digital transition for the public administration, cohesion, sustainability, inclusion and mobility, some of which were identified together with local stakeholders. Importantly, at a later stage Italian metropolitan cities have been also entrusted with the development and implementation of so-called Urban Integrated Plans, aimed at favouring the landing of the programmed interventions on the ground. In the case of Turin, the metropolitan area is benefiting from the implementation of two Urban Integrated Plans for a total of around e260 million and

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other funds (e45 million) have been allocated for the implementation of National Innovative Programmes on the Quality of Living, aiming at reducing the degradation of suburban neighbourhoods, making public housing more energy efficient and carrying out urban regeneration interventions to improve people’s quality of life. Also the French NRRP foresees a set of measures directly dedicated to metropolitan areas and aiming at empowering them to address issues related with infrastructure of water supply, sanitation and water management, ecological restoration, port greening and social recovery. Besides that, the Lyon Metropolitan Area proposed 23 projects to the REACT-EU programme (a programme running in parallel to and partly integrated with the RRF), concerning the thermal renovation of schools and social housing, the development of inclusive digital projects, and the purchase of personal protective equipment [49]. In Spain, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area proposed several preliminary projects to the regional and national governments. In particular, it presented nine projects within the framework of the Investment and Support Programme for the Digital Transition (e134 million) and the Investment Programme for Energy and Ecological Transition (e1.128 million), which are eligible to receive financing under the RRF. According to the Projectes metropolitans Next Generation EU launched by the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, among the proposed projects of particular interests are those related to the protection and regeneration of the metropolitan green infrastructure, the metropolitan plan for promoting sustainable mobility and the metropolitan plan for rehabilitation and urban regeneration. More in detail, also building on the New Mobility Pact already approved at the early stages of the pandemic, the Transport Mobility Agency of Barcelona has planned actions to improve the bus and metro network, benefiting from around e1.454 million of EU funds, that contribute to an overall investment of e2.717 million. On the other hand, the Portuguese NRRP is primarily seen by the Lisbon metropolitan authority as an opportunity to increase investments and change the traditional paradigm through which transport and mobility issues are approached, in so doing enhancing the resilience of future territorial development trajectories. At the same time, and to a similar end, the plan also includes priorities dedicated to the health sector, digital transition, housing and social inclusion. Among the investments listed in the Portuguese plan, it is worth mentioning the Integrated Operations in Underprivileged Communities in the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon and Porto and the expansion of the Lisbon Metro Network. When it comes to the three metropolitan areas that do not feature any official metropolitan administration, the collected evidence shows that the inclusion of a metropolitan perspective in the development of the respective countries’ NRRPs did not take place to a relevant extent. In Poland, due to its scarce level of institutionalisation, the Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot have not been able to exert any influence in the programming phase and, despite the inclusion of a series of investments supporting a comprehensive green transformation of cities, digitalisation of mobility infrastructure and healthcare system, the Polish NRRP does not engage or target metropolitan areas directly. A similar situation concerns the case of Brno,

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where the main cities that compose the metropolitan area had only a limited opportunity to comment upon the preparation of the Czech NRRP. The case of Riga is an exception here, as the Latvian NRRP devotes a large amount of resources to climate objectives, and in particular to sustainable mobility in the Riga Metropolitan Area, despite the absence of any metropolitan authority governing the latter. More in detail, the greening of the Riga Metropolitan Area transportation system will be funded by the Plan for almost e300 million and involve Riga city and the neighbouring municipalities.

5 Concluding Remarks The analysis presented and discussed in this chapter acknowledges that the diffusion of the pandemic in metropolitan areas has not been exclusively influenced by urban density. It rather followed topological density logics, hence spreading reticularly through metropolitan networks, influenced by the variable relations between mobile and immobile territorial and social components [1, 28]. As a result, often metropolitan suburbs and peripheries have been affected by COVID-19 as badly as main urban areas, if not worse, also as a consequence of their lower preparedness. Following up on the complexity of these dynamics, the argument developed in this chapter started from the assumption that wide-area metropolitan governance arrangements are better positioned than traditional governance arrangements to plan more resilient development futures. At the same time, it acknowledged that the development and consolidation of a metropolitan level of governance tailored on functional territorial dynamics had not yet occurred to a relevant extent in the European continent. Aiming at shedding light on the matter, the proposed analysis has drawn on the evidence collected in the framework of the ESPON METRO project to explore whether the pandemic outbreak contributed to open a window of opportunity in this direction. In other words, it explored whether, as a consequence of the pandemic, wide-area, future-oriented policies and actions aimed at promoting more resilient territorial development for the continent have been put in place in selected metropolitan areas. The presented evidence showed that, if one excludes the case of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, the approaches adopted by the authorities responsible for governing the metropolitan areas under investigation have mostly been of a reactive nature, aiming at containing the impact of the pandemic or to support the economic activities that have been suffering from its impact. In so doing, it also shows that the breadth and magnitude of the undertaken actions depended in most cases on the actual level of institutionalisation of metropolitan governance in a given area and on the existence or lack of a metropolitan-level administrative authority. Drawing on the results of the analysis, one could also argue that the pandemic, and the consequent introduction of the RRF at the EU level, has opened a window of opportunity for the development of future-oriented, wide-area policies aimed at

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the planning of more resilient territorial development futures for the European continent. In turn, this may contribute to reinforce metropolitan governance in the different countries, through mechanisms of economic conditionality [55, 56]. However, also the extent to which this opportunity is being seized in different countries seems to depend on the existence of an institutionalised metropolitan level of governance, that somehow forces the national governments to include the related authorities in the preparation of the NRRP and, in some cases, to entrust them with implementation tasks. As such, this is not happening in the same way in all contexts, due to the differential multilevel governance tensions resulting from the different interests and priorities of the various government levels, and the way in which the variable power relations that characterise each member state’s government and administrative structures. Overall, despite the described efforts and results, to adopt suitable metropolitan governance and multi-scalar institutional arrangements that can exploit the opportunities provided by the EU through its policy framework remains a challenge. Many metropolitan areas still lack the tools, jurisdiction and funding that would allow them to embrace their role to a full extent. In this light, if they have to play an active role in facing global challenges, as the promotion of alternative development trajectories in the COVID-19 aftermath or the mitigation of climate change, a further institutional recognition of metropolitan areas at the European and national level is certainly required.

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Enhancing Healthy Cities Through Urban Planning and Human Resilience Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Rodrigo Brandini Bloes, Sidney Piochi Bernardini, and Luciano Bomfim dos Santos

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical link between urbanized areas and its population health. In light of the modern cities’ dominant role in human life, the decision-making processes employed by public officials have the power to determine whether a city or municipality promotes urban development that enhances human resilience and creates healthy and sustainable spaces. This chapter aims to identify the interrelations of non-material elements of urban planning for healthy cities that foster human resilience during emergencies. Municipalities that participate in networks of healthy municipalities leverage a variety of methods, instruments, and technologies that rely on intersectoral and multidisciplinary strategies to implement crosscutting actions in their territories. These actions prioritize health promotion and focus on the well-being of the population, valuing and strengthening individuals and communities in the context of a healthy city or municipality. To achieve these goals, urban planning should be based on principles and values of health promotion, centered on participatory processes that employ lowcost and easily accessible mechanisms and tools. These processes should stimulate social participation to promote inclusion and sustainable spaces and enable various sectors that contribute to the economic, social, and environmental dynamics of a city or municipality to develop healthy public policies. Additionally, intersectoriality should facilitate dialogue between sectors and their intersections, enabling integrated decision-making to face adverse situations such as pandemics and natural disasters. A. M. G. Sperandio (B) · S. P. Bernardini School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Design, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] S. P. Bernardini e-mail: [email protected] R. B. Bloes Research Group on Urban Planning Methodology and Healthy Cities, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil e-mail: [email protected] L. B. dos Santos Department of the Environment, City Hall of Conchal, São Paulo, Brazil e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_6

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Such efforts promote interaction between residents of urban and rural environments and allow for the exchange of theoretical and practical knowledge to construct a healthy city. Social participation, intersectoriality, and the development of autonomy from a health promotion perspective are crucial factors in promoting human solidarity and coping with catastrophic situations through urban governance. An interdisciplinary approach to urban planning can serve as a focal point for linking city and municipality sectors, establishing parameters and guidelines for spaces conducive to collective resilience, and guiding public management in promoting global well-being and sustainable development. Keywords Urban resilience · Healthy cities · Urban planning · Health promotion · Non-material elements · Intersectoriality

1 Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical relationship between urbanized spaces and the health of populations. In a world where cities are the primary environment for human life, the decision-making process adopted by public officials can determine whether a City or Municipality engages in urban development that fosters human resilience and promotes healthy and sustainable spaces. The promotion of resilience in urban environments involves bolstering the capacity of society, communities, and systems to withstand, absorb, and recover from danger or threats by paying attention to fundamental and structuring elements. This process requires the engagement of various sectors, from social to environmental and economic fields, in a harmonious movement to resist the effects of environmental or structural changes. Effective strategies for promoting and strengthening society in its structuring aspects rely heavily on the decisions of public officials and policymakers. Urban planning can be an effective strategy to work towards promoting human well-being through intersectoral actions, social participation, and public policies developed with the involvement of the population. Human resilience is a crucial element in creating better living conditions and facilitating healthy and sustainable cities. In this article, we will present concepts and experiences that illustrate how the use of built environments through projects involving the community, public administration, and universities can contribute to strengthening the resilience of people, communities, and cities.

2 Background Knowledge The network movement consistently makes efforts to articulate knowledge by sharing experiences, whether successful or not. In Brazil, the Potentially Healthy Municipalities Network (PHMN) has been operating since 2003 [1] to provide public managers

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with conceptual tools and subsidies for the implementation, conceptual development, and execution of healthy cities, municipalities, and communities [2]. For over 20 years, PHMN has facilitated the exchange of experiences and public policies among Brazilian cities and municipalities, with the goal of contributing to the development of healthy communities and territories [3]. This network has enabled the creation of healthy and inclusive public policies that have fostered social participation, with interaction between local government, academia, and the community. PHMN has experience in organizing meetings, seminars, university extensions, providing international support, and holding dialogues with local managers, which reinforces the dissemination of unique initiatives that contribute to good living, healthy and sustainable human development. However, the challenges to be overcome are diverse. Overcoming the sectoralization of public management and scientific knowledge itself is fundamental to the construction of innovative knowledge that is effective in the execution of projects and actions that promote a new and improved reality. Social networks have the ability to connect individuals based on successes and specific needs, facilitating synapses and exchanges that contribute to the common good of a certain group or specific territory. In the environmental context, the network movement promotes awareness, understanding, and the application of light technologies, empowering those involved to improve living condition, impacting and influencing the social determinants of health. In Brazil, the social determinants of health include food, housing, leisure, transportation, basic sanitation, work, among others [4]. In the face of inequalities, human resilience is a differential element for overcoming difficulties and individual and collective empowerment, thus contributing to the development and access to new tools to face new challenges. In the Brazilian reality, network movements have aided human resilience. During the pandemic, various forms of assistance were intensified, such as the donation of basic food baskets, basic cleaning products, and psychological care via phone calls. According to studies conducted in 2020, actions related to collaborative networks could be classified into three scopes: micro, meso, and macro; that is, the levels of attention and help, and the interrelationships between agents and receivers of actions vary. For example, at the micro level, among members of the same community or intercommunities within the same municipality; at the meso level, between universities and communities or local governments; and at the macro level, between organizations or governments at the national or international level [5]. After the pandemic period, the resumption of routine activities without adequate protective measures, coupled with the challenges posed by extreme climatic emergencies, may expose individuals, particularly those who are most impoverished, to conditions of social vulnerability, hunger, and the spread of diseases. These circumstances are often directly associated with inadequate infrastructure, inadequate housing, and inadequate monitoring of environmental conditions, such as floods and landslides, among others. In some places in Brazil, micro network movements have been critical to alleviating the material and emotional losses, lack of access, and difficulties that affect the quality of life of individuals and communities, in an attempt to mitigate the aforementioned situations, which are frequently calamitous. These conditions are

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prevalent in regions where there is a lack of material and non-material components of appropriate urban and rural planning that address inequalities and contribute to enhancing the resilience of cities. Thus, the objective of this chapter is to identify the interrelationships of non-material components of urban planning for a healthy city that considers human resilience in the face of emergencies.

2.1 Non-material Elements Non-material components refer to interdependent factors such as needs, emotions, desires, comfort, and spirituality, which cannot be physically touched but significantly influence individual and collective inclinations. Individuals residing in a particular territory are sensitive to the environmental and social circumstances surrounding them. The utilization of these non-material components can potentially influence the modification of the environment in which they exist. Public policies concerning the occupation of territory and development of the built environment can serve as a bridge between non-material components and the transformation of the territory. This can be achieved by implementing healthy planning through the triangulation of social participation (including organized and private society), academia, and public management. Plans, programs, and projects executed from this participatory, intersectoral viewpoint, taking into account successful experiences, can positively alter the physical, social, and economic environments to fulfill the needs and desires of the local population while promoting social health determinants. The network movement disseminates the evidence and discoveries made in this process of constructing and implementing public policies and social initiatives, allowing for the potentiating of reverberations and acting as a global agent. Non-material components significantly impact the execution, access, and quality of material elements; therefore, they should be evaluated during the urban planning process when modifying physical space. In the context of a healthy city, non-material components were identified through studies conducted by the Urban Investigations Laboratory (LABINUR) via monitoring projects in municipalities participating in the PHMN. The identified elements include: • • • • • • • • • • •

Political will Social participation Local coalitions Revitalization of collective autonomy Identification of local leaders Intersectoral actions Lovingness Respect and solidarity Human resilience Communication Public, social, environmental, economic, and cultural policies in the city

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• Affection • Respect for diversity [6]. The absence of non-material components can lead to illness, hinder the construction of autonomy, and prevent or weaken connections between individuals. This can have a negative impact on the promotion of well-being and healthy and sustainable development of cities, thereby reducing human resilience when facing adverse situations. The interconnections between these components are varied and location-specific, varying according to each project and location.

3 Methodology The methodology employed in this study involved the monitoring of experiences associated with the Network of Potentially Healthy Municipalities between 2013 and 2023, using the technique of “Free Observation.” According to Triviños [7], observation goes beyond the simple act of looking and involves distinguishing specific features. When referring to a social phenomenon, this technique requires abstracting the phenomenon from its context to comprehend its essential particularities and expand the view of the phenomenon and its interactions. From this perspective, the researchers observed the development of projects and actions carried out in the municipalities and recorded the reflections generated during this process. The municipalities selected for the application of this method were Conchal and Santa Bárbara D’Oeste, based on their proximity and the number of projects linked to the PHMN. This chapter proposes the exercise of identifying which social determinants of health (SDH) for the built environment, as well as non-material elements, were being considered in each of the monitored projects. Based on research conducted by the Urban Investigations Laboratory (LABINUR) at the School of Civil Engineering, Architecture, and Urban Design of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), the identified elements were organized in a table to facilitate their identification (see Fig. 1). In the process of indicating the elements identified in the experience in the table, it is considered that the more positive identifications there are, the greater the project’s contribution to strengthening urban resilience. To facilitate the visualization of the identified elements, three-color gradations were defined. Green was used for elements that were easily observed and contemplated in the experience, yellow for items that received little attention but require more observation, and red for elements that were not identified in the experiment.

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Human resilience

NON-MATERIAL ELEMENTS

CLIMATE STABILITY

BIODIVERSITY

Natural environment

Social participation, Understanding and revitalization of collective autonomy

Natural habitat, Trees

Air, Water, Land, Soil

Built environment

Intersectoral Actions, Communication and Political Will

Buildings, Places

Streets, Routes

Activities

Identification of local leaders, Local coalitions

Working, Shopping, Moving

Live, Enjoy, Learn

Local economy

Respect for diversities

Products, Innovation

Markets

Lifestyle

Solidarity, Lovingness, Respect and Affection

Social capital

Balanced work and life

Fig. 1 Depicts the proposed monitoring tool for identifying non-material elements and social determinants of health (SDH) in the built environment, adapted from Barton and Grant [8] and Sperandio et al. [2]

4 Results The results obtained from monitoring the projects are related to the identification of factors that contribute to the formation of barriers that hinder the defense of human well-being in adverse situations based on the transformation and use of the urban environment. The experiences monitored include the community garden “USF Jardim Planalto” and the treatment of sludge in the Municipality of Conchal, as well as the Medicinal Garden, School Vegetable Garden, and volunteers for the Medicinal Kitchen in the municipality of Santa Bárbara d’Oeste. Below are the results of each project with their respective evaluations.

4.1 Municipality of Conchal/SP Conchal is a small town located in the interior of the state of São Paulo. It has been linked to the Potentially Healthy Municipalities Network since 2010 and has several projects that present perspectives that interrelate health promotion with the use of built space. Among these, two projects will be presented below, which have different fields of activity and are directly related to the transformation of the urban

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environment from different actors in the urbanization process. Being the first to follow, a project of strong social participation and recovery of the social function of the property.

4.1.1

Community Garden USF Jardim Planalto—Conchal/SP

Around 13 years ago, an urban void located by a stream was identified as a suitable place for the development of a community garden. This project, named Community Garden USF Jardim Planalto, is a health promotion strategy linked to the Planalto Family Health Unit, which aimed to transform the urban space through community participation. With the help of local leaders, the community was invited to start a process of development and transformation of the urban space, using simple equipment such as shovels and hoes. The municipal management officialized the permission for the cultivation of vegetable gardens in the place, and thus, the implementation of the community garden was initiated, which transformed the environmental and social conditions of that region. The cultivation of vegetables and medicinal plants provided healthy food and income generation for families in the region. In addition, the project rescued social interaction and promoted physical activity. The continuity of this action is a result of community participation and appropriation, which overcomes government changes and political changes. Figure 2 shows a recent photo of the garden, demonstrating the use of urban space, which was previously an area of marginality, as a place of high productivity. The community garden in Conchal, Brazil, has direct benefits for 18 families, which amounts to around 72 individuals who are benefiting from the garden’s surplus production. This, in turn, generates positive effects for the entire neighborhood due to the low cost of sale for the surplus produce and the aesthetic improvements resulting from the garden replacing previously existing vacant land. The development of the community garden in the urban environment is closely linked to the strengthening of human resilience in crisis situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The movement for reducing hunger brings more information about development and encourages urban agriculture. The most vulnerable populations are the most affected and are faced with greater issues of resilience. The availability of healthy food indicates greater physical resilience, and social interaction strengthens interactions and aids between individuals. Figure 3 presents the results of the monitoring carried out in this project, which reflects the researchers’ perception during technical visits. The perspective is related to the results generated by the implementation of the community garden, that is, the reflections and reverberations that were promoted and linked during the development process, either directly or indirectly. The table presented above indicates that the Planalto Community Garden Project includes all the proposed elements; however, five of these were classified in yellow, indicating a need for evaluation and definition of whether they should be better

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Fig. 2 Community Urban Garden UBSF Planalto, Conchal—SP, 2023. Personal collection, as photographed by authors in the year 2023

developed or not for this purpose. On the other hand, the positive signaling of ten out of the fifteen proposed elements indicates that the project contributes positively to urban resilience by stimulating fundamental health issues such as solidarity, respect, air quality, soil and water maintenance, generating income, promoting a pleasant habitat, among others.

4.1.2

Sludge Treatment at the Sewage Treatment Plant—Conchal/SP

Resilience, in the context of climate change, necessitates attention to human resilience. In this regard, the local movement can have far-reaching reflections and impacts on the surrounding environment, including from a global perspective. The local networked movement further amplifies these impacts. Guided by this perspective, the municipality of Conchal explored alternatives for treating effluents generated by the municipality. The primary considerations included ensuring the quality of water being discharged into rivers that flow through the municipality, as well as minimizing the cost of desilting the waste treatment ponds of the Sewage Treatment Station. These costs are a significant financial burden on public coffers. To address this challenge, the Municipal Board of Basic Sanitation and the Environment conducted research on scientific literature pertaining to effluent treatment

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Human resilience

NON-MATERIAL ELEMENTS

CLIMATE STABILITY

BIODIVERSITY

Natural environment

Social participation, Understanding and revitalization of collective autonomy

Natural habitat, Trees

Air, Water, Land, Soil

Built environment

Intersectoral Actions, Communication and Political Will

Buildings, Places

Streets, Routes

Activities

Identification of local leaders, Local coalitions

Working, Shopping, Moving

Live, Enjoy, Learn

Local economy

Respect for diversities

Products, Innovation

Markets

Lifestyle

Solidarity, Lovingness, Respect and Affection

Social capital

Balanced work and life

Fig. 3 Result of the identification of non-material elements and the social determinants of health (SDH) in the built environment for the Planalto Community Garden Project in the Municipality of Conchal, Brazil, as presented by LABINUR, 2023

and the appropriate disposal of sludge generated during the sanitary sewage treatment process. The board found several available solutions for effluent treatment that utilize chemical products. However, numerous scientific publications caution against the safety of reusing sludge due to the presence of remaining pathogens in the mixture. Considering the issue of potential negative environmental impacts that chemical treatment could cause, as well as the high cost of emptying the effluent treatment pond, which was already at over 75% capacity, an alternative solution was sought. The solution found involved bioremediation using autochthonous microorganisms that degrade the sludge and treat the sewage at the same time. This solution proved to be efficient; low-cost compared to other alternatives, and does not harm the environment, since treatment is carried out exclusively with microorganisms that are typical of the environment. In Fig. 4, the proposed elements for this chapter are identified, allowing for observation of the project’s approach to strengthening urban resilience: The managers of the sewage treatment plant have reported positive results from the application of the new bioremediation technique, including a reduction in the volume of sludge and an improvement in the quality of residual water. Apart from environmental benefits, public funds amounting to approximately 17 million reais were saved using this new technique. As shown in the above table, this action exhibits a strong association with climate stability. The significance of political will in exploring novel solutions for current challenges can be identified within the non-material elements.

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Human resilience

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Social participation, Understanding and revitalization of collective autonomy

Natural habitat, Trees

Air, Water, Land, Soil

Built environment

Intersectoral Actions, Communication and Political Will

Buildings, Places

Streets, Routes

Activities

Identification of local leaders, Local coalitions

Working, Shopping, Moving

Live, Enjoy, Learn

Local economy

Respect for diversities

Products, Innovation

Markets

Lifestyle

Solidarity, Lovingness, Respect and Affection

Social capital

Balanced work and life

Fig. 4 The results of identifying the non-material elements and SDH in the built environment for the Sludge Treatment at the Sewage Treatment Plant in the Municipality of Conchal, Brazil in the year 2023, as presented by LABINUR, 2023

If new propositions for waste management arise, public resources can be reallocated, leading to improvements in other facilities. Strengthening urban resilience is directly linked to enhancing natural environmental conditions. By providing public officials with appropriate training, it becomes possible to execute new proposals and initiate paradigm-breaking processes.

4.2 Municipality of Santa Bárbara d’Oeste The municipality of Santa Bárbara d’Oeste has been a partner of the PHMN since 2010, and has been actively involved in projects related to healthy eating, early childhood education, and agricultural production, based on the concept of medicinal gardens. Some of the notable initiatives undertaken by the municipality include the establishment of the “Garden of Medicinal, Aromatic, and Spicy Plants” as well as the Women’s Group.

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The Garden of Medicinal, Aromatic, and Spice Plants “Drª Nair Sizuka Nobuyasu Guimarães”

Since 2010, the municipality of Santa Bárbara has adopted a new learning perspective for early childhood education. With the joint effort of the local public management, the community, and the university, a medicinal and aromatic plant garden was established at the Municipal School of Elementary and Early Childhood Education “Prof.ª Maria Augusta Canto Camargo Bília”. An interdisciplinary team composed of technicians and researchers from local management, the “Luiz de Queiroz” School of Agriculture at the University of São Paulo (ESALQ/USP), the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), and PHMN, provided assistance. The initiative, which became public policy, is part of the Project “Horta e Jardim Medicinal: Healthy Spaces at School”. The project aims to incorporate knowledge about the healthy city from the perspective of healthy eating, sub-theme medicinal plants, and the care for the earth and promoting people’s health, through the interaction between the learning process of children aged 4 to 12 years old, local community, and school staff. The project-generated spaces within the school where the production process of medicinal plants and herbs, as well as the elaboration of recipes based on these form the basis for the content of the disciplines studied during the development of the school curriculum. Figure 5 illustrates the location where the cultivation of medicinal plants and aromatic herbs takes place. The garden beds were designed with a focus on providing a sensory experience for children, which explains their elevated position. In the left-hand photo, children are seen participating in an activity where they collect hibiscus, which was later used in another activity where students learned to make hibiscus jelly. This process is illustrated in Fig. 6, also presented below. Various activities using the produce grown in the garden are conducted throughout the school year and are open to all enrolled students. The need for materials required

Fig. 5 Displays the Garden of Medicinal, Aromatic and Spice Plants “Drª Nair Sizuka Nobuyasu Guimarães” in Brazil, as photographed by the authors in the year 2019

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Fig. 6 Watering the garden at the Prof.ª Maria Augusta Canto Camargo Bília School, Santa Bárbara d’Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil, as photographed by authors in the year 2019

for these activities is met by the municipal nursery and local partners who donate plants when required. As a result, the movement initiated by the school serves as an exemplar of good practice within the school community, promoting healthy eating, preserving local culture, and valuing agriculture. The project was awarded the CAIXA Best Practices in Local Management Award for 2013/2014. The project was recognized in the category of “Management of Land Use and Occupation,” which included subcategories such as Incentives for Development, Conservation of Free Areas, Urban Development, Urban Revitalization, and

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Urban Suburbs. The project also scored in the Job and Income Generation subcategory of the “Poverty Eradication” category and in the Education, Health, and Social Assistance subcategories of the “Social Services” category [9]. In 2017, the initiative was recognized as the best experience on the subject by the Antenna Foundation of Switzerland. The success of the project has resulted in the establishment of a consolidated public policy in the municipality of Santa Bárbara d’Oeste. Currently, approximately 70% of the school units in the municipality have vegetable or medicinal gardens with school activities being developed. The impact of the project is multidisciplinary, ranging from the training of Nutritionists linked to school units to approach and learn about the activities developed in these schools, to environmental sustainability programs. The Fig. 7 presents the identification of the elements that the experience contemplates in the sense of strengthening resilience in the built environment, as proposed in this chapter. As depicted in the aforementioned table, this project demonstrates a remarkable level of compliance with the proposed elements for reinforcing resilience in the built environment. This achievement can be attributed to the multifaceted and integrated activities carried out by all individuals involved in the project, including members of the local community, students, and school professionals. Moreover, the project’s

Human resilience

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Identification of local leaders, Local coalitions

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Live, Enjoy, Learn

Local economy

Respect for diversities

Products, Innovation

Markets

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Solidarity, Lovingness, Respect and Affection

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Balanced work and life

Fig. 7 Illustrates the outcome of identifying non-material elements and SDH in the built environment for the Garden of Medicinal, Aromatic and Spice Plants “Drª Nair Sizuka Nobuyasu Guimarães” located in Santa Bárbara d’Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil in 2023, as presented by LABINUR, 2023

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innovative approach, which employs an interdisciplinary perspective, plays a crucial role in enhancing resilience. This school, situated in the municipality of Santa Bárbara d’Oeste, incorporates in its programmatic content both theoretical and practical classes that focus on healthy eating and the concept of a healthy city. The curriculum teaches the process of planting, the proper utilization of plants, including their benefits for consumption, as well as caring for the land, the plant, and each other. Such practices are vital in fostering resilience as they promote essential strategies for learning how to defend and care for oneself and others. Introducing this perspective during childhood represents a differential aspect in strengthening resilience, as it instills the natural inclination to express solidarity and pay attention to others when such traits are required.

4.2.2

Medicinal Kitchen

In the municipality of Santa Barbara d’Oeste, a noteworthy activity is the Medicinal Kitchen volunteer group, primarily comprised of women and operates at the Municipal Nursery. This group focuses on producing recipes that incorporate PANCs (Unconventional Food Plants) into cakes, pies, and bread as a healthier alternative to traditional eating habits. The products created are not only consumed among the group members for social interaction but also sold at free fairs in the region, generating revenue for the group. An outstanding aspect of this initiative is its emphasis on rescuing culture and promoting autonomy among women. The use of the Municipal Nursery as a venue for the kitchen group’s activities effectively fulfills its social purpose by utilizing the available infrastructure. This structure was previously abandoned, as it was formerly a municipal zoo that had a spacious room, which is now used for the kitchen group’s operations. Figure 8 displays the products made by the group, which was taken during a technical visit conducted by the Graduate Program in Architecture, Technology, and City at the State University of Campinas. The women participating in this group have developed a distinct characteristic of caring for the land, which has become a vital component for their livelihoods and social interaction. The women convene weekly, and their involvement serves as a point of contact with schools, other communities, and the local government, as they aim to convert medicinal products and plants into herbal medicines for sale. Through their activities, the women have attributed an alternative meaning to the Municipal Nursery, as their participation in the diverse activities carried out at this location elevates its significance as a representation spread. The Fig. 9 examine the evaluation of material and non-material elements related to enhancing resilience in the built environment. As presented in the table, the observations made during the monitoring of the group’s activities have identified various items associated with the cultivation of plants for the production of healthy food, the establishment of a local micro-coalition, a sense of belonging, social inclusion, among others.

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Fig. 8 Displays the products manufactured by the Cozinha Medicinal group located in Santa Barbara d’Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil, as photographed by authors in the year 2019

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Human resilience

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Social participation, Understanding and revitalization of collective autonomy

Natural habitat, Trees

Air, Water, Land, Soil

Built environment

Intersectoral Actions, Communication and Political Will

Buildings, Places

Streets, Routes

Activities

Identification of local leaders, Local coalitions

Working, Shopping, Moving

Live, Enjoy, Learn

Local economy

Respect for diversities

Products, Innovation

Markets

Lifestyle

Solidarity, Lovingness, Respect and Affection

Social capital

Balanced work and life

Fig. 9 Illustrates the outcome of the identification of non-material elements and Social Determinants of Health (SDH) in the built environment for the group of women from the Medicinal Kitchen located in Santa Barbara d’Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil, as presented by LABINUR in 2023

5 Concluding Remarks The promotion and reinforcement of resilience, whether pertaining to the urban environment or its inhabitants, are closely linked to the provision and encouragement of non-material elements. Such elements include but are not limited to social participation, affectivity, respect for diversity, and networking. The authors of this chapter emphasize that these non-material elements, when functioning cohesively within the urban dynamics, facilitate the development of human resilience within a healthy environment. Conversely, in the absence of these elements, the effectiveness and efficiency of crisis resolution are likely to be diminished in situations of risk. Possibly, the promotion of non-material elements before the COVID-19 pandemic would have facilitated better coping mechanisms. During the pandemic’s most severe phase, it was crucial to provide access to healthy food and psychological support, promote scientific research, combat poverty and inequality, and communicate effectively to overcome a lack of knowledge. The projects proposed in this chapter exemplify the importance of addressing these issues. For instance, initiatives such as the urban garden in Conchal and the Medicinal Kitchen in Santa Bárbara d’Oeste ensured continued access to healthy food during the pandemic. Moreover, participation in network movements, such as Live Network, facilitated the exchange of

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information between groups. These non-material elements remain essential after the pandemic to create transparent barriers for the common good. Human resilience is an essential component that supports the coexistence of local, national, and global policies. The objective of this chapter is to highlight the interrelationships between non-material elements of urban planning for a healthy city that promotes human resilience in emergencies. By utilizing non-material elements and the social determinants of health (SDH) in the built environment, adapted from Barton and Grant [8] and Sperandio et al. [2], this chapter identifies a set of elements that foster good living, avoid poverty, promote environmental sustainability, ensure food security, give voice to individuals and communities, guarantee the social function of property, and promote a healthy built environment. The Fig. 10 illustrates the interrelation between some of the elements presented in this chapter and the practices in the territory. Thus, this chapter proposes a novel approach to Social Determinants of Health (SDH), wherein consideration of the complexity of the urban agenda and natural human behavior, researchers suggest supplementing SDH with Non-Material Elements. Previous research [6, 10] identified these elements as crucial for the development of healthy public policies and the promotion of well-being, as well as the effectiveness of actions carried out in the built environment. In this perspective, it is essential to provide reformed public services that enable new policies through the joint action of the community, public management, and the university, guided by the elements highlighted in this chapter. The experiences presented in this study indicate the effectiveness of projects resulting from the interaction of this triad, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary and interscalar action in guaranteeing and creating opportunities for projects that include elements that strengthen individual and collective resilience through the appropriate and holistic use of the urban environment. The relationship between social interaction, the natural environment, and knowledge is crucial for strengthening the human species under both physical and non-physical perspectives. Therefore, it is necessary to consider human resilience from an integral perspective that encompasses individuals and communities. The development of new audiences that promote resilience depends on the specificities of each location, while still considering global challenges. The strengthening of resilience varies according to the evolution of each place, highlighting the importance of the triad presented in this chapter. Although human resilience is a non-material element, it is dependent on material elements. Every material element requires non-material elements to be transformed, and this combination should be included in the learning agenda. These questions relate to the projects presented in this chapter, which offer insight into the observers’ vision. In each experience, individuals can learn and enhance their individual resilience, contributing to the collective resilience. It is crucial to identify common goals and promote collaboration towards achieving them. Based on the conducted observations, it was verified that the experiences emerge from local necessities and are developed from established rules, which are sometimes created by the community, local leaders, or the government. Project management is

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Fig. 10 The capillarity and interconnectedness of Non-Material and Material Elements to Strengthen Human Resilience, as presented by LABINUR in 2023

collaborative, involving everyone who contributes to its development and is supervised by the university, which plays a variety of roles such as monitoring, disseminating, advising, and even executing plans and facilitating intersectoral processes, acting as a bridge between different sectors.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to address social determinants of health (SDH) was weakened, especially concerning combating hunger and coping with confined living spaces. In Brazil, the lack of access to proper sanitation exacerbates this issue even further. The pandemic has created numerous difficulties in addressing SDH, such as job loss and the inability to attend school. This highlights the interconnectedness of urban spaces and the need to balance environmental, social, and physical and psychological health for humanity. Urban planning that considers health and resilience as important factors in development can have positive effects on the well-being of individuals and communities. Clear public policies that prioritize meeting the needs of different spheres of organization within a territory can pave the way towards sustainable and healthy urban development.

References 1. RMPS (2023) Rede de Municípios Potencialmente Saudáveis (Network of Potentially Healthy Municipalities). Site internet (Website). Disponível em (Available at): http://www.redemunic ipiosps.com.br/ 2. Sperandio AMG, Bloes RB, Lin PSL (2019). Evidências de métodos participativos para o planejamento urbano da cidade saudável. Labor e Engenho 13:e019024–e019024. https://period icos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/labore/article/view/8657594 (Sperandio AMG, Bloes RB, Lin PSL (2019). Evidence of participatory methods for healthy urban city planning. Labor and Ingenuity 13:e019024–e019024. https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/labore/ article/view/8657594.) 3. Sperandio AMG, Guarnieri JC (2012) A rede social como instrumento do desenvolvimento do urbano saudável: a experiência de conchal. São Paulo. Intellectus. Revista Acadêmica Digital da Faculdade de Jaguariúna 22:44–55 (Sperandio, AMG Guarnieri, JC (2012) The social network as an instrument for the development of the healthy urban: the experience of Conchal. Sao Paulo. Intellectus. Digit Acad J Faculty Jaguariúna 22:44–55) 4. Brasil (1990) Lei nº 8.080, de 19 de setembro de 1990. Dispõe sobre as condições para a promoção, proteção e recuperação da saúde, a organização e o funcionamento dos serviços correspondentes e dá outras providências. Diário Oficial [da República Federativa do Brasil] 20 set 1990; Seção I, Pt. 1, pp 18055–18059 (Brasil (1990) Law No. 8,080, of September 19, 1990. It provides for the conditions for the promotion, protection and recovery of health, the organization and functioning of the corresponding services, and makes other provisions. Official Gazette [of the Federative Republic of Brazil], 20 September 1990; Section I, Pt. 1, pp 18055–18059) 5. Sperandio et al. (2021) La pandemia de la COVID-19 y las estrategias de promoción de la salud en las ciudades brasileñas. Glob Health Promot 28(3):104–113. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 17579759211009196 6. Sperandio AMG (2020) Estratégias do planejamento urbano e da promoção da saúde: a mandala da cidade saudável. Intellectus. Revista Acadêmica Digital da Faculdade De Jaguariúna 1:79– 95 (Sperandio AMG (2020) Strategies of urban planning and health promotion: the mandala of the healthy city. Intellectus. Digit Acad J Faculdade De Jaguariúna 1:79–95) 7. TRIVIÑOS ANS (1987) Introdução à pesquisa em ciências sociais: a pesquisa qualitativa em educação. Atlas, São Paulo (TRIVIÑOS ANS (1987) Introduction to research in the social sciences: qualitative research in education. Atlas, São Paulo) 8. Barton H, Grant M (2006) A health map for the local human habitat. JRSH. 126(6):252–253. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6647677_A_health_map_for_the_ local_human_habitat

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9. CAIXA (2013) Melhores práticas 2013–2014. Caixa Econômica Federal, site (Best practices 2013–2014. Caixa Econnomic Federal). Brasil. https://www.caixa.gov.br/PublishingImages/ Paginas/melhores-praticas/praticas-premiadas/2013-2014/08.pdf 10. Sperandio AMG, Bloes RB (2020) Community urban gardens: social instrument for healthy and health-promoting cities. In: Encyclopedia of the UN sustainable development goals, 1st edn. Springer International Publishing, pp 1–12

Innovations in Neighbourhoods

Urban Resilience by Morphology? Reflections on Lockdown Urbanism in China Giaime Botti , Ali Cheshmehzangi , and Eugenio Mangi

Abstract The initial containment of the COVID-19 pandemic in China has been attributed by media and experts to the strict implementation of a generalised lockdown in Chinese cities, according to a system of policies and practices that, with some changes and updates, have been enforced until the present. This chapter addresses the problem of urban resilience in a pandemic context from the perspectives of architecture and urban morphology, focusing on the most diffused typology of urban blocks in contemporary China. After a detailed overview of significant settlement types, the chapter explores how the specific typo-morphology of large-scale gated communities, frequently encompassing a whole urban superblock, has proven its resilience during the ongoing pandemic. By mixing a typo-morphological reading with empirical observations, the article highlights how selected features of Chinese gated communities have helped residents deal with intermittent lockdowns. They include the combined factors of access restrictions and movement control, essential features of a gated community; the presence of generous outdoor space, also possible considering the large dimension of such settlements; the availability of commercial activities and other basic services within the compound. Keywords Urban resilience · Disease outbreak · COVID-19 · Urban morphology

G. Botti (B) · E. Mangi Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, China e-mail: [email protected] E. Mangi e-mail: [email protected] A. Cheshmehzangi School of Architecture, Qingdao City University, Qingdao, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_7

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1 Introduction In 2020, the relatively rapid and successful containment of the COVID-19 pandemic in China has been attributed by media and experts in different fields to the strict implementation of a generalised lockdown all over the Chinese territory—with even tighter measures in the city of Wuhan—based on rigid norms of social distancing and personal control, also via innovative technological means. In 2022, localised lockdowns still continue across different cities, districts, or just city blocks, while scholars have started using the term “lockdown urbanism” [47, 61] to address the relationship between urban form and policies restricting people’s movement for public health reasons. This chapter investigates the relationship between urban morphology and urban resilience in the pandemic context focusing on the most diffused typology of urban blocks in contemporary China. It may be argued that throughout history, cities have been shaped according to principles of hygiene and epidemic control and mitigation, as successive plagues have constantly been associated with urban conglomerates and the negative aspects of urban life [37]. Nineteenth-century grand reforms have been driven by a broad set of concerns, including, but not limited to, public health. From the transformation of Paris started under Georges E. Haussmann’s guidance (for spatial interpretation, Choay [25], and on hygiene and built environment, Barnes [5], Frioux [39]) to the extension of Barcelona according to Ildefons Cerdà’s plan [69], the improvement of the hygienic conditions of the city has always been the primary goal. In the “New World”, concerns were similar, whether within the City Beautiful movement in the USA [64] or the urban and sanitary reforms based on the French model implemented in Rio de Janeiro by the engineer and city prefect Francisco Pereira Passos [7]. In the meantime, in European colonies, imperial powers were imposing urban planning policies meant to prevent or control epidemics, but which also resulted in precise patterns of socio-racial segregation, from Dakar and Lagos in West Africa [8] to the Cape colony in the Austral hemisphere [88]. And in China, too, between the midnineteenth century and the first decades of the 20th, many cities went through major urban reforms following hygienist principles [38]. This happened firstly in European colonies like Hong Kong and successively in the mainland’s treaty port concessions. After the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, urban reforms transformed cities like Tianjin, Hangzhou and Beijing, and later Canton and Chengdu [26]. Globally, the twentieth century, and the 21st even more, marked a turning point in terms of public hygiene. Thanks to the development of adequate sanitary infrastructures and the advancements in public health and medicine, the fear of the plague and infectious diseases started populating more the imaginaries of writers and film directors than those of urban dwellers, increasingly concerned with the effects of wars, terrorism, economic downturns and climate change. Accordingly, in recent decades, the concept of urban resilience has been gaining ground as a paradigm to face chronic stresses and acute shocks that are increasingly affecting cities and societies, with a particular focus on all the consequences of climate change [32]. Urban resilience has been defined as “the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions,

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businesses and systems within a city to survive, adapt and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience” [1]. In this regard, architecture, urban design and planning may play a pivotal role in addressing, preventing and mitigating some chronic stresses and acute shocks affecting the urban environment. However, the concept of resilience, although very rich in literature and action plan frameworks, is partly overlooked when it comes to disease outbreaks [24], at least until the COVID-19 pandemic put the question at the centre of the academic debate [34, 41, 58]. The tragic developments of the COVID-19 pandemic have already made evident how crucial are housing size, quality and affordability in a moment in which people are forced to stay home [45, 78]. In general, it has shown the potentialities and limits of “architectural” responses to the crisis. Immediate relief by architecture has been provided, for instance, by the record-breaking 10-day construction of the Huoshenshan hospital in Wuhan, inspired by the Beijing Xiaotangshan hospital built during the SARS pandemic in 2002–03. This case falls within the category of immediate disaster relief, in the long tradition of using a prefabricated and/or temporal solution to cope with natural disasters. Similarly, existing buildings have been adapted to face the flow of patients to be treated or, more sadly, bodies to be temporarily stored. In 2020, a 50-people intensive care hospital was assembled in the old exhibition fair in Milan, while a cruise ferry was transformed into a floating hospital for post-COVID19 patients in the Mediterranean port of Genoa; in Madrid, the ice rink arena was transformed into a temporary morgue while 5,500 beds have been dislocated in the IFEMA conference and fair centre; in central London, an exhibition centre has been transformed into a hospital. Indeed, after this experience, architects may feel the urgency to include in public buildings the possibility of easing their adaptability to cope with future needs resulting from similar disease outbreaks. Not to mention the importance that temporary urbanism can have in providing adaptive strategies for public space [33, 55]. Shifting to the urban scale, this chapter explores the resiliency of Chinese cities during the current COVID-19 disease outbreaks by investigating the relationship between their urban structure, dominated by large gated residential compounds, and the way in which epidemic prevention policies are implemented. Central to this study is the idea of a possible “resilience by morphology” [86]. Therefore, the importance of such investigation lies in bridging typo-morphological research to the social and health dimension of the problem as well as in reading this according to a current scenario neither of total lockdown nor of business as usual. In other words, as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts people’s lives all over the world, the present study questions how selected containment measures can be applied more efficiently and appear more bearable when implemented in determining urban contexts, further substantiating the idea of “resilience by morphology” (Fig. 1). As it will be discussed, Chinese cities feature a very high presence of gated communities, which, according to the period in which they were built, assume different typo-morphological characteristics. Therefore, the chapter first delves into a historical understanding of the development of these types of settlements. Then, it focuses on a specific typo-morphological object resulting from the overlap of the

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Fig. 1 The thematic intersection of this research: NPIs (non-pharmaceutical interventions) policies, urban resilience, and urban morphology. Image by the authors

superblock with the property and organisational model of the urban gated community. Finally, these are discussed in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, arguing how this form of settlement can be more efficient in implementing epidemic prevention measures, assuming the perspective of governmental actors and more resilient in the perspective of its residents.

2 Approaching the Chinese City: Typo-Morphology and Empirical Observation It is a daring act, if not an oversimplification, to define the morphology of the Chinese city, which can be seen as a generic concept. On the other hand, in the history of China, cities have developed according to a common pattern and a well-defined

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set of urban rules, which were a direct emanation of central political power and rooted in Confucian and Taoist philosophical traditions [83, 96, 108]. Such patterns are visible in the urban forms of traditional settlements, “modern developments”, and “contemporary cities” across the country. For instance, traditional courtyard housing typologies, like siheyuan in Beijing, defined vast low-rise urban landscapes of internalised outdoor spaces organised according to the hutong street system. Of such urban patterns, nowadays, only minimum traces remain, as cities underwent transformations of unheard-of scale in the last few decades [19]. Today, residential settlements take up a large share of the urban land and constitute a key element to study for understanding how Chinese cities are facing the current pandemic. As mentioned, the approach proposed in this chapter is based on typo-morphological analysis entangled with empirical observation. Starting from the former, this work relies on the long tradition of morphological studies, with a stronger reliance on the Italian school of Saverio Muratori and Gianfranco Caniggia, who best explained the interrelation between architectural typology and urban morphology, and displayed the continuity between the different scales of the city, whose form originates from individual types [77]. As the architectural project allows to bridge the universal and abstract dimension of the type to the specificity of the place [72], so does the very concept of typo-morphology as seen in Muratori’s studies on Venice. However, this alone would not be enough to explore how determined urban forms perform during events like the current pandemic. For this reason, this study embraces an empirical attitude that has supported the work of architects and planners since the 1950s in understanding the relationship between urban life and urban form in the broadest sense, from Alison and Peter Smithson’s CIAM Grid of 1953 [76] to Reyner Banham’s Los Angeles. The Architecture of Four Ecologies [4], another book that showed the emerging praxis of empirical observation, was soon after followed by Venturi et al.’s Learning from Las Vegas [91]. At that time, Jane Jacobs [46] was also challenging the experts’ view from the ordinary people’s standpoint, while more recently, Rem Koolhaas has made this approach accepted even in academia through his “Harvard Project on the City”, which led to controversial publications like Lagos: How It Works [53]. Given this double-sided theoretical framework, this research relies on both the abstract dimension of typo-morphology and the empirical observation of the Chinese urban reality during the pandemic (see also [47], often starting from “common, ordinary things” [46], p. 3). In doing so, the chapter allows reflecting on the relation between urban form, architecture typology and epidemic control policies in contemporary China.

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3 Typo-Morphological Features of the Contemporary Chinese City The study of residential settlement typologies in China is the starting point of this research. They have been widely investigated in the country, with most authors coinciding in classifying residential settlements according to two main criteria: political and socio-economic, on the one hand, and typo-morphological, on the other. Scholars focusing on the former dimension have stressed the distinction between the pre-1949 era, the Socialist planned economy system, and the post-1978 Open Policy period [60, 95]. In general, these authors classify contemporary Chinese settlements into five macro-categories: 1. Pre-1949 traditional courtyards houses organised in alleys like in the ancient Beijing hutong neighbourhoods [103] or in Shanghai lilong [105], as well as in colonial settlements in the concession areas of Shanghai or Tianjin [11, 27]. 2. Work units (danwei) developed under the Socialist planned system. These settlements combined workers’ housing with their factories in one or more large urban blocks, and included health, educational and cultural equipment [49]. Mostly built during the first three decades of the People’s Republic of China [68], they are now experiencing a constant decline in favour of new commercial housing compounds [12]. 3. Commodity housing compounds (shang pin fang) located in cleared and redeveloped central areas as well as in entirely new districts. The origin of these settlements is rooted in the micro-districts model imported from the Soviet Union in the 1950s as a response to more Westernized neighbourhood models (Tewei’ersikeyi [89], cited in Lu [66]) and can be seen as the final concretisation of the three housing reforms that took place in the 1980s and 1990s [70, 94]. In particular, the last reform (1998) transformed the house provisions from a welfare assignment of the work unit into a commodity asset under a market-oriented system [56, 87, 104]. This reform also aimed at transforming the real estate industry into a major economic sector (which has effectively pushed national growth in the last thirty years). These compounds are the most common residential settlements in contemporary Chinese cities, targeting the emerging middle and upper classes. They feature a high number of units and are mainly composed of medium and high-rise buildings. 4. Resettlement compounds that are realised to compensate the millions of farmers who have lost their agricultural lands and have moved to cities in the last two decades [43]. These compounds can be distinguished between permanent and temporary ones [106]. 5. Urban–rural villages that are enclaves located on the city fringes or wholly surrounded by commodity housing compounds, and their land is collectively owned [106]. On the other hand, several authors have proposed a different categorisation, which partially overlaps the former one. They illustrate the most notable and recurring

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urban types of housing estates and communities according to typo-morphological characteristics in a temporal range from the pre-1949 period to the present [82]. They include: 1. Traditional types encompassing both existing heritage sites and contemporary settlements that adopt the spatial principles of the historic urban fabric, such as the residential complex in Ju’er hutong by Wu Liangyong in Beijing [100]. 2. Parallel blocks type, introduced after the foundation of the People’s Republic, following Soviet housing models [82]. These settlements were built in peripheral areas, with two to five stories tall blocks, strictly oriented in an East–West direction, with the main façades facing the South. The Soviet model of the kvartal of five to seven stories was also introduced and adapted to the perimeter block configuration in that period and abandoned around the end of the 1950s. Both parallel and perimeter block types occupied large urban plots and served either simply as workers’ housing or as danwei settlements, thus also including factories. 3. Garden city neighbourhoods adopted soon after the People’s Republic of China foundation and abandoned in favour of the Soviet parallel block configurations around 1957 [82]. 4. High-rise developments usually built around the second half of the 1970s, mainly as a response to the increasing land scarcity and need to locate workers closer to their workplace. They were tall slab-block buildings with stairs and elevators located at intervals along their length and serving several apartment units. Highrise is also the most common type among the residential commodity compounds built after the 1998 housing reform to respond to the increasing land price. Post1998 real estate developments are characterised by a variety of block configurations and a mix of high and medium-rise buildings, a better quality outdoor environment and complementary sport, shopping and leisure facilities [3]. A few more diffused typologies can be added to this list, such as the gated singlefamily villa compounds [63] and the high-rise and high-density single buildings mainly located in city centres. These are the more recent urban residential development types that emerged due to multiple factors, including the increment in land prices, the growth of the Chinese middle class and the rapid in-fill development that densified cities, especially in the downtown areas. As seen, in the last decades, a large slice of contemporary Chinese cities has been developed in the form of commodity housing compounds, usually organised as gated communities, up to the point that today a large share of the Chinese population lives in this type of settlement (80% of urban population according to [98]). For instance, it is estimated that 80% of Shanghai’s new residential compounds built between 1991 and 2000 were gated communities ([107]—quoting Pu Miao), or that 43% of Wenzhou’s households lived in such type of settlement in 2010 [65]. This upward trend can also be read through the lens of governance homeownership, considering that the general public perceives gated communities as more manageable, safe and pleasant to live [23]. Indeed, we should note that the division into isolated selfsufficient units is not a contemporary or even modern urban phenomenon, as it can be

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traced back to the principles of traditional settlements during the feudal period. Then, “wall enclosure” and “walled courtyards” were the most prominent morphological characteristics expressing the idea of an introverted living configuration at the macro and the micro scales [102]. The traces of gated community layouts and living quarters are also still visible in remaining heritage sites in many Chinese cities. In Chang’an, the capital during the Tang Dynasty, for instance, the entire urban area was surrounded by walls and divided by an orthogonal street grid into 109 walled and controlled residential blocks called lifang, each of them divided into several courtyards [21]. According to [73] urban principle of “People-Based Zoning”, this type of block was designed to fully satisfy the necessities of its users, linked by a family or clan relationship, and so preventing contact with other lifang. In general, it has been argued that today’s lockdown urbanism thus fits into the long history of Chinese urban form in its relationship with social and administrative organisation [61]. In this context, contemporary gated communities of medium and high-rise buildings with facilities and amenities can be read as a typo-morphological object, as they consist of a relatively limited range of building typologies (medium and high-rise slabs, towers, villas) organised in a compound whose borders generally overlap with those of the whole city block. Since the late 1990s, cities have developed with a certain degree of consistency according to a specific morphology based on the extensive use of large plots (Fig. 2). These superblocks—alternatively named “megaplots”— usually measure between 300 and 500 m per side—but they can get up to 800 and even more—and are bound by wide arterial roads [22, 57]. They house up to 10,000 people with a density of between 200 and 900 residents per hectare [49]. Such configuration generally results from larger masterplanning projects and, at the street level, is characterised by partial active frontages of podiums of mixed-use commercial, retail and leisure smaller units, as well as large inactive frontages of fences or walls and greeneries.

Fig. 2 Large and “superblock” gated communities in three Chinese cities (Beijing, Ningbo, Guangzhou). Map data: Google, © 2021 Maxar Technologies. Reworked by the authors

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4 Superblocks, Gated Communities, and Urban Resilience This section explores life during the pandemic within large-scale Chinese gated communities, as described above, to identify attributes of resilience deriving from such morphology as well as ways in which prevention policies are implemented. To do so, we move from a first and obvious observation about an essential functional feature of compounds to add specific reflections about urban morphology, with particular emphasis on scale and green provisions. Gated communities are enclosed settlements accessible only by residents and authorised people. Controlled accessibility poses a major safety and security measure in practice. As the compound generally corresponds to the superblock, the city becomes a system of enclosed “islands” or enclaves [23], which all but the residents have to circumnavigate—whether by walking or driving—rather than freely crossing. This approach is also regarded as enclave urbanism [13], which provides minimal or no interaction between the urban blocks of the city. These “islands” are generally enclosed with fences or walls and by lower buildings mainly devoted to commerce (the podiums mentioned above). Several pedestrian, car and mixed accesses are under 24 h surveillance by CCTV cameras and security personnel. These features put such urban typology in an ideal condition for implementing all the social-control measures required during a lockdown period. As a matter of fact, throughout these periods, the majority of the access/entry points were closed, and the circulation was diverted to the main entrances. The security personnel rejected visitors and other people alien to the community at the entrance gate. Such control measures enabled immediate restriction on social activities and enhanced the opportunities for social distancing at a larger scale. At the entry points, residents’ temperature was regularly checked and annotated at every passage. More importantly, the security was also in charge of recording residents’ movements,1 by taking the records of the ins and outs through the main checkpoints. Residents imposed to stay under quarantine because of close contacts (positive are normally transferred to special facilities) were not permitted to leave the compound under any circumstances, with their doors under 24 h monitoring. At the same time, supplies were delivered by either the officials or community representatives/neighbours. As a practical measure, this has been crucial in reducing people’s mobility at a large scale, when during the strictest phase of the lockdown, families were allowed to send only one person for grocery shopping and purchase of essential goods every other day. Again, the control and compliance associated with this rule have been entrusted to the community security. All this was recognised as one of the primary prevention and safety measures which were implemented during the lockdown period and could be defined as policies of “close management of communities”. Such management has been implemented starting from 28th January 2020, with over 241 Chinese cities following 1

Communities are professionally managed by a private management company [44], which for example is in charge of implementing and coordinating the pandemic-prevention guidelines emanated by Jiedaos and District Governments during the lockdown.

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such policy by 20th February, while 123 implemented “outdoor family restrictions” ([81], p. 1156). And this has gone on until 2022. Without entering into a discussion about the legitimacy of such restrictions to personal freedom (by the time we write, they have been implemented in a large portion of the world), it is clear that enacting this control through security personnel would be difficult in many countries and for several urban types. Just comparatively looking at the number of accesses (or crossroads, if we shift to a public law enforcement point of view) that someone should control in two samples of one-square-kilometre city fabric in China and Europe may be sufficient to understand differences (Fig. 3. In the end, scale matters, as well as what could be seen as the application of the principle of both “vertical” (walls and gates) and “horizontal” (between zones, etc.) “spatial division”; something rooted in Chinese urban history, as Jianfei Zhu ([108], p. 75) explains for the case of imperial Beijing. To further dig into the social dimension of the issue, it is noteworthy that the availability of concierge service and private security for a residential compound appears to be different worldwide. Precise data are not available, but everyone’s experience makes evident that in Europe, concierge service is a feature of a varying percentage of middle-class apartment buildings and is rarely 24 h. In contrast, in the USA, such service is limited to upper-class condominiums. On the other hand, in Latin America is easy to find concierge and security even in lower middle-class buildings, whereas in China, as seen, it is basically ubiquitous. This may be a reminder of how in China, gated communities assume a different social connotation if compared to the West. It is well-known that gated communities got momentum in the USA from the 1990s

Fig. 3 Imagined road perimeter and access (white) and housing entry points (black) for a similar urban sector in Ningbo (China) and Paris (France). Map data: Google, © 2021 Maxar Technologies and Google Earth. Reworked by the authors

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[9],2 setting a model soon followed in many countries, for example, all over Latin America, as a response to the fear of crime, violence and even social contamination by the upper-middle-class. All this resulted in a more and more socially and spatially fragmented city, whose negative aspects have been extensively pointed out by the literature [10, 28, 29, 79]. Undoubtfully, socio-spatial inequalities are exacerbated by patterns of residential segregation, to which gated communities are not extraneous [18, 40, 93]. Similarly, there are no doubts about the fact that the current COVID-19 pandemic is hitting harder on low-income people and minorities: findings published by US media, for instance, highlight a higher death rate for Black and Latin communities in the country [50]. Therefore, despite the focus on gated communities and the emphasis given to aspects that the authors consider worth to be discussed, this chapter does not embrace gated communities as a general solution. It instead investigates them with a disenchanted eye and, more importantly, within a specific context: the Chinese city. Moreover, it is also important to remember that gated communities are a much more diffused and socially diversified reality in China than in other countries. As a matter of fact, they are not only rooted in Chinese urban history, as already shown, but they also represent the predominant type of settlements for every social class: from recently immigrated rural workers or displaced farmers living in relocation compounds or workers dormitories, to the urban élite inhabiting lavish high-rise, through all the strata of an increasingly ample and diversified middle-class. Therefore, the equation “gated community = social segregation” remains valid as long as compounds are inhabited by similar groups in terms of income and social position, but the same could be said for many (non-gated) socially homogenous neighbourhoods all over the world, while the interpretation of gated communities as an enclosed and separated world for the better-off has to be partially rejected for the case of China. To further delve into the functioning of Chinese gated communities during the pandemic, the relationship between urban form and policy efficacy should be better scrutinised [16]. The “close management of communities” appears to work better, or to create fewer negative impacts, in a “city of big islands”, with emphasis on “big”. As seen, the enforcement of movement control measures is evidently favoured, among other things, by the small number of access points to control. That said, it is necessary to remind that after the initial and generalised lockdown enacted in many Chinese cities in the early months of 2020, several more local lockdowns have been imposed in cities or just districts throughout the country. For example, in June 2020, following an increase in COVID-19 cases, the city of Beijing raised the alert response to Level II (the second highest of four), resuming “closed-off management” of communities, then requiring body temperature checks, registered pass, health code check and real-name registration [101]. By the end of the year, lockdowns have sometimes involved very limited urban areas, from a single community, as in Daixing, in the South of Beijing in January 2021 (Fig. 4), to larger areas, as in Dalian, where in the same period a partial lockdown has enclosed about 60 square 2

Nonetheless, since then, other trends have taken place in the USA, not last a general return to downtown areas by affluent and highly educated social groups [36].

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kilometres, creating a “key control circle” to and from which access was restricted (Fig. 4). When cases are recorded, residents of the building are isolated at home, and the community is sealed [85]. Again, such measures, coupled with others at different level [81], may or may not work regardless of the urban form. However, a simple drawing exercise on a map could show how a “city of big islands” is by far easier to control and (partially) isolate than one composed of small blocks. Figure 3 displays how Haussmann’s dreams of control might be even more effective in a Chinese city. On the other hand, to keep the “island” metaphor to explain the importance of scale further while considering Chinese gated communities, let us look at castaway novels: Daniel Defoe’s The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe or Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island were both set in well-inhabitable pieces of land, where, thanks to the ingenuity of the protagonists and the provision of natural resources, life could keep on going despite all the adversities. The same ingenuity would have been of little help in a tiny atoll, or a simple rock emerging from the sea. Therefore, the following paragraphs will further highlight some additional elements that large-scale Chinese gated communities commonly feature and that the authors consider of paramount importance to explain the bridge between resilience and urban form in times of pandemic. As “close management” and “outdoor family restrictions” (“stay at home”) have proven their efficacy in decreasing the transmission rate [81], p. 1160), this chapter addresses the link between the implementation of such measures, urban form, and people’s life under these conditions. Urban resilience, rephrasing the definition mentioned above [1], can mean the capacity of individuals and communities not only to survive but to live at their best during and despite a hazardous, even prolonged, event. From this perspective, another remarkable feature of the gated communities is the presence of more or less generous green space within the estate. This

Fig. 4 Selective lockdowns at community level (Beijing, left) and district level (Dalian, right). Map data (left): Baidu Map; (right) Google, © 2016 Landsat/Copernicus. Reworked by the authors

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changes according to many factors. In general, upper-middle-class compounds enjoy larger and better-designed green spaces than lower-middle-class ones. It is also still uncertain if the increase in green/blue infrastructure in the last decade has actually produced a better outdoor space, as this often lacks functional and ecological values or is simply used for parking lots [23]. On the other hand, in many cases, this outdoor has gained a certain prominence over the vehicular circulation, which is reduced to a simple ring in a broader green/soft ground or completely brought underground. At the same time, the design of this outdoor has become richer and more varied, with an increasing number of amenities for residents: not only a simple lawn surface but more sophisticated gardens with expansive plants, water bodies, swimming pools, playground, tennis courts, leisure walking paths, courtyards and plazas. Despite the pressure originated by land prices, it is not uncommon for residents of communities to enjoy a higher standard of green space than those imposed by planning codes. A study on Future Coast gated communities in Xiamen city, Fujian province, shows this and the necessity for the designers to precisely identify the users’ needs if they want residents to actually inhabit such spaces [98]. The intrinsic advantages of settlements equipped with a good provision of green space are self-evident. During a lockdown, this presence ensures that residents can relax in outdoor environments while children can play in the open air. The internal green infrastructure allows then safer outdoor activities without the need to leave the compound. This feature can be seen as crucial in the next months, or even years, as China continues experiencing intermittent or localised lockdowns. In this respect, what appears particularly important is not only the higher safety of an enclosed, controlled outdoor space—since COVID-19 does not spread outdoors as effectively as indoor [17]—as much as the possibility of having continuous access to such spaces during a lockdown. In this regard, lockdown periods have made even more visible the importance of urban green spaces [2, 90]. Neighbourhood-scale green areas conveniently located at walking distance for residents are certainly a feature of many European or North American cities, where density does not allow for enjoyable outdoor spaces within the inner part of the block, usually pierced by deep and narrow courtyards. On the opposite, living in a Chinese gated community may mean that there is no need at all to leave the premises to reach a green area (Fig. 5). Moreover, the variety of amenities allows a broad spectrum of possible open-air activities. Given the scale of such compounds, they may be compared to urban parks to a certain extent. A jogging route along the inner perimeter of a large gated community in China, for instance, is comparable to the distance of the same lap around a middle-sized urban park in Europe (Buttes-Chaumont Park’s perimeter in Paris is about 2.4 km; Ciutadella Park in Barcelona 2 km; Porta Venezia Park in Milan 1.8 km; Fig. 5), while the landscape, certainly less pleasant, would be anyway filled with vegetation and devoid of street noise and dangers like fast-running cars. Obviously, following this argument, it may be argued that US American suburbs with family houses provided with generous private gardens would represent an even better place to spend a lockdown in. Not by chance, Batty ([6], p. 551) warns that we may face a near future of “more sprawl as people seek to get away from big cities to small towns, we may see a growth in car travel and a decline in public transport”. Nonetheless, this chapter

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Fig. 5 Comparing space for outdoor activities: Jogging route in a gated community in China (Ningbo), Buttes-Chaumont Park in Paris, and Porta Venezia Public Gardens in Milan. Decathlon App Screenshot (left). Map data (from left to right): Google, © 2021 Maxar Technologies; Google, © 2016 Google Earth; Google, © 2016 Google Earth. Reworked by the authors

focuses on high-density urban settings and not on suburban ones (to neglect the many other negative effects that sprawl produces; [15]). Therefore, in the future, the possibility of safely—and autonomously—enjoying outdoor space during periods of lockdown may appear as a valuable feature in the real estate market as well as factors of resilience for the community, reinforcing the existing positive correlation between housing price and distance from green infrastructure, proven by several studies in China [44, 62, 52, 99, 97] as well as in the rest of the world [14, 31, 35, 51, 54, 62, 80, 84, 92]. Finally, the self-relying character of Chinese gated communities—as the legacy of the danwei era, when workers’ settlements included basic welfare and even cultural equipment—and the scale of such compounds define another typical feature worth to be discussed: the presence of a commercial podium facing some of the bounding arterial roads. To a certain extent, such characteristic constitutes a peculiar Chinese morphological declination of the residential compounds. As already mentioned, gated communities are deeply rooted in the urban tradition of China, and they were part of the traditional urbanism favouring the possibility of life within enclosed residential compounds with little contact with the main road. Also, such patterns featured a complementary condition, which includes the enclosure of the city block with low-rise continuous podiums predominantly devoted to commerce in the form of urban block frontages. As public space in China has always been intended as a linear space where commercial activities took place [73], it also produced a city of large (gated) residential blocks with retail units on its borders. As this research focuses on the relationship between typo-morphology and epidemic prevention, mitigation and adaptation in a framework of urban resilience, it is paramount to observe how commercial podiums are provided in some of the superblock fronts represents an

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excellent incentive for reducing mobility. The purchase of groceries and essential goods, as well as the presence of primary and secondary services, is conveniently located for residents. This convenience are often supported through direct access from the interior of the compound to the commercial units of the podiums. This possibility can reduce the contact with the exterior and helps in decentralise the supply of basic products. Rather than leaving the compound and reaching overcrowded supermarkets and malls, residents can count on various alternatives for their daily needs. In this sense, the resilience of the system is double-sided. Hence, during the lockdown, commercial activities can provide services and supplies to their nearby communities. In return, this also makes their business sustainable, even in difficult times of lockdown. Indeed, there are also cons to the situation. For example, workers of those retail units usually do not live in the nearby communities, at least not in middle and upper-class settlements. It can also be noted that, unlike in Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation, where a bunch of shops were located within the residential block, the presence of commerce in autonomous units allows proximity but also a clear separation. The same can be said regarding other equipment and amenities located within the compound, but usually not inside the residential blocks. This also differs from the model set by the Unité, where, for example, the kindergarten was located at the top of the building. Again, this can be seen as an advantage compared to blocks integrated with such services. In the end, following Le Corbusier’s metaphor on the ocean liners, which were the point of departure for the design of the Unité, this pandemic has shown how vulnerable cruise ships are. In these compounds, indeed, facilities like gyms, indoor swimming pools and clubhouses are generally autonomous; thus, easy to isolate with immediate effect but ready for use to allow residents to enjoy certain activities without leaving the compound. Finally, the study highlights the key elements of contemporary Chinese gated communities. While they provide high-density housing in urban contexts, their scale allows the presence of large green areas. Under this viewpoint, such a provision would not be enough to compete with what a US suburban house or a Latin American suburban gated community could provide in terms of private green space [71]. Nevertheless, while those settlements are devoid of any diffused commercial service, relying on shopping malls or commercial clusters at a short driving distance, a Chinese urban gated community usually includes a commercial podium that makes its ground floor active like any European street and potentially accessible also from the interior of the block (Fig. 6).

5 Conclusions Without embracing the gated community as a generic solution or proposing it as a global model for future disease outbreak events, this chapter reflects on the relationship between the common morphology of urban gated communities and resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case of compulsory isolation, a city of

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Fig. 6 Gated communities and active commercial frontage: urban gated community in Ningbo (China); suburban gated community in Bogotá (Colombia); urban block in Paris (France). Note also the different green provision of the three urban samples. Map data (from left to right): Google, © 2021 Maxar Technologies; Google, © 202o CNES/Airbus; Google, © 2016 Google Earth. Reworked by the authors

“islands” (or enclaves) appears more controllable than one of a different morphology. In this regard, the idea behind gated communities—the desire of isolating from the rest of the city and its dangers—is key, as it allows one to ‘dis-connect’ from the outside world. At the same time, its equipment and green provisions support life inside it. Interestingly to note, there have been some recent changes in Chinese policy on gated communities. While in the 1990s and at the beginning of the 2000s, older communities underwent interventions to enhance physical separation [74], in 2016, the Chinese State Council emanated a series of guidelines to ban gated communities in new developments to avoid the construction of an impermeable and fragmented city [49, 75]. It will therefore remain to be seen whether the pandemic will produce a setback or even a reversal in these policies, given the effectiveness by which gated communities can be controlled [59]. In our perspective, the key elements of resilience we identified originate from the overlap of the organisational and property form of the gated community with the morphology of the superblock. Only at this scale, indeed, it is possible to find a balance between isolation and the presence of essential services, amenities, and green space. This balance allows the residents of the compound to reduce their mobility needs and engage in various sorts of inner activities and recreational uses in their community. Of course, this comes with the price of constant and strict control, which the enclosed structure of the residential compound facilitates.

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Impacts of the ‘3-layered Quarantine Zone’ on Compartmented Urban Spaces Maycon Sedrez, Ali Cheshmehzangi, Linjun Xie, Tian Li, and Hang Zhao

Abstract The Coronavirus pandemic primarily affected urban populations due to its high transmissibility, constant mutations, and the unavailability of effective medication by far. As such condition continues, prevention and control interventions are still required in urban spaces worldwide. In China, the national Zero-COVID policy and stringent protocols have been implemented, and its subsequent measures managed to contain the disease in the second half of 2020 and most of 2021; however, not without a toll on people’s lifestyles, physical and mental health, as well as the economy. In 2022, the Chinese central government proposed a pilot policy called “Community Prevention and Control Measures” to be implemented in several cities. The CPCM recommends three zone levels, with different levels of control (i.e., prevention zone, control zone, and close zone). As some of the recently developed Chinese urban spaces are extremely compartmented in the form of gated communities, responding to regulations and type of urban structure, this urban form easily adapts to the required closed quarantine boundaries. This chapter describes the implementation of the 3layered policy in one of the pilot cities, i.e., Ningbo, China. This study examines the potential mobility of the policy by analysing its mutation and its impact on citizens. COVID-19 policies can be dynamic and often under constant changes according to different contexts. Using a qualitative research method, this chapter explores the implications of the policy on citizens and its mutability as the pandemic shifts. In conclusion, the applicability of the CPCM can be only effective for immediate response to initial cases in highly compartmented spaces, such as gated communities and urban blocks, and where strict control policies (to prevent the movement M. Sedrez (B) School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia e-mail: [email protected] A. Cheshmehzangi School of Architecture, Qingdao City University, Qingdao, China Network for Education and Research On Peace and Sustainability (NERPS), Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan L. Xie · T. Li · H. Zhao Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus, Ningbo, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_8

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of people) are sanctioned by the government and enforced by the authorities. Flexible boundaries suggest a balance between compartmentation and openness in future urban development. Keywords Cities · COVID-19 · Urban types · Urban form · Urbanism · Policy mobility · China

1 Introduction The Coronavirus pandemic primarily affected urban populations due to its high transmissibility, several mutations, and the unavailability of effective medication so far. These conditions generated an impact on the urban environment. For instance, mobility was heavily affected because transportation became a means of contagion due to the limited space for social distancing [1–3]. In addition, several spatial aspects might influence the COVID-19 infection, such as the city altitude [4], temperature and humidity [5], and physical structure [6]. Many cities focused on reducing human mobility and adopting non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), for example, facial masks. It is proven that facial masks can reduce the chances of infection, as reported by Rosenstrom et al. [7], Catching et al. [8], and [9], which allows more mobility in urban spaces. Since many aspects of COVID-19 transmissibility are difficult to control and aim at increasing prevention levels, the World Health Organisation [10] recommended four strategies: get a vaccination, wear facemasks, avoid closed and crowded spaces, and keep good hygiene. However, closed, and crowded spaces are ubiquitous in cities, thus controlling large-scale spreading requires social distancing, isolation, and even lockdown and quarantine. These practices are considered very effective in controlling the virus-spreading rate, especially in combination with regular testing [11]. However, there are challenges to mass quarantine, such as stress on mental health, increased vulnerability of the population, and respect for self-discipline [12]. But also, the limitation of public spaces in size and design [13] contributes to the overarching issue. In this complex context, governments had to develop, adjust, and implement policies at an incredible speed to reduce the spread of the disease. Some of these policies can be categorised as non-pharmaceutical interventions-oriented (NPIs-oriented) focusing on the mobility and public gatherings restrictions, and/or pharmaceutical intervention-oriented such as vaccination. For instance, according to [14], China reached the highest pandemic control score among 177 countries, meaning that its infection growth was the slowest, even though there was an initial delayed response to the pandemic. While China’s strict protocols and its subsequent policies seem to manage to contain the disease within the second half of 2020 and most of 2021, it is not without a toll on people’s lifestyles, physical and mental health, and the economy. Interventions in the urban environment, such as closing public spaces and excessive imposition of controlling regulations, require further observation.

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At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, China responded to this problem with full city-wide lockdowns and then implemented a Zero-COVID protocol. In fact, the severe and constant lockdown measures generated critical issues for citizens and the government of Chinese cities, including food availability, inadequate responses to the epidemic, extensive periods of quarantine, separation of children from families, violence, and ultimately urban exodus (i.e., a large number of the population leaving major cities). Mobility was severely affected, with most flights being cancelled indefinitely and a massive medical infrastructure implemented on bus, rail, and subway stations. Temporary COVID-19 testing places (mostly adapted containers) were implemented in key points of each city for daily testing. In early 2022, while the pandemic was assumed to be relatively controlled in China, many cities faced emerging COVID-19 hotspots across the country. As a response, the government proposed a new policy in several pilot cities called Community Prevention and Control Measures (CPCM—Xin guan fei yan yi qing she qu fang kong fang an), also known as the 3-layered policy. This policy is an evolution of previous and more rigorous attempts to avoid mass infections. The CPCM recommends three layers of closed zones imposing different levels of mobility controls (i.e., prevention zone, control zone, and close zone). This chapter discusses the implementation of the 3-layered policy in Ningbo, China, aiming to examine the potential mobility of the policy by analysing its mutation and its impact on citizens. Our analysis draws insights from the policy mobility literature, which is briefly discussed in the following sub-section. Using a qualitative research method, this chapter explores the implications of the policy on citizens and its mutability as the pandemic shifts.

1.1 Policy Mobility and Mobile Urbanism Public policies or regulations are essentially crafted to “promote efficiency or effectiveness” [15, p. 32]. For this reason, policies might be perceived as the correct answer for any context, which can be true for places with similar conditions [16]. Especially in divergent conditions, policies might transform and incorporate a mobile characteristic. In this sense, the concept of mobile urbanism is described by [17] as successful policies or actions implemented by cities that later are transferred to and reused in different contexts or evolve through time within the same context. This concept helps to describe the recent emergence of ready-made policy packages, creating specialised cities and a market for innovation. A policy’s mobility can be studied by researching the affected population by “following the source of a policy—its discourses, prescriptions, and programs” [15, p. 40]. Furthermore, the policy’s mobile characteristics can also be understood by its mutations. For some policies, the changes might take years or decades to be documented. But this is not the case with COVID-19 policies, they are changing at an impressive rate and transforming, appearing, and disappearing. Moreover, creating some changes and perceptions of urban spaces which will generate great challenges

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for urban designers and planners. Some of the main examples are the mobility restrictions, physical closure of spaces, redefinition of physical boundaries, and segregation of semi-public spaces [2, 3]. Tracing a policy mutation is argued by [17] as a method to investigate its effects on people. Therefore, the legislated urban environment’s interference with citizens’ life is questioned and physical responses to these laws become visible. Moreover, because these contemporary policies present mobile characteristics, they have the power to form spaces and territories, and they are globalised, the considered ‘good’ policies might prevail [18] even if their impact on people and urban spaces is somehow negative. For example, in 2002, the SARS outbreaks brought to light that physical boundaries were essential to stop the virus and the policies at that time, created an agenda against the carriers of the virus, which was replicated in several places [19]. In China, the COVID-19 pandemic brought extensive stress on governments and citizens, and the CPCM was proposed as an alternative approach to ease the burden caused by lockdowns in cities.

2 Materials and Methods This chapter’s methods are supported by qualitative research to reflect on the 3Layered policy. COVID-19 policies are dynamic and change according to different contexts, which impacts society in several ways creating multiple outcomes and indeterminacies. Thus, qualitative research helps focus on policy’s implications for citizens and its mutability as the pandemic shifts. The research adapts to the theories of [18] and [17] about ‘mobile methods’ in urbanism. It proposes a study through policies by performing an analysis of data in combination with observations [20]. The subject of study is the implementation of CPCM in the city of Ningbo. We study the policy and its impacts, reflecting on its outcomes. It is important to highlight that the CPCM aimed at the prevention and control of COVID-19 in the specific context of China, whereas Ningbo had zero cases from 22nd February 2020 to 07th December 2021, and from 09th January 2022 to 14th March 2022. The CPCM is the starting point for the research; this chapter investigates the policy implementation and the effects of controlling measures. The researchers’ own observations of the policy and other qualitative aspects are also considered to formulate this analysis (Fig. 1).

2.1 Community Prevention and Control Measure In April and March of 2022, the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron, caused a small city-wide outbreak of 76 cases in Ningbo, China [21]. Ningbo is a large city with approximately 9.4 million inhabitants and a population density of 958 inhabitants/ km2 on average [22]. Although the percentage of infected cases seems insignificant,

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Fig. 1 Research framework (Source The Authors)

the high density of people contributes to the fast spread of the virus. Moreover, the central government’s zero tolerance for COVID-19 required the immediate introduction of control measures. The city deployed the CPCM policy in February 2022 to contain the transmission of the virus by controlling the movement of infected and possibly infected citizens. The regulation defined a 3-layered zone structure composed of: 1. closed zones, 2. control zones, and 3. prevention zones, as presented in Table 1. The zones informed control measures and the principles to open the closed sites. The 14 days quarantine period is attributed to the COVID-19 incubation period, which was used to conduct the health monitory of the zones. The zones were implemented by identifying where cases were reported or where an infected person resides and works. However, other citizens who have visited these zones are also influenced and required to conduct self-quarantines or 10-days health monitoring. Ningbo’s CPCM zones were informed by boundaries that reflect the urban block configuration. In China, the urban administration system is hierarchical, often consisting of four layers: municipal level (shi), district level (qu), street level ( jie-dao), and neighbourhood level (she-qu). As the identification of new cases decreases, the control zones tend to be redefined, becoming smaller, or restricting to the building itself or even part of it. The map (Fig. 2) presents a record of the CPCM in April 2022, with 17 prevention zones, 17 control zones, and 19 closed zones across the City of Ningbo. The city also publicised information about places where infected citizens have visited to inform the population about the possibility of contact transmission (e.g., close contact) as prescribed by the CPCM. However, these places might not be subject to zoning classification. Asymptomatic cases were transferred out of their residential compounds and were recovered in centralised quarantine areas allocated and monitored by the local government. Other infected cases were transferred to the hospitalisation in quarantine facilities or in designated hospitals for relevant treatments. In the previous national recommendations, a high-risk zone would be considered for urban areas with more than 50 cumulative cases within 14 days [24] while the CPCM just requires 1 case, but the delimited zone is significantly smaller. The compartmented urban structure of Chinese cities contributes to the application of regulations such as CPCM. Most communities in China are in the form of gated communities, with closed and controlled boundaries and entrances or gates. The urban form itself creates an opportunity to have segregated urban communities

“Regional closure, staying at home, door-to-door service” 1. Closed-off management 2. Enhanced health monitoring 3. Enhanced nucleic acid detection 4. Terminal disinfection and environmental monitoring 5. Psychological care 6. Enhanced management

The residential areas of the infected persons and asymptomatic infected persons; and the surrounding areas with their frequent activities can be classified as closed zones From 2 days before the onset of the infected person or 2 days before the asymptomatic infected person tests positive to the quarantine management, if the person has a high risk of transmission to people in the working places or activity places, and it is difficult to trace the close contacts, the related areas can be classified as closed zone

Closed zone

Source Office of Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Statistic (2021); data is adopted and translated by the authors

“Cannot leave the zone, and no gatherings”. If a nucleic acid test is found positive in the zone, the zone will be transferred to closed zone 1. Strict traffic control 2. Restrict mass gatherings 3. Nucleic acid detection 4. Health monitoring 5. Disinfection of key areas 6. Publicity of laws and regulations

From two days before the onset of the infected person or two days before the asymptomatic infected person tests positive to the quarantine management, if the person has a certain risk of transmission to other people in the working places or activity places, and it is difficult to trace the close contacts, the related areas shall be classified as control zone

Control zone

“Strengthen social activities control, strictly restrict mass gatherings” 1. Traffic restrictions 2. Moderate people gathering limitations 3. Public places control 4. Publicity of laws and regulations

Within the same district of the confirmed positive case(s), but outside the control zones and closed zones

Prevention zone

Control measures

Dividing criterion

Zones

When the following conditions are met at the same time: 1. No new cases or asymptomatic infections in the zone in the past 14 days 2. The last close contact has been controlled for more than 14 days since the last exposure, and the nucleic acid test is negative Two days before the release of control, people in the zone complete a round of acid nucleic tests and are all negative

When the following conditions are met at the same time: 1. No new cases or asymptomatic infections in the zone in the past 14 days 2. The last close contact has been controlled for more than 14 days since the last exposure, and the nucleic acid test is negative 3. Two days before the release of control, people in the zone complete a round of acid nucleic tests and are all negative

When the control zones and closed zones in the district are defined as no risks

Principles of de-control

Table 1 COVID-19 community prevention and control plan issued by the joint prevention and control mechanism group of the state council in September 2021

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Fig. 2 Ningbo’s implemented 3-layered zones as of April 16th, 2022. (Source [23], data is adopted and generated by the authors using GIS)

or blocks in the city. The preferred and ubiquitous gated community type of urbanization, reminiscent of the familiar gated nucleus, creates rigid boundaries between public and private. Moreover, because these boundaries are physical and with very limited connections, they can be easily enclosed and controlled allowing restriction of gatherings. When more open urban types are implemented, the city administration efficiently raised temporary fences made of corrugated metal panels to isolate the spaces. The approach used for this policy did not reflect people’s needs in most cases. Closing communities for 14 consecutive days (or more) for home isolation requires considerable preparation to supply basic needs, including food and medicaments. Also, different age groups’ special treatments and living conditions cannot be ignored in such circumstances. Another aspect is that, because of the large number of isolated people, the required quantity of daily supplies is enormous, and supermarkets’ shelves

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are quickly emptied out. Nevertheless, none of these aspects is adequately recognised in the policy, leading to unexpected problems and temporary chaos, while creating extra costs and work for the government. Hence, the extra burden is on communities, community managers, and local governments. Shi et al. [25] list 28 key policy tools adopted in cities in China to evaluate the impact of mixed policies on the pandemic response. These policies are divided in three groups: restrictions (lockdowns, quarantines); health protection measures (public testing, contact tracing); and socioeconomic support measures (living/income support, debt relief). In general, these tools overload government operations, and most of the 36 investigated cities deployed all 28 tools. More recently, several cities announced that the COVID-19 tests will not be free of charge any longer, as the regular tests cripple the local economy, which is also not sufficiently considered by the policy at the beginning. Some other cities have already stopped free COVID-19 testing, e.g., Chongqing, Chengdu, Sanya, etc. The impact of restrictive measures might help on controlling the spread of the virus but could, at the same time undermine the city’s economy and citizens’ well-being [25]. To discuss the impacts of CPCM on urban spaces in detail, we investigated the CPCM implementation in one of the zones in Ningbo in April (Fig. 3). On April 12th, 2022, one positive case was detected in the Zhejiang Wanli University area, and three zones implemented in the same day until April 22nd. Within the prevention boundary, there is a university, a park with public facilities (e.g., a police station), several business blocks and gated communities. The boundary was delimited by natural elements (such as rivers), existing walls and fences, and temporary metal fences installed by the city administration. Main roads were free for traffic, but secondary roads could be blocked. The three defined zones follow the lines of existing urban elements, and because these elements are segregated by physical barriers (walls, bushes, fences, etc.), it is simple and convenient to close these sites. Within the prevention zone (yellow outline in Fig. 3), two typical urban blocks can be observed. The first type is a contemporary Chinese urban block with a full commercial ground floor separating the living spaces from the public spaces (Fig. 4). The second type is a common Chinese gated community consisting of a partial commercial plinth located in the main entrance and fences closing the remaining boundaries (Fig. 5). These types of urban blocks help to exemplify the compartmentalisation of the spaces, allowing rigid boundaries in urban spaces to persist. They occupy the entire block and do not allow any permeability for pedestrians, unless living in the units. In both cases, it was very simple to quickly implement control of people’s movement because of these design conditions. Reinforced by the existing urban regulations, this can be perceived as a good urban pattern by the authorities, and thus, is likely to be continuously encouraged in the future.

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Fig. 3 One of the CPCM zones in the south of Ningbo in april 2022: Zhejiang Wanli university case. Yellow: prevention zone; orange: control zone, red: closed zone. (Source Generated by the authors using GoogleEarth, Maxar technologies 2022) Fig. 4 Contemporary urban residential block with full commercial plinth and mixed-used program (Source Generated by the authors using GoogleEarth, Maxar technologies 2022)

Fig. 5 Common gated urban residential block with partial commercial plinth (Source Generated by the authors using GoogleEarth, Maxar technologies 2022)

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3 Discussion and Implications In 2020, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), such as facial marks requirements, quarantine zones, contact tracing, and social distancing, were the only options to reduce the virus infection [26]. With the development of vaccines and faster acid-nucleic tests, NPIs can be more effective, and in combination with the zoning measures, helped prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection in Chinese cities. This situation required many efforts, such as massive regular testing and, most of all, collaboration from the population. In general, the CPCM is demonstrated to be successful in controlling COVID-19 spread in Ningbo. The CPCM was issued on 28th February 2022 and implemented on 15th March 2022, the final zone was relieved on 14th May 2002, and the policy was not reused (to date, as of December 2022). On the other hand, the home isolation in combination with control zones required a massive mobilisation of the community and especially government, which should ensure food supply, 24/7 monitory of people’s movement for 14 days (or longer) and provide COVID-19 testing equipment and staffing at designated zones. Gradually the control measures evolved to be carried out by installing sensors and cameras at the front door of the person in quarantine. Yet, the situation remains with the original approach of isolation and lockdown, following the earlier Zero-COVID policy that suggests the immediate closure of compounds for case detection, people relocation, and imposing high-level control and safety measures. The CPCM is an effective tool compared to district-wide and city-wide lockdown approaches, which ultimately affect a larger population. Previously, cities and districts would face complete closure and lockdowns, which created worrying concerns for local governments and communities. In fact, such measures were still practised for a much more extended period in several cities and regions across the country—some that lasted for more than three months. Despite the CPCM attempt trial, the closure of districts and neighbourhoods was still practised in many cities across China until November 2022. For instance, in early-to-mid October 2022, the north-eastern district of Beilun in Ningbo faced another round of complete districtlevel lockdown due to the sudden emergence of a small outbreak. This specific small outbreak was caused by an inbound traveller from outside the city, and infected cases were soon spread across the district. The immediate measures were to detect the close contacts and close specific areas where potential hotspots were found. Soon, the mobility in and out of the district was completely cut, leading to a temporary lockdown of the entire district. In addition, the city must be prepared with resources and staff to maintain the controlled zones since the lockdown at the right time is still efficient to control the outbreak [25]. Before the CPCM, most cities adopted a three layers strategy defining high-, medium- and low-risk areas, usually considering large portions of the cities such as districts, sometimes the whole city was classified as high-risk, causing numerous problems. Meanwhile, the CPCM smartly incorporated small-scale urban units, for instance, the building or the block. Currently, Chinese cities replaced the three layers

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(high-, medium-, low-risk) with two layers (high- and low-risk) approach; and in December of 2022, due to societal unrest caused by mental and economic stress on citizens, many of these policies are being dismantled, for instance, COVID-19 negative tests are no longer required to enter public spaces. Compartmented spaces form a unique urban feature of Chinese cities (e.g., zoning, gated communities, etc.). Such urban form at a large scale makes the CPCM feasible for implementing immediate control and safety measures. However, it is extremely difficult to adopt such an approach in other types of urban configurations, i.e., nongated communities. While the context-specific measure proved effective, it was abandoned because it required rapid response by all actors and large mobilization of people. Since the new disease variants could spread even faster, the spatio-temporal approaches could partly work, but only if the first infected case could be identified at the micro level. Once the disease spreads, the local governments could find it challenging to restrict mobility only in and out of neighbourhoods or communities at the meso-scale. The fast spread of variants like Omicron has led to almost uncontrolled conditions, such as in cities like Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Lanzhou, Shanghai, etc. However, we note various variables need to be considered, such as economic status, mobility patterns [27], and other factors that could lead to higher chances of disease spread at various scales. This study is limited by only using Ningbo as a case study and the piloted policy lasted for a short time. However, it provided us with an opportunity to see how impacts could be mitigated and controlled, if local communities could detect infected cases fast, and if the district-level authorities and the municipal-level governments could act immediately. The 3-layered policy was piloted as part of a trial for the later imposed dynamic Zero-COVID approach to ensure health is prioritised, but the economy is not neglected. However, many local governments could not risk spreading the disease beyond the confined and controlled zones. In this chapter, we focused more on this piloted policy. In contrast, a comparison with other approaches could also create more in-depth discussions concerning the feasibility, implications, and pitfalls of such an approach. The other limitation is that disease spread is based on numerous variables. A modelling approach that can develop different scenarios based on a real case could have helped us to identify what could have occurred if the stringent measures were not implemented. Such modelling study can enable spatio-temporal analysis of the disease spread and evaluate them against each other by altering the variables. The scenarios from such a methodological approach could lead to better discussions, but at the same time, could pay attention to some important factors that require more scientific input. Hence, we limit the study only to evaluating the actual real case, how the 3-layered policy worked and how it helped minimise the outbreak’s larger-scale impacts at the district and city levels. The third limitation is related to methodology, which is primarily based on the limitations of data and accessibility to a more detailed set of data. For instance, based on our research and reviews, none of the government reports highlights the reasoning behind the boundaries for each case and zone. The data is not accessible for us to verify the methods behind such decision-making. Also, the data only shows

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the number of cases and the estimated time and space where the infected cases were identified. Such data cannot be fully accurate as the time of infection cannot be easily tracked. Thus, the data could only rely on the recorded mobility patterns in specific spaces/areas in a particular timeline. Another discussion point here is related to the pitfalls of the 3-layered policy and perhaps focused on the reasons why the policy, despite its effectiveness, was discontinued in a city like Ningbo. One of the main pitfalls is responding to citizens’ needs, mainly by relocating adequate resources and staff to maintain the controlled zones. The other aspect is related to the speed of response to the conditions and whether the number of cases could be a few rather than too many in various places. If clustered in one unit or compound, it seems feasible to create three zones, ensure mobility is minimised/limited, and track and trace any infected and close contact cases. However, in most cases, the disease is spread randomly and widely than just limited to a compound level. While the new national government policy suggests lockdown and quarantine measures should be applied only at the micro-level, such as the unit or building level, it is still not feasible to do such micro-management of units. At the same time, the disease could spread to many locations if the infected person is mobile. The more recent smaller outbreaks in Ningbo at a university compound, identified on the 24th of November 2022, suggest the difficulty of tracking the infected cases quickly even with the use of big data. In such incidents, the local government only allows for a short period to complete mass testing and have the results ready to take further action. While the decision-making could take only a few hours, the actual implementation of relocating staff and resources could take a much longer time. Thus, the impact could be severe as the disease could spread before the unit-level closure occurs. For a smaller number of infected cases and only a few hotspots, it is feasible to apply a 3-layer policy. However, once the number of cases increases quickly, the closure of larger-scale areas, even at the district level, seems to be an easier way of monitoring the situation.

4 Concluding Remarks In conclusion, the applicability of the CPCM relies on immediate response to initial cases in highly compartmented spaces, such as gated communities and urban blocks, and where strict control policies (to prevent the movement of people) are sanctioned by the government and enforced by the authorities. This approach is contextspecific and only applies to places where such a closed urban layout is presented in the city or neighbourhood’s structure. We can argue concerning the pros and cons of gated communities and how such configuration could provide opportunities for adaptive planning, spatial arrangements, and resource allocation. Nonetheless, we do not necessarily advise planning and designing cities of large disconnected and impermeable urban enclaves.

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Understanding local contexts is crucial for crafting effective policies and measures. Future studies can delve into the relationship between cities’ response options towards emergencies (such as the COVID-19 pandemic, but also can be in the context of natural disasters, for example, flooding), and urban forms, densities, patterns, and management/governance characteristics [28]. Also, by considering the long-term impact of both the pandemic and the response measures, studies are encouraged to take a longer-term perspective, examining the immediate and longterm effects. In this regard, we may be able to consider ways of enhancing the planning and designing of cities, as well as policies that could be effective, inclusive, and adaptive. In sum, the study of the piloted 3-layered policy that was implemented earlier in eight Chinese cities is a good example to consider a balance in better monitoring of disease hotspots and economic stability of the district or city, where smaller disease outbreaks occur or reoccur. However, the management of neighbourhoods and communities through such policies would require accurate data and immediate response in the context of the developing situation of the outbreak. The policy can potentially be deployed in future emergency scenarios; however, the compartmentalization of spaces must be carefully considered to avoid the generation of segregated communities and lifeless cities. This chapter provides more of a narrative concerning the impacts of the ‘3-layered Quarantine Zone’ on Compartmented Urban Spaces. This approach is very much context-specific, but lessons could be learnt regarding utilising mobile urbanism in policy development and decision-making during disruptive disease outbreaks. Acknowledgements Ali Cheshmehzangi would like to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for the provision of funding for project number 71950410760.

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Socio-Spatial Micro-Networks: Building Community Resilience in Kenya Asma Mehan, Neady Odour, and Sina Mostafavi

Abstract The adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have exposed the lack of multi-scalar community resilient strategies that catalyze the development of alternative coping mechanisms for future challenges. To address the immediate needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups, especially in times of crisis, as evidenced by the pandemic, micro-networks within communities have mitigated and reduced harm through self-devised ingenuity based on local ways of life. Socio-spatial micronetworks have the potential to empower communities to self-organize, engage, collaborate, co-design, co-build, and connect with other communities to improve their resilience. This paper focuses on the impact of micro-networks of care, participatory action research, community health, solidarity and mutual aid in Nairobi (Kenya), comparing their resilience strategies, pre- and post Covid-19 pandemic era. Through analytical, empirical, and comparative studies, this paper envisions viable ways of augmenting and enhancing self-devised, self-sufficient, and resilient culture in marginalized communities in Africa and worldwide. Keywords Community resilience · Micro-networks · Participatory action design research · Digitalization · Kenya

1 Introduction Cities in the so-called Majority and Minority world countries face various crises and challenges such as pandemic outbreaks, shrinking economies, war, poverty, climate change, inequality, exclusion, violence, and environmental threats. The current global plan for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is focused highly on the technical, governmental, and ecological perspectives. There is A. Mehan (B) · S. Mostafavi Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA e-mail: [email protected] N. Odour Altopia, Nairobi, Kenya © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_9

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a knowledge gap in the Minority world countries’ local communities’ social, historical, cultural, and economic circumstances [1–3]. A thorough analysis of microlevel and multi-scalar local responses to urban precarity and marginality shows the various approaches of communities regarding health, environmental crises, and local resources [4]. This leads to an urgent need to analyze and restructure the power and politics in conjunction with the socio-economic factors that often determine how vulnerable local communities in developing countries respond to health, natural, and built environmental challenges. Social support, cohesiveness, and a sense of connection to others also have been found to reinforce resilience [5]. Another key factor is adaptability, the ability to remain flexible in adversity and use creative, nontraditional coping strategies. Mutual aid refers to the benefits associated with individuals helping one another. Resilience and negative growth are fostered through the multiple helping relationships between micro-community members [6]. The experience of being with others with similar life challenges is empowering as members discover that they are not alone. This realization has been variously referred to as the “all-in-the-same-boat phenomenon” and “universality” [7, 8]. According to Knight and Gitterman: “Group members of a micro-network walk in the same shoes and, therefore, have a keener understanding of each other’s life stressors, challenges, and distress. Their support and demand for work have an extraordinary impact, given the credibility that comes with being in the same boat. Members’ shared experiences promote cohesiveness and enhance self-esteem and self-efficacy, promoting resilience [9]. Achieving resiliency requires a practice of acknowledging the past, being attentive to the communities affected by the deterioration of the ecosystem, and building policies and measures on principles of solidarity and aid. In others words, governments must aim to repair through accountability and to refrain from propagating narratives on vulnerability and resilience [10]. The pandemic highlighted the diversity of actors such as urban authorities, activists, policy-makers, public citizens, NGOs, and various private and non-private stakeholders and the variety of territorial scales for impacts of imminent threats and hazards on the long-term development in terms of enhancing the resiliency of communities [11]. Through studying the dynamic and innovative urban experiences of individuals, communities, groups, and institutions with special attention to micro-networks, participatory processes offer alternative approaches to disaster management. Instead of explicit top-down and bottom up approaches, working with micro-networks allows us to include diverse perspectives of communities that are experiencing marginalization and socio-environmental disasters. Thus, the interactions and exchanges between different actors, ideas, and practices across various geographies and scales are central to enhancing community resilience and global development plans [12, 13]. This becomes important when seeking to rethink how the strategies and responses ‘from below’ interact and exchange with the institutional and governmental arrangements to transform, cope with, or/and adapt to contemporary urban crises. In response to the contemporary challenges, the theoretical background of our work addresses three majors research themes including the pandemic challenges, co-design strategies, and digitalization. First and foremost, the adverse effects of the

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Covid-19 pandemic outbreak have exposed the lack of multi-scalar, trans-regional, long-term and sustainable community resilient strategies [14]. This is also, in line with United Nations 2030 (Sustainable Development Goals/SDGs), there is an urgent need for the development of alternative long-term coping mechanisms for future challenges. The second pillar built upon the notions of Co-design and Micro-networks with the context of p re- and post-Covid 19 pandemic era, and post-pandemic Urbanism. The Covid-19 pandemic has presented a unique opportunity to reconsider the strategies for urban and community policy making, planning, and designing. Empowering communities through participatory and intelligent design is important because many of the world’s populations depend on socio-communal living for survival. Post-pandemic strategies should consider that we might at this epoch be preparing for other pandemics or natural disasters, we must therefore analyze and speculate how the communities around us will exist. It is essential to envision viable ways of augmenting the self-sufficient building and co-design construction of the marginalized communities worldwide [15, 16]. The third part of this paper is focused on the case study analysis in Kenya as an urban living lab. To alleviate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, various players have worked alongside government and local authorities. With Nairobi as the core case study, this research aims to analyze various local and regional actors, their actions, counter-actions, and contributions towards enhancing the micro-social networks. The goal is to assess their effects on fostering community resilience for future urban areas. The importance of micro-networks in Nairobi, Kenya during the pandemic is evident in their efficiency at providing urgent solutions to problems associated with the pandemic. In this context, this work aims to theorize and exemplify the importance of community engagement and citizen participation in providing resilient strategies for active citizen participation through the digital agency. The importance of formal/informal micro-networks and local aids in various communities within Nairobi city and its environs is studied. Case studies are outlined for their contribution to fostering community resilience and their potential to influence extensive networks and their subsequent constructive impact on the urban fabric.

2 Theoretical Framework: Community Resilience and Micro-Networks The Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis exhibited the seriousness and urgency of the need for collective, multi-scalar, and multi-lateral resilient responses from various actors and sectors of the society to urgencies to reduce inequality, and poverty [15, 17]. The pandemic highlighted the diversity of actors such as urban authorities, activists, policy-makers, public citizens, NGOs, and various private and non-private stakeholders and the variety of territorial scales for impacts of imminent threats and hazards on the long-term development in terms of enhancing the resiliency

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and sustainability of cities [18]. This diverse makeup will allow the critical and multiscale analysis of the different aspects and actors of climate change challenges and the resilient urban future transitions. With ongoing and increasing uncertainties in place, accelerated by the pandemic, various governments responded to how city systems can adapt to these situations, especially when dealing with high levels of uncertainty and the non-linearity of a pandemic outbreak. Moreover, community has often been conceptualized as a small and clearly bounded geographic unit or a homogeneous social structure, assumptions that neglect the diverse and conflicting interests of resource users. Critical scholars have stressed the multiple interests of actors and their different abilities to influence decisionmaking processes, along with the roles of internal and external socio-economic and political institutions [19, 20]. Hence understanding community characteristics and the socio-economic, political, and institutional processes that shape vulnerabilities and insecurities is crucial to understanding community resilience [21]. We argue that urban resilience can be met through planning within the complexity of social entities, spatial actors and their heterogeneity. In better words, the “plurality and diversity of individual records provide the transformative agent that is critical for adaptation, implementation, inspiration and innovation” ([15], p. 2). It means that ‘resilient communities’ have organizational skills in the management of people and resources, have resourcefulness, invention, and entrepreneurship, and experiment, acting beyond what belongs to established practices, often in unfavorable economic conditions. The concept of resilience has a long history in the local communities, which is embedded in their culture around shared values giving them a strong dedication to collaboration on diverse social and environmental challenges. Providing a holistic or universal multi-benefit response from this wide variety of actors with varying interests to a diverse, complex, and sometimes unpredictable range of changes is a significant challenge to overcome, but co-design opportunities co-exist [1, 22]. To respond to the growing uncertainties and major threats and hazards (such as environmental, political, and economic), the increasing complexity, and to enhance the adaptive capacity of the communities through time, the general concept of resilience is continuously evolving to be able to appropriately respond to the societal, political, cultural, and environmental needs of the people and society [23]. In another definition, community resilience is the “capacity of a distinct community to absorb disturbance and reorganize while changing to retain vital elements of structure and identity that preserve its distinctness” [24]. So, in this definition, maintaining the collective identity is critical in resilient systems. Many scholars and activists see strengthening the community-based micronetworks as a crucial means of achieving more sustainable use of environmental resources and a more inclusive and just future for humans and more than human habitats and settlements [25, 26]. These micro-networks community are able to allow the commonors of the community the right to sustain and organize themselves as self-governing collectives [27]. It is important to note that we found the concept of micro-community in social media like Facebook groups. In this definition, A micro-community is an online

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community made up of less than 30 members. Oftentimes, they’re part of an online course, an online coaching group, or a larger virtual community. However, in our research, we used this term in a different and wider concept by not limiting it to the numbers or online platform. By using the term ‘micro-networks’ and ‘micro-community’, our aim is to emphasize the community-based building practices which highlights the shared infrastructures. Community-based micro-networks are receiving scholarly attention as they embody practical approaches to enhance community resilience against marginalization. According to [28], “the tension between the perceived moral and responsible individuals, communities and localities, and their identification as rational economic actors, whose decisions are solely motivated by the cost–benefit analysis of their self-interests, remains high, and finding ways of bridging the two remains a critical challenge” ([28], p. 98). Governing local micro-networks in an urban context could be about finding the right path to regulate something as dynamic, spontaneous, and agile as a community. These bottom-up local initiatives encourage the community ownership of locally relevant innovations. As a form of collective agency through participatory processes, community resiliency is produced through care, mutual aid, and solidarity during the pandemic. Learning from the case studies of this research in Kenya, the main aim is to unpack strategies, perspectives, and novel approaches that frame the potential inclusive future post-pandemic urbanisms a micro-society can collectively produce.

3 Methodological Framework: Participatory Action Research and Co-design Strategies Participatory action research approach designed to establish a close association between the researcher and participants with an empirical basis designed and carried out in close association with an action or solving a collective problem [29]. Intervention in practice and production of knowledge are two main aspects in action research methodology [30]. From a methodological point of view, through emphasizing the notions of participatory action and co-design strategies developed for the marginalized communities, our work benefits from research-led design studios and action research projects coordinated and conducted by authors across different geographies. Exemplary results of these explorations are tested in various contexts and communities with different environmental and social challenges [12, 18]. As an example, in the Cubes of Rio project, a programmable system for the participatory revitalization of favelas in the port city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is proposed. The favelas residents are in general marginalized communities that are not heard by the authorities, hence their basic needs, such as access to clean water employment issues, are left poorly attended [31]. With sets of user-driven inputs and quantitative environmental analysis data, the proposed system searches for multiple optimum solutions a customizable, aiming

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Fig. 1 Top: Cubes of Rio: Programmable and participatory design to production systems in favelas, Bottom: Path of Roma, empowering marginalized communities in the City of Constanta in Romania both as part Cobotic Production of Resilient Communities research-led studio. Source Authors

to turn research scarcity and socio-urban challenges into opportunities for urban regeneration through urban farming (Fig. 1). A participatory approach keen on contextual design challenges is key to co-design and co-build. Such participatory approach is explored in the project titled, ‘The Woman’s Craft Village’ based in Turkana in Kenya, which addresses the unique circumstances of a group of women marginalized by their community [32]. The contribution of different kinds of women about what they would desire from space was vital in mapping out and analyzing their activities. Visual mapping allowed for a context-specific, culturally conscious and functional design methodology. The project with a robust feminist lens is keen on using digital design methodology as a tool for addressing structural and societal inequalities (See Fig. 2).

4 Case Study Profile: Nairobi, Kenya Kenya is a country in Eastern Africa with a population of 53.7 Million, 28% of which live in urban areas. According to the WHO Covid-19 data, as of February 2022, Kenya had over 322,545 reported cases of Covid-19 since the pandemic in March 2020, with over 5633 reported deaths. Nairobi, the capital city and largest urban center in Kenya, remains the epicenter of the virus, with over 100,000 infections reported with a running infection rate of 0.7% as of February 2022. Nairobi accounted for one-third of these infections, with other urban areas in central, western, and coastal Kenya with slightly lower infection rates. There are stack demarcations between urban, rural, arid, semi-arid, and highland regions of the country. These demarcations are also visible in the strategies employed by the government the Ministry of Health in collaboration

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Fig. 2 The Woman’s Craft: Center of refuge for women, an advocacy center, social justice education, and woman-robot collaboration research center. Exploring the potential role of emerging design and fabrication technologies in local crafts in Kenya. Source Authors

with health. Kenya is divided into counties through devolved governments. Each of the 47 counties with guidelines from the Ministry of Health utilized countryspecific strategies to address the effects of the pandemic (MOHKe). With the first Covid-19 case reported on 12th March 2020, the Kenyan government, courtesy of agencies like the National Emergency Response Committee (NERC) and the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), outlined various strategies to slow the spread of the virus and prevent a countrywide health exigency. (Executive order no. 2 of the National Emergency Committee on Coronavirus, Executive office of the President 28/02/2020). These included but were not limited to the rigorous contact tracing methodology, a suspension of incoming flights and non-essential travels, the schools’ closure, nonessential public space closures, including restaurants, bars, pubs, cinemas, gyms, public gatherings, etc., and the countrywide curfew enforced by the local law enforcement. Kenya holds one of the largest refugee camps, Kakuma, comprising three centers of 200,000 refugees and asylum seekers, and Dadaab with 150,000 refugees. With looming fears of closure since 2016 by the Kenyan government, anxiety heightened in the wake of Covid-19 as the effects of the virus spread across the camps. In the meantime, groups within the camps set out to counter the effects of the pandemic with awareness programs led by youth and women groups. Pre-pandemic, micro-networks manifested in various ways in Nairobi as a core part of the social structure of different social units. Some of these can be seen in community groups that drove community development, local table banking groups popularized by women chamas that gave rise to similar groups for collective fundraising and savings [33], the Nyumba Kumi initiative, which was heralded by local government to augment the work of security forces as a form of community policing that according to [34] also fostered cohesion and integration. During the

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pandemic, similar models cropped up across various urban communities to alleviate the effects of Covid-19 at both community and governmental levels. The new urban and rural experiences and public health innovations include foot-pedal handwashing stations, incubators and ventilators, solar-powered vaccine storage (vacci-box), and handwashing campaigns to corporate social responsibility. Alongside the governmental measures in Kenya, in the following parts, some examples of the community design strategies and approaches across the various sectors, actors, and communities have been introduced and examined.

4.1 Community Design Action Strategies: New Urban Practices and Innovations In this section, the main aim is to elaborate on how the various micro-communities and micro-networks in Kenya’s urban and rural areas worked to alleviate the effects of the pandemic. While government and localized strategies were employed, they were not far-reaching, and many communities had to devise contextual methods to survive by themselves. With the CDC (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Kenya Global Health Program) recommending vigilant handwashing and disinfection as a deterrent to infection, hand sanitizing was encouraged by health organizations across the country. In low-income areas where hand sanitizers were not readily accessible, the foot-controlled handwashing station was devised to cater for sanitation. The local communities liaise with local craftsmen to fabricate handwashing stations (Fig. 3). The handwashing station is made up of a refillable water tank, tap, and wastewater collection reservoir and is placed at the entrance of every building with guards ensuring usage by all incoming users (Fig. 3). With every public space required to have them, local artisans were sourced to fabricate various designs and types of handwashing stations. The practice is now commonplace in most Urban areas in Kenya, which has led to an urban awareness of hygiene and health practices, which

Fig. 3 The Foot-pedal and refillable hand washing station is found at the entrance of public buildings. Source Authors

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lends the question of formulating new urban practices to enhance resilience. When health officials raised concerns about the touching of taps by many as a possible site for infection, the foot pedal mechanism was devised and co-designed as an adaptive solution. The foot pedal hand wash station allowed for control of the water and soap without much contact by users. It also ensured the station remained clean after multiple uses. Various designs were created across various towns, varying in type from material and mechanisms. To enable distribution across various entrances, local governments, health centers, and businesses commissioned local artisans to make the stations and distribute them. The hand wash stations are now a staple across buildings in Nairobi city and have greatly influenced urban hygiene practices.

4.2 Community Design Action Strategies: Augmenting Innovation in Nairobi’s Low-Income Areas The government-enforced strategies immediately framed the pandemic as a health emergency, and all enforcements considered the health implications above all, with social distancing and masks. In low-income areas where hand sanitizers were not readily accessible, makeshift handwashing mechanisms were devised. In the lowincome area of Dagoretti, the hand wash station below, found at the entrance of a local eatery, drains directly into an informal sewer. This could still pose a risk to residents as the water from handwashing exposes them to further infection. There were already, before the pandemic, glaring disparities in the distribution of sanitation and water facilities, especially in low-income areas in Nairobi [35]. To further build resilience, partnerships with urban planning and social services should go hand in hand. The one pictured in Fig. 2 is a plastic jerrycan with a tap soldered onto it. Water is refilled from the top, which is cut off. Soap is also provided for hand washing. However, the wastewater is not collected and drains into the drain next to it. This still poses health challenges in areas where drainage and sanitation are not formally planned. It is therefore vital to augment the production in low-income areas to ensure complete protection from precarious conditions (See Fig. 4).

4.3 Community Design Action Strategies: Mutual Aid and Solidarity Networks The economic downturn due to the enforced curfews and lockdowns was felt most by low-income areas and workers in the informal sector. Coupled with furloughs and industries shut down due to government restrictions, the implications on the populace meant that many people could not cater to their daily basic needs. While there was government intervention in the forms of tax reductions and stimulus payouts, it did not cater to a significant number of the urban population. Mutual aid is the voluntary

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Fig. 4 The hand washing station in low-income areas. Source Authors

act of solidarity within communities to address contextual needs [36]. It also happens without a central government, as there is a natural predisposition to help one another in times of crisis. Micro-networks of mutual aid covered greatly where the government could not reach. Mutual aid builds upon social capital and the connections within communities [37]. This social capital is dependent on the links and ties between individuals in communities. The levels of social ties, whether weak or strong could determine the kind of mutual aid provided during times of crisis [37]. Mutual aid is built into the fabric of Kenyan societies, the nationalized concept of Harambee which translates to “pull together” best defines the communal spirit enshrined into Kenyan society [38]. Harambee, a concept popularised after Kenya gained independence called for pulling of resources by all people during a period of scarcity in an infantile but hopeful nation. It is visible through the fundraising that enables burials, weddings, and school funding. practice was even further during the pandemic through food and essential donations. These could not be possible without the informal micro-social networks that drive mutual aid in various communities across Kenya. Households joined together through neighborhoods, courts, familial ties, and initiatives such as the Nyumba Kumi Initiative, a bottom up initiative by local authorities that started as community policing between ten households in each neighborhood, that morphed into social welfare groups [34]. Such localised welfare groups banded together to share, collect and distribute foodstuff across various households. In the largest informal settlement in Nairobi, Kibera, individuals and groups drove the same donations informally. They were then able to distribute food, sanitary ware, soap, and sanitizers to the inhabitants who are low-income earners most affected by closures in the informal sector (See Fig. 5).

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Fig. 5 Fundraising and donation campaign led by a local government. The campaign catered for those most affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Source Kilifi County government Facebook page

4.4 Community Design Action Strategies: Community-Driven Social Justice On March 27th, 2020, a nationwide curfew from 7 pm to 4 am was announced, and it was enforced by the Kenya Police under the National security council. The Kenyan police have a history of heavy-handedness when enforcing government orders in the past [39]. During the period when the curfew was announced, reports of police brutality, violence, and deaths were rampant, with 57 reported deaths a few weeks after the announcement of the curfew (See Fig. 6). Local rights groups like Social Justice Centre Working Group (SJCWG) decried and protested police

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brutality, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances that were exacerbated by the government restrictions. The heavy policing in low-income areas and the killings of vulnerable youth mainly happened in informal settlements like Kibera, Mathare, and Kayole. Localized rights groups, usually started by locals who live and experience injustice, form a crucial network for addressing rights violations. They were primarily instrumental in reforms during the Covid-19 pandemic period. While the Kenyan government is notorious for bending to the will of international rights groups in fear of sanctions, the impact of localized rights groups has gained significant ground. These rights groups are founded in localities by people who live and experience the injustice they face. An example of such is the group that is in support of mothers of victims of police brutality. The rights groups grow and become resource centers within their communities to educate and uplift the communities. While mostly self-driven and self-funded, these groups are examples of how various networks aid smaller communities when it comes to social justice issues. Considering social justice as a key component for resilient communities, it is essential to support self-organized local rights groups, their proximity and the trust they build in their communities lend voice to victims of oppressive systems. From the data provided by Social Justice Centre Working Group, it is evident that social inequity and injustice are designed into urban space, with the killings rampant in low-income areas. A human rights-based approach (HRBA) according to [40] gives a conceptual framework that would improve resilience practices ensuring reasonable, objective, and transparent decision-making. Social justice, equality, and human rights should be built into the strategies to foster resilient communities.

4.5 Community Awareness and Outreach Program in Kenya While Covid-19 raged through the world, information from global organizations and governments was constantly changing, and the news were unreliable. Disinformation was more rampant with social networks, messaging platforms, and local grapevine. While daily briefings by the Ministry of Health were broadcasted on the media, misinformation was widespread. Fake news and conspiracies relayed messages of doubt that could have possibly hindered the efforts by health officials to slow the spread of the virus [41]. To fill information gaps, community awareness was emphasized with door-to-door and community education sessions run by the MOHKe, local groups, and non-governmental organizations, helping to spread reliable and correct information. The Alinjughur Women’s Association in Northern Kenya is a group that took on the task of countering misinformation about the Covid19 vaccine spread by the militant group Al Shabaab [42]. Taking the initiative after local health centers shut down due to insecurity and the virus surge. Using a solar radio, they purchased, the women’s group went from village to village playing the live broadcasts of updates from health professionals and the MOHKe (Fig. 7). In the neighboring town, a similar women group plans to turn local health centers that had shut down into vaccination centers in readiness for vaccines arriving in the region.

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Fig. 6 Collection of images from public protests in Kenya due to harsh Covid-19 restrictions, police brutality and killings, and forced disappearances. Source Authors

The groups have plans to keep reaching out to local villages with door-to-door awareness campaigns and even think of using camels, a local means of transport, to aid in ferrying vaccines across the region. Local health organizations commend these women groups’ work in the arid north prone to lack of access to healthcare services, amongst others. They intend to partner with such micro-networks to increase reach across villages and spread awareness [43–45].

4.6 Community Design Action Strategies: Kenya’s Digital Agency Kenya has one of the highest numbers of mobile phone users across Africa, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), with 108.9% of users with mobile phones with a mobile connection (The % is higher than 100 dues for users with multiple connections) (Communications Authority of Kenya). This proliferation is influenced by affordable devices and services like M-PESA, which has eased the transfer of money across mobile networks. To foster community resilience in the

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Fig. 7 The Alinjughur Women’s Association are fighting Covid vaccine misinformation amidst other precarity facing the region. Using a small solar radio, they go through villages encouraging adult vaccination against Covid-19. They’re utilizing available resources to have vaccine stations where health centers shut down due to insecurity and the effects of the pandemic. Source Screengrabs from video, Vaccine for the World by Evening Standard

digital age, it is important to utilize the tools already being used widely by these communities [46]. As an example, in Kenya, during the pandemic, the Ministry of Health took advantage of the proliferation of mobile and the usage of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes (Fig. 8) to disseminate information enforce contact tracing [47]. An example below of the USSD code *719# that links to information that is updated by the MOHKe and health agencies. Social media campaigns for donations utilized large followings, hashtags, and campaign trains to drive donations for various localities. The Akothee Foundation by famed Kenyan singer Akothee donated masks and disinfectants. She did so by reaching out to any women with businesses manufacturing soaps and disinfectants. By leveraging her large social media following she was able to source items for donation and also support small businesses that would be struggling during the pandemic [48]. The Akothee foundation has managed to donate and do food drives in various counties since the beginning of the pandemic, with over 3000 beneficiaries noted by the foundation. By using the hashtags like #KAARADANAMASK #KomeshaCorona, the same spirit was seen across social platforms as public figures, and willing Kenyans ran donation campaigns with the help of digital platforms like M-changa, which allowed for mobile money, bank, and even diaspora transfer of donations. Micro-networks on social media worked together to cushion fellow Kenyans from the effects of the pandemic [49].

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Fig. 8 Using the USSD code *719#, The Ministry of Health can freely disseminate information about Covid-19 to the public. A good example of utilizing digital service proliferation during a pandemic (Swahili version/English version). Source Authors

5 Conclusions and Further Discussions With core case studies in Kenya’s pre- and post-pandemic era, this paper discusses the theoretical backgrounds and methodological frameworks of building community resilience in times of social and environmental challenges. The research emphasizes the role of micro-networks in increasing the resilient capacity of a society. On multiple levels, the bottom-up and local community-enabled social mechanisms and participatory urban and rural decision-making systems have proven operational and practical. On multiple scales, decentralization of decision-making requires participatory action strategies, which are informed by interactive workflows and technologies. The observation and empirical studies conducted in the context of Nairobi and Kenya prove that beyond the implemented and accessible mediums of technology for codesign and co-creation, the level of engagement of a community is critical in tackling emerging challenges. To alleviate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, various local players have worked alongside the government and authorities. In the context of the core case study of this paper in Kenya as well as design projects in educational projects, different impacts of participatory action research and collaborative strategies addressed and discussed. Rather than dividing the action strategies to top-down or bottom-up strategies, this research introduced more horizontal approaches and adaptive strategies through participation of various actors of community. With a core case study in Nairobi, this paper analyzed the different local and regional actors, networks, their actions, counter-actions, and contributions towards enhancing the social institutional networks and shared infrastructures. The goal is to assess their effects on fostering community resilience for future urban areas’ precarity. The importance of micronetworks in Kenya, focusing on the case of Nairobi during the pandemic, is evident

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in their efficiency in providing urgent solutions, solidarity and mutual aid to problems associated with the pandemic. The case study analysis focused on the various new and participatory practices and innovations implemented by the multiple micro-communities and micronetworks in Kenya’s urban and rural areas that worked to alleviate the effects of the pandemic. Low-income, marginalized and rural areas did not evenly and sufficiently receive state-led and governmental support during the pandemic. As a result, the local communities fabricated their handwashing and hand-sanitizing stations, using local materials and with the help of local artisans. Informal Micro-networks of mutual aid covered extensively where the government could not reach. In Nairobi, local households banded together to collect and distribute food, sanitary ware, soap, and sanitizers to the inhabitants of low-income areas. While mostly self-driven and self-funded, the localized rights groups are examples of how various networks aid smaller communities regarding social justice issues. Considering social justice as a key component for resilient communities, it is essential to support self-organized local rights groups, their proximity and the trust they build in their communities lend voice to victims of oppressive systems. During the pandemic, information channels must remain standardized and legitimate to avoid spreading the virus. As discussed in the case study section, the informal micro-networks and micro-communities, such as the case of Alinjughur Women’s Association in Northern Kenya, have a critical role. They utilized available resources to have vaccine stations and raise awareness for fighting Covid vaccine misinformation where health centers shut down due to insecurity and the effects of the pandemic. To foster community resilience in the digital age, it is essential to utilize the tools already being used widely by these communities. The final part of the case study section focused on the latest digital technologies during the Covid-19 pandemic to enhance community resilience. As discussed in the case study section, the Ministry of Health (MOHKe) took advantage of the proliferation of mobile to disseminate information and enforce contact tracing. By leveraging extensive social media micronetworks during the pandemic, the various Kenyan micro-networks could source items for donation and support small businesses struggling during the pandemic. In this context, this work theorized and exemplified the importance of community engagements, mutual aid, solidarity and participation in providing resilient strategies for active citizen participation through the digital and (non) digital agencies. Therefore, the future work of this research targets the further implementation of participatory decision-making and action strategies in marginalized and underrepresented communities which can be implemented by local, regional and national authorities, NGOs, policy holders, urban activists, municipalities to empower the communities. For our future work, we are interested in empowering communities through various innovative strategies towards co-design and participation such as systemic thinking, human–robot collaborations, cyber-physical systems, and data-driven design and participatory decision-making. Acknowledgements We want to express our gratitude to the Huckabee College of Architecture (HCOA) at Texas Tech University for organizing an excellent seminar series on the theme of

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Resilience. Additionally, we extend our sincere thanks to the City. Space. Architecture association in Bologna for inviting us to participate in the Italian Pavilion, the 17th International Architecture Exhibition’s seminar series, and the exhibition, ‘Resilient Communities for the Global Goals.’ Their seminar series and exhibition inspired our work extensively, and we are grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of it.

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Problem and Issues in Building City Resilience to Pandemic in Sri Lanka V. P. I. S. Wijeratne, G. N. Kaushalya, and L. Manawadu

Abstract The coronavirus disease caused severe damage to the whole world. It exacerbated some of the socioeconomic vulnerabilities, structural inequalities and urban drivers of the lack of high-quality urbanization prior to the pandemic. In recent decades, urbanization has aggravated many of the most pressing challenges in the world. Recently, coping with the COVID-19 pandemic was the top priority for most cities in the world. Unplanned urbanization and the growth of slums and informal settlements make it impossible to implement urban pandemic resilience in such crowded areas. This chapter mainly focused on examining the main issues and challenges in building urban resilience to pandemics in Sri Lanka. The study specified to find the issues created behind the recent COVID-19 pandemic in an urban environment and to recognize how to build city resilience in future. The study used secondary data, semi-structured interviews, and related literature to achieve the intended objectives. The study revealed that as the country’s capital city, Colombo is an excellent example of the spread of disease in underserved settlements in urban areas. The group consists of small living spaces, with many families living on small land plots. These small housing units lack basic facilities such as sanitation, water and ventilation, and their location makes maintaining social distance an impossible task. In these communities, residents gather in public places and visit their neighbours. Tracking and controlling socialization patterns in highly congested areas adds challenges that make blockades and curfews redundant. Therefore, enhancing city resilience in unstructured urban areas is the main challenge. The government has taken many actions to make the city more structured. However, it is still not possible with many socioeconomic difficulties in the country as a developing country. Therefore, more actions are essential to building resilience in the country. Urban planning should focus on informal settlements and the urban poor, particularly affected by the epidemic. A population density threshold per square mile can be used based on extensive research to solve very dense populations living in small areas. Disaster risk reduction, response, and epidemic prevention planning must be integrated into V. P. I. S. Wijeratne (B) · G. N. Kaushalya · L. Manawadu Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, Cumarathunga Munidasa Mawatha, Colombo 00300, Sri Lanka e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_10

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Sri Lanka’s urban planning. A pandemic makes it possible to rethink, re-plan and redesign the urban environment to be more resilient to future epidemics in the country. Keywords COVID-19 · Pandemic · City resilience · Sri Lanka · Urbanization

1 Introduction Cities are the focus of global technological and economic growth. Most people in the world live in cities and urban areas [1]. Cities and urban areas represent intensive and complex interconnected service systems. Therefore, they are facing more and more issues, leading to disaster risks [27]. Human history has been constantly hit by epidemics. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “pandemic” is the global spread of a new disease. Although epidemics have destroyed humanity, they have also played a key role in changing or altering the state of the built environment [2]. A pandemic, even on a small scale, can kill millions of people [1, 15]. As mentioned by [1, 12], there are different pandemic can be identified in past, especially in 1918, 1957, and 1968. However, the most recent pandemic was first identified in 2019 and COVID-19 has adversely affected social and economic aspects differently [1]. The first confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases were found in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December 2019 [1, 8]. After the virus transmitted throughout many countries in the world. Highest pandemic transmission were identified city areas and huge burden has recognized in the urban life of developing countries due to rapid unstructured urban expansion, population growth, transportation, low spaces, etc. [1]. The city management is to put the community in a healthy building environment. Fresh water, air and sanitation are the primary concerns, but with the recent experience of the spread of deadly viral diseases, less obvious but crucial concerns have emerged. The new coronavirus attacked the world in 2020 is the cornerstone of almost every country that maintains a lockdown. People are fragmented in society and can no longer obtain basic needs such as income and food. The rate of economic growth was hindered or alarmingly declined, followed by the sudden closure of construction and production [31]. Pandemics are unexpected and direct to most of cities to be inactive, limiting all social and economic work. Being locked in a small-unstructured city area, people faced many issues with their every social network interrupting and policy makers of such areas should give their attention on urban resilience [27, 31]. Therefore, urban planning plays a crucial role in shaping resilient cities [32]. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the scientific community has been trying to assess the virus, its social and environmental impact, regulatory/adaptation policies and plans. The top priority is to develop disaster resilient urban planning and management to combat infectious diseases during COVID-19. This development includes the reconstruction of unsustainable urban patterns, risks and social inequalities to prepare for new cases [1].

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Urban resilience is a relatively new concept, which still lacks a clear definition [32]. “Resiliency” comes from the Latin word “resilio,” meaning to “bounce back” or to return to your former status [26]. In 1973, Holing, a Canadian ecologist, introduced the concept of resilience into the field of ecology for the first time, and defined urban resilience as “the ability of the ecosystem to adapt to the process, maintain resilience and restore balance after a short impact” [32]. Urban resilience includes the ability of a city to withstand disasters, more importantly, the ability to recover from risks, and the ability to predict, prevent, respond to and recover from extreme disasters. In addition, by some scholars urban resilience refers to the ability of a city to absorb, adopt and respond to any changes in the urban system. When we are faced with rapidly changing natural and social conditions, resilience is an imperative factor, which requires cities to be more resilient [27, 31]. A resilient city must always promote the improvement of sustainable development [7]. Many cities around the world have taken various actions and effort enhancing city resilience against disaster risk and climate change. However, the impact and risk of pandemic had not played a significant role in the urban planning until COVID-19 became as worse throughout the world [24]. Cities are particularly vulnerable to pandemics; the socio-economic and financial consequences have dramatically reduced the economic productivity, employment and income of cities. Recovering from the socio-economic crisis takes years and has many side effects, including increasing social, spatial and economic inequalities, especially for vulnerable groups. It is an arduous challenge for local governments to build urban resilience while curbing the epidemic and mitigating the resulting socio-economic impact. This is especially true in view of the reduction in budgetary resources [26]. COVID-19 recovery measures should change urban systems rather than simply rebuild outdated structures. Cooperation between all levels of government and with civil society is critical to success. All cities need to formulate urban economic resilience adaptation and recovery plans, fully incorporate them into urban planning strategies, and receive technical, legislative and financial support from national and regional governments. The analysis, evaluation and improvement of urban resilience have become an important problem to be solved by government administrators and academia [26]. Recently, more than half of the world population live in urban areas throughout the world. This became as the most critical issue in the developing countries because a key feature of urbanization is density, which has many advantages in promoting agglomeration economy, access to basic services and health care. However, without adequate investment in planning and infrastructure, population density may have shortcomings, especially infection and congestion. The disadvantage of urban density is often most obvious in slums; many people of developing countries live in slums. These communities often lack drainage, road and street lighting, electricity, water and sewage treatment, as well as police, waste disposal and medical care. Because people are closely packed together, the resulting crowding increases the chances of contacting infectious diseases. Moreover, small, overcrowded and poorly constructed housing makes it almost impossible for many slum dwellers to find shelter [4].

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Therefore, urban people of developing countries will be hardest hit by the COVID19 pandemic. They are facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis that could have extreme economic, social and sustainable development consequences [14]. Sri Lanka also face the same challenges during the pandemic period and urban areas were more vulnerable for the pandemic transmission. Scholars throughout the world has focus pandemic in various ways to study. Most of researchers have analyzed the vulnerability, risk, social impact, economic impact, etc. of the pandemic. However, some few papers have focused to discuss the pandemic and urban resilience. Wu et al. [33], has examined the resilience city and mainly discussed the characterization and challenges during the pandemic. As they further discussed, researches have done studies on resilience cities in various aspects, such as theoretical evolution, practical experience, urban public spatial resilience, urban riverfront spatial resilience, and resilience assessment. However, they are not sufficient few of them have focused on challenges and issues to build resilience. As pointed out by Wickramaarachchi et al. [31], the goal of urban planning is to put the community in a healthy building environment and developing smart networks, analyzing the viability of vertical living, and re-building the construction sector are the key areas need to discussed in city resilience against the pandemic. As [1] discussed in their paper, at the beginning of the new coronavirus, most of the scientific researchers have been continuously attempt to examine the virus, its socioenvironmental impact, adaptation, policies, and plans. However, the most essential and emergency is to create pandemic-resilience city planning and management in order to tracle the infectious diseases during the pandemic. Chen and Quan [6] has overviewed the spatiotemporal analysis of urban resilience to COVID-19 pandemic and similar has done by Chen and Quan [6]. In addition, Weichselgartner and Kelman [30] has discussed the resilience concept and highlighted different challenges to build city resilience against the pandemic. The current chapter has also assessed the issues and challenges in building city resilience to pandemic and this chapter expresses the potential to create good opportunities for policy makers and planners to take change actions. This will also be crucial to help planners and policymakers better assess and address future strategic and resilient urban design and planning approaches. This chapter mainly focused on examining the main issues and challenges in building urban resilience to pandemics in Sri Lanka. The study specified to find the issues and challenges created behind the recent COVID-19 pandemic in an urban environment and to recognize how to build city resilience in future. The chapter selected Sri Lanka as the study area and it has discussed about urban areas in Sri Lanka. The research study based on this chapter conducted mainly based on urban cities over Sri Lanka. Mainly, 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted among academic and government experts who are involving in city planning and disaster management to examine the issues and challenges in building urban resilience to pandemic. The academics and expertise were selected based on their experience of the field and knowledge. During the interview, the research focused to identifying the ways to overcome the challenges in urban areas. All data recorded and manually transcribed using MS word before analyzing. In addition, the study conducted

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an informal literature review to obtain relevant data to achieve the research objectives. COVID 19 records were downloaded from the website of Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of health, Sri Lanka https://www.epid.gov.lk/. The data obtained from the interviews and literature were analyzed using problem tree analysis to identify the main causes, problems and impacts in the city area. Moreover, the study applied ranking methods for extracting prominent issues and challenges in building city resilience to pandemic.

2 COVID-19 Clusters Created with Urban Agglomeration and Its Impact in Sri Lanka The unprecedented global health pandemic—coronavirus (COVID-19)—continues to have a significant impact on the economic, social and environmental fields of almost every country in the world. In addition to the devastating loss of life, people around the world are also facing unprecedented loss of income, livelihoods and high levels of poverty [29]. In Sri Lanka, the first case of COVID-19 was reported in late January 2020. Since then, the Sri Lankan government has taken various continuous measures to control the spread of COVID-19, including maintaining social distance, and imposed a curfew on the island from March 20, 2020. Due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, Colombo and Kandy have been identified as high-risk areas [3, 21]. Pandemic was widely spread and more vulnerable in the city areas due to their social, economic and spatial inequalities. One billion slum dwellers in the world also face greater risks, especially in sub Saharan Africa, East, and Southeast Asia, which account for 23% and 36% of the world’s slum urban population, respectively. Slums and poor communities perpetuate other forms of socio-economic, political or cultural inequality, further increasing the level of risk faced by residents of these communities [28]. As pointed out by the zworld bank collection of development indicators, the urban population in Sri Lanka has reported as 4,178,622 [25]. Urban population growth has also increased and slums or low income households were faced many issues during the pandemic period in Sri Lanka. Especially, limited uneven distribution of urban public spaces, limited access to urban healthcare and services, higher crowded with lack of facilities can be recognized as the main issues for spreading COVID-19 in the urban areas. In low-income and middle-income countries, the impact of pandemics are more severe in cities with vulnerable population who are affected by poverty, unable to meet their basic needs and live in informal or peri-urban areas [10]. As a developing country, some areas of Sri Lanka also faced the similar situation and Colombo where highly urbanized area in Sri Lanka recorded the highest COVID-19 clusters. During the pandemic period, a large number of COVID-19 positive cases have occurred in densely populated and underserved areas, including slums and shanties in Colombo. As an example, the Bandaranayaka Mawatha Cluster in Colombo can be recognized and COVID-19 has spread in undeserved settlements. The area consists of small living

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space, home to around 62 families on a 20 perch land [9]. These small housing units not only lack basic facilities such as sanitation, water and ventilation, but also their location makes maintaining social distance an impossible task. In these communities, residents tend to gather in public places and visit their neighbors. The socialization model of tracking and controlling highly congested areas adds challenges that make blockades and curfews redundant [9]. As pointed out by the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) in 2016, Urban areas are the majority of households living in low income households. However, the current administrative definition of “city” greatly underestimates the true extent of urbanization in Sri Lanka. As UN Habitat III records shows, in Colombo, it is estimated that 68,812 families live in 1499 underserved settlements, accounting for more than half of the city’s population; around 74% of the housing units in these scattered small clusters are less than 50 [9]. According to the COVID-19 records obtained from the Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, the highest total number of 143,826 patients has recorded in Colombo and Colombo shows the highest population density in Sri Lanka. This urban agglomeration in Colombo has become a major cause of the highest number of COVID patients. The government was faced many issues to control the clusters created in Colombo area. The second largest number of COVID-19 patients were recorded in Gampaha and it was around 115,649. Gampaha shows the second highest population density in Sri Lanka. Kaluthara became as the third and the total number of COVID-19 patients were 58,727. This Colombo Metropolitan Region is the large urban area, which is happening rapid urban growth. The spatial distribution of population density, total number of COVID-19 patients, deaths have shown in Fig. 1. It has clearly indicated that, the western, southern and South-west provinces have become worst for the pandemic in Sri Lanka. Most of people live in slum, shanties are daily wagers, and they are employed in self-managed. All of them doing low wage works and due to this rapid COVID-19, they have lost their jobs and most poor people in urban areas are struggling to live and recover after pandemic again. With this rapid outbreak, they cannot follow the health measures with their living environment. Moreover, the government has taken many measures to control the transmission of COVID-19 in the urban areas. However, the social and economic issues of these low income households were major barrier to control the transmission. Therefore, long-term actions are needed to build city resilience to pandemic in Sri Lanka. The pandemic has given the time for us to re-think, re-plan, and re-design urban settings to be save from the future pandemic. However, there are many challenges to build city resilience in Sri Lanka and it is very important to recognize those challenges to build city resilience.

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Fig. 1 Relationship of total number of COVID19 cases and deaths with population. Source Author 2022

3 Issues and Challenges in Building City Resilience to Pandemic in Sri Lanka In recent decades, the remarkable growth of cities has aggravated many of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. About 90 percent of all COVID-19 cases were reported from the urban areas and urban areas have become the centers of the pandemic. The population size of these countries and the high degree of global and local connectivity make them particularly vulnerable to the spread of the virus. The pandemic has more affected in urban areas, especially for the finance, access to the urban areas, safety, public services, transport, joblessness, etc. Therefore, city resilience to pandemic is now a popular topic throughout the world. Especially, in developing countries. However, most of developing countries cannot build city resilience due to many issues and challenges surround the urban cities. Sri Lanka is also facing the same situation. There are many issues, and challenges can be identified with building city resilience to pandemic in Sri Lanka. As results of the study revealed that, the major challenge of building city resilience to pandemic in Sri Lankan cities is population increment. Urban and sub urban population increasing day by day. With this speed and scale of urban growth and urban expansion created many challenges in Sri Lanka. The outcomes of the interviews has indicated that unstructured urban expansion has become a major issue

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and urban sprawl in Sri Lankan cities have created overcrowded poor living conditions surrounds the cities. Illegal constructions and settlement have increased in urban areas. Those constructions are very small and overcrowded. Poorly constructed houses are impossible for slum dwellers. Therefore, those who are living in slum and shanties of urban areas in Sri Lanka, at high risk for contracting infectious diseases. The government has tried several times to displace these slum and shanties, but it could not be possible due to people’s paradigms and they are not willing to move other places because of urban facilities (especially, education and job purposes) in the area. The experts who participated interviews confirmed that most of the slum and shanties in urban areas are significant challenge affecting the building city resilience to pandemic. Moreover, this displacement is a challenging task in Sri Lanka and should be allocated more funds for the resettlements, and the social and economic impact of the vulnerable people should be concerned and their economic, social and political adaptation will be another challenge. This is a long-term process, and without taking any suitable decisions to control and minimize these problems and negative impacts, building city resilience to pandemic will be a long-term challenge. The other main challenge is limited access to basic needs of urban population. Particular, urban water and sanitation can be identified. Urban people have limited water facilities due to rapid urban population increment. The lack of access to enough water and sanitation has created high contracting infectious diseases, like COVID 19 outbreak. These problems have enormous consequences on human health and wellbeing. Most of urban poor living in urban slums suffer from water-related issues. The other main issue is there is no separate toilet facilities in their home, and they have to rely on dirty and unsanitary public toilets. In addition, it is more difficult to maintain the health of children and women. They have no clean spaces at their houses for cooking. They even have to leave their homes to take water from public faucets or tube wells, which puts them at risk of infection. Limited and regular water supply makes hand hygiene impossible. With these water and sanitation issues, infectious diseases cannot be control in the Colombo urban areas. Therefore, building city resilience is a difficult task in the urban cities in Sri Lanka. Crowded transport system of the urban cities in Sri Lanka can be recognized as another main challenge in urban areas of the country. Most of poor people use public transport in urban areas and overcrowded transport service helps to increase the risk of pandemic in urban areas. Lack of transport facilities in Sri Lanka has created these problems in developing cities. As well as, specific aspects of working in the informal sectors. Most of urban poor people engage in informal working sector and all of them are unsafety for all due to they are crowded places and there is no any social protectively. Therefore, government took an action to continue the lockdown in urban areas. However, with the city lockdown most of slum dwellers suffer with unemployment and social tension. This was a huge challenge to government during the last COVID 19 outbreak period. As some interviewees explained, some social barriers also negatively affect building city resilience against pandemic. According to the culture of different people in the country, the involvement and responses to the risk are very different. Sometimes poor people are not understand the risk situation. For instance, some groups

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do not like to follow health guideline or government instructions and some needs individual attention. The contribution of them also varies to minimize the risk. In addition, some people who live in slums do not care about sanitation, waste disposal and they follows bad habits. Not only this lack of social capacity but also lack of knowledge of the community also a major challenge in urban areas. Community awareness is an important part of minimize the risk of pandemic. As mentioned by respondents, some urban poor suffering from symptoms may be unwilling to come forward and take a test. These social barriers and lack of community knowledge also negatively affect building city resilience to pandemic in Sri Lankan urban cities. Although there are many measures to reduce the transmission of virus, urban community cannot follow those measures due to many of social and economic barriers. For instance, handwashing is an important measure to prevent community transmission of COVID-19 and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), handwashing facilities should be provided every public places. However, in urban areas (especially in slum and shanties) have lack of access to handwashing in Sri Lanka. One water source is sharing with many households in slums. Therefore, handwashing is difficult in urban areas. Normally, with the poverty of slum dwellers, they are doing daily wage-based occupation and they have to go outside every day for earn money even during the lockdown period. Not only that, the people who live in slums and shanties have no awareness on personal hygiene. The education level of those people are very low and they have no adequate knowledge. According to the further results, political based decisions, lack of proper urban plans, lack of proper decisions, lack of involvement in local government and lack of long-term political commitments can be identified as other challenges to build city resilience to pandemic in urban areas. The legality and political issues are a major challenge of building city resilience to pandemic in urban areas. Most of decisions related to the pandemic control depends on countries political background. All decisions, funds, ideas and offers will change with different political backgrounds. As a developing country, Sri Lanka’s political involvement is high and this will be directly influenced on building city resilience to pandemic. Moreover, the government involvement is very important in this issue. Most of powers can be recognized for the central government and lack of involvement can be identified in the local government. Limited contribution during the disasters can be recognized in the local government and as respondents, this issue negatively influence on sustainable city plans in the country. In addition, most of appointments have created under political background and enough appropriate decisions will not come from these unsuitable appointments in the local government sector. Therefore, these government issues has directly influence on building city resilience to pandemic in the country. Absence of systematic planning and development in urban areas is the other major challenge. Due to lack of funds, political issues, institution problems, unsuitable appointment etc. have affected this. Unplanned urban development in the developing countries directly influence for creating slums and unhealthy environment in the urban areas. According to the respondents, Sri Lanka is suffering with unstructured

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urban expansion and related issues. Hence, it is very difficult to create city resilience to pandemic in the urban areas in Sri Lanka. Moreover, legal and illegal human encroachment in the urban areas in the country is the other main issue and these encroachments have become a major challenge to create sustainable city planning. These human encroachment has created an unhealthy environment and it will directly influence on pandemic transmission in the urban areas. As well as, the population pressure exerted from the urbanized areas has created a land demand in the urban areas and this has caused to create population packed areas with unhealthy environment. This is a big challenge to building city resilience to the pandemic. Insufficient funds have also become a major challenge to create city resilience to pandemic in the country and there were no allocated funds for the pandemic due to COVID 19 was a new experience to the country. Many foreign funds were needed to control COVID 19 in the country and Sri Lanka still cannot allocate sufficient self-funds. Therefore, insufficient funds are a significant challenge for building city resilience to pandemic. As a biological disaster, COVID 19 is a new experience to the country and people knowledge is deficient in the country. Due to this insufficient knowledge of urban people, COVID has become a worse in the urban areas. Community awareness is very important part of control pandemic transmission and as respondents mentioned community awareness programmes are very essentials to building city resilience in the urban areas. The educational background of the urban people who live in slum and shanties is very low and it is essential to aware them. Additionally, some interviewees mentioned that, lack of social capacity is also a major challenge for building city resilience to pandemic. People with different culture behavior is very different and their responses are also very different. Different behavior can be recognized for pandemic prevention measures. Some of them have bad habits and they do not care of sanitation and health measures. Therefore, it is essential to minimize these challenges for building city resilience to pandemic in the future. These main drivers will affect in pandemic transmission, quality of human life, economic loss and increase poverty, social tension, quality of sustainability, health issues, and disturbances to development activities. The above results obtained from the interview has analyzed using problem tree shown in Fig. 2.

4 Strategies for Building City Resilience to Pandemic for the Future Sustainability As results of the research shown, different strategies can be introduced to building city resilience to pandemic. Systematic urban planning is an important pathway to build city resilience to pandemic in Sri Lankan cities. Most of cities, especially Colombo has recorded the highest number of COVID 19 patients. Therefore, sustainable city plans are essential to follow the health measures against the pandemic. As mentioned

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Fig. 2 Major issues and challenges in building city resilience to pandemic in urban cities in Sri Lanka. Source Author 2022

above, slums and shanties in the urban areas has become a major challenge for building city resilience to pandemic. Hence, resettlement plans are essential in the urban areas. Moreover, it is very important to introduced appropriate rules against illegal constructions in the urban areas. For instance, illegal human encroachments and constructions in the wetland areas in Colombo is very high. As respondents confirm, there were many wetland land area around the 1980s. With the population increment, land alternation has started after 1980s. These human involvements has negatively affect the building city resilience to pandemic in the country. Therefore, systematic urban development and plans are very important. However, these will not possible due to political commitments and those commitments should be reduced before creating city resilience. As opinions of the respondents, government appointments and institutes should control without political enforce. Minimize institutional issues, and increase collaborative work are essential. Therefore, local government should have powers and they should be actively worked to create a sustainable city management in the country. In addition, to minimize the population pressure and land demand the government should take action to distribute facilities equally throughout the country, as this is a huge challenge in the urban areas. Also government should be allocated selffunds for the sustainable city plans. Enough community consultation is also very important in building city resilience to pandemic. Otherwise, community knowledge

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also very essential and lack of community knowledge brings more issues. Therefore, community awareness programmes should be implemented. Concerning all the challenges and recommendations made by the respondents, the study can propose a framework for building city resilience to pandemic. The six main areas have been recognized based on field data, observations, and literature review (Fig. 3). The six main areas are Identify, Plan, Implement, Response, Recover, and Monitoring. The first concept of the developed framework is “identify” and before introducing city management against pandemic, it is necessary to identify the previous and current situation in urban areas. The sustainable city development plan should be come from the vast recognized city plans in the world. The past, current and future risk in urban areas should be recognized with the collaboration of expert analysis. It is essential to identify the best way to become cities, urban community and low-income settlements’ healthy and safe during the pandemic that support resilience livelihood in urban areas due to cities have been epicenters of the past COVID 19 in the country. Therefore, need to recognize exact role of city planning and design in controlling pandemic in the country. Identify the long-term solutions are essentials to build city resilience to pandemic. The second concept of the new framework is “plan”. City management plans are not similarly effect throughout the county. Hence, identify the unique city plans

Fig. 3 The main components of the newly proposed pandemic management framework in the city areas. Source Author 2022

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are essential considering all the aspects. Especially, urban community health, settlements, urban economy etc. plans should come from the expertise knowledge and community collaboration. Considering strengths, opportunities, and problems plans can be developed. Plans should be developed through the ideas of different stakeholders, such as both central and local government institutes, privet sector, NGOs, academia and community. Community perceptions of the urban areas are essential to develop city resilience in the country. Capacity of the each sectors, collaboration, financial strength, urban economy, governance and decisions in the country are mainly influence on building a sustainable plan. City plans should be developed considering National Sustainable Development Goals (NSDGs) and environment policies, pandemic policies, land use policies, and development and institutional policies should be considered for building sustainable urban cities in the country. “Implementation” is the next main concept and after developing the plans, those can be implemented after verify in the study areas. In addition, “response” is also a very important concept in the framework and pandemic prevention or minimization can be done with the appropriate city plans. The last concept is “monitoring” and monitoring is essential for the long-term success. With the continues monitoring it can be timely update. This proposed framework will be helpful for practical use and it will be useful for the decision-makers to take actions for building city resilience to pandemic.

5 Discussions The spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic has the same impact on Sri Lanka as on other countries in the world. The Sri Lankan government has taken many preventive measures to curb the spread of the epidemic [16]. As recorded, urban areas were the most vulnerable areas during the last pandemic in the country. United Nations [28] has identified that urban areas have become epicenter of the pandemic. Therefore, it is essential to take an action for the sustainable city management in the country. However, as a developing country Sri Lanka is facing many challenges to build city resilience to pandemics in the future. As respondents mentioned, there are few key challenges can be recognized; urban sprawl, population pressure, slum and shanties, sanitary issues, lack of access to clean water, political issues, poor transport system, poor involvement of the local government, and lack of awareness. The major challenge to building city resilience to pandemic is unstructured urban expansion and population pressure has developed in the urban environment. It has caused to established slum and shanties in the urban areas and Colombo city can be recognized with these issues in the country. As pointed out by [16, 17, 20, 28], slum and shanties are the main challenge in urban areas throughout the world. With the outbreak of COVID-19 (an air-borne disease), it is expected that the urban slum population will have the greatest impact on the health system. In addition, the continuous economic stagnation caused by COVID-19 threatens millions of livelihoods in the informal sector, and there is little or no economic protection for health care [11].

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In addition, uncontrolled urban rural migration has caused to increase the urban population pressure and it has become a major challenge for building city resilience to pandemic in the country. As described by Rajan and Cherian [19], Uncontrolled rural–urban migration has led to rapid and unsustainable urbanization, which has a considerable socio-economic impact on urban expansion worldwide. Furthermore, Rajan and Cherian [19], has clearly mention that political and cultural different as another major issues in urban areas. This study has also identified that most of decisions depend on political background and irresponsibility and lack of involvement has become major challenges to build city resilience to pandemic. As well as, there are many sanitation problems in the urban areas can be recognized due to informal settlements in the urban areas. As instance, lack of access to clean water can be identified surround the Colombo slum and shanties in Sri Lanka. This fact has clearly identified by Mahmood et al. [11], Rajan and Cherian [19] for other countries. Pongutta et al. [17] described that people living in urban slums often live under the following conditions: socio-economic vulnerability, limited access to social protection and public facilities, substandard housing, unsafe and overcrowded communities, and dangerous and/or polluted environments. Therefore, bigger transmission of infectious can be identified in urban areas of the country [23]. Social pattern and social capacity are also impacted to creating a resilience built pandemic. All these challenges have negatively affected on building city resilience to pandemic in Sri Lanka. These issues and challenges are directly influence on high pandemic transmission, social tension, economic loss, health issues, poverty, unemployment, quality of sustainability, and quality of human lives. Pandemic transmission management and minimization is essential to build city resilience and there are few methods were identified from the field data. As exacted from the field discussions, introduce sustainable city plans, implement resettlement plans, revised rules and regulations, community awareness, equal facilities, government self-funds, and local government involvement can be recognized as most appropriate solution against the rapid infectious transmission in the urban cities in Sri Lanka [28]. However, this study has introduced a new framework for building resilience to pandemics in the urban areas. The new framework has introduced with six key areas; identify, plan, implement response, recover, and monitor. There are many studies has discussed city resilience in different time periods with different issues. Very few has discussed city resilience to pandemic [1, 5, 6, 13, 18, 19, 22] have discussed the urban plans for COVID 19 and mentioned that the impact on urban planning and policies stems from the COVID-19 crisis, highlighting the ways to address inequality, support vulnerable groups and improve the quality of urban life during the pandemic and under normal circumstances. Raj et al. [18] has discussed the new resilient urban planning approach impact on COVID 19 in Sri Lanka. This study, has identify the urban spatial plans for the pandemic concerning city challenges. Afrin et al. [1] has developed a new framework of pandemic-resilient urban plans concerning spatial scale and Chen and Quan [6] has analyzed a urban resilience to the COVID 19 using different equations. Blay-palmer et al. [5] has also discussed for building city resilience to COVID 19. This study has developed a new framework

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for minimizing urban challenges based on different framework and ideas of respondents. Findings and the proposed framework will be essential for decision-makers to take necessary action to reduce the risk of pandemic in the urban areas and build sustainable cities.

6 Conclusion The current study has examined challenges for building city resilience to pandemic in Sri Lanka and the research mainly focused to identify the COVID 19 clusters and its spatial distribution, problem and issues in building city resilience to pandemic in urban cities, and Strategies for Building City Resilience to Pandemic for the future sustainability. The study were recognized that the urban areas are epicenter for the pandemic due to urban agglomeration. During the COVID 19 outbreak the Sri Lankan Government has taken many measures to control pandemic in urban areas. However, the long-term strategies are need to build quality human lives in Sri Lankan cities. This study recognized urban sprawl, population pressure, slum and shanties, sanitary issues, lack of access to clean water, political issues, poor transport system, poor involvement of the local government, and lack of awareness as major challenges in building city resilience to pandemic in Sri Lankan cities. These challenges and issues directly cause for the quality of human life, pandemic transmission, quality of sustainability, unemployment, increase poverty, economic loss, health issues, social tension, etc. Moreover, this study has introduced some strategies minimize those challenges and build city resilience to pandemic. Finally, the study has developed a new framework for sustainable city management in Sri Lanka. The framework has introduced six major concepts; identify, plan, implement, response, recover, and monitor. This study expresses the potential to create good opportunities for policy makers and planners to take change actions and make decisions during the pandemic. In addition proposes a new framework to describe the more resilient city to cope with future epidemics in the country. This study will also help planners and decision makers to better evaluate and solve future strategic and flexible urban design and planning methods.

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The Impact of Post-pandemic Lifestyle on Neighbourhood: Changes from 2020 to 2022 in Wuhan, China Kangwei Tu and Andras Reith

Abstract Major outbreaks in history have often been followed by massive retrofits of built environments in pursuit of “healthier” cities. The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in late 2019, has also prompted broader discussions about urban density, layout, and accessibility to public facilities. However, behind these indicators which can be quantified, it is easy to ignore the changes in values, needs as well as lifestyles of residents brought by the pandemic, which have quietly transformed the appearance of cities already. Through comparative analysis including random questionnaire, participant observation, in-depth interviews and multi-party workshop at three typical neighbourhoods in Wuhan from October 2020 to October 2022, this study sought to examine the key shifts in the lifestyle of Wuhan residents before and after COVID19 and explored how neighbourhoods responded to the changes. It is found that after the pandemic, residents showed a main online trend in shopping, education and entertainment activities. The demand for green space and outdoor activity facilities increased sharply while the frequency of using indoor public space decreased, and the range of travel had been drastically reduced. In response, the neighbourhood transformed in three main dimensions in a short period of time: • A number of new logistics space sprung up, • Sports facilities and venues were added, • –-Miniature public space had been opened up. Empirical studies have confirmed that community resilience lies in its great flexibility and spontaneity in coping with rapid changes. The embedding of logistics spaces, self-sufficient buildings adapting to multiple scenarios and neighbourhood co-governance are considered to be effective forms of neighbourhood in the post-pandemic era. By introducing Wuhan’s experience, K. Tu (B) Marcel Breuer Doctoral School, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Pécs, Boszorkány U. 2, 7624 Pécs, Hungary e-mail: [email protected] Department of Architecture and Urban Planing, School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environment, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, China A. Reith Advanced Building and Urban Design, Orlay street 2/b, 1114, Budapest, Hungary BIM Skills Lab Research Group, Department of Engineering Studies, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Pécs, Boszorkány U. 2, 7624 Pécs, Hungary © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_11

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this paper calls on built environment professionals to join in the observation of environmental behaviour and draw available strategies to deal with future challenges. Keywords Community resilience · Lifestyle · Built environment · Post-pandemic · Wuhan

1 Introduction Some events are so big that they divide the world into before and after, into present and the alien past. Wars do this, and pandemic does it too. [17]

It is known from the past pandemics that built environment has always displayed the ability to evolve after the crisis [4]. Back in the fourteenth century, the glandular plague drove the city to clear out overcrowded living spaces and to invent early isolation facilities [10]. Typhoid and cholera in the nineteenth century contributed to the development of sewage and water systems to fight pathogens, ultimately resulting in sanitary advancements [4, 10, 22]. Till the twentieth century, large number of parks, promenades, squares were built in Europe as the early attempts of providing safer urban space after the so-called Spanish flu [5]. While tuberculosis spawned a revolution in modern architecture, where previous building forms were considered unhealthy in favour of pure form, simple geometric shapes and modern materials. And more recently, in the SARS period, ventilation and drainage system was improved in local buildings in specific areas of Asia (e.g., Hong Kong) [22]. However, it is also known that evolution of the built environment cannot occur immediately, as the transformation of building layout as well as infrastructure often takes for years [19]. So how can we improve abilities to respond to pandemics and increase resilience in built environment in a shorter time? Compared with measures at macro scale of the city, people’s behavioural changes are clearly much easier to implement, which are equally crucial but less easily identified [9]. With the widespread use of masks, the expansion of social distances and the temporary closure of public spaces or areas in the midst of the COVID-19 have significantly changed the way people live their lives [2, 8, 9, 17], which in turn are quietly changing the shape of the city (in a direction more conducive to limit the spread of virus) due to the interplay between behaviour and space [14, 16]. It would be particularly useful to study the impact on the built environment of changing lifestyles to prevent and control the pandemic, or the response of the built environment to the lifestyles as they offer essential input on shedding light on ongoing and future possibilities of a more resilient urban morphology. However, empirical studies compiling such evidence are scarce as most studies have focused on short-term changes during the outbreak. Moreover, lifestyle changes are affected by regional economic and cultural factors, and influenced by policy instructions at different stages of the pandemic. For this reason, this article is based on local case studies, and examines the long-term dynamic relationship between

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people’s lifestyles and the residential environment in the post-pandemic era. Two research questions are addressed. (1) How residents’ lifestyles have changed after the pandemic? (2) How neighbourhoods have responded/adapted to these changes, identifying whether it offers opportunities for future directions in strengthening community resilience? The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 presents the data collection and analysis methods. Section 3 presents the results of the analysis. Section 4 discusses findings and implications for urban morphology. Section 5 presents concluding remarks.

2 Data and Methods Wuhan, the city used as the case study in this article, is located in central China and is home to more than 11 million people. As the first city to have an outbreak and experienced lockdown over two months, it becomes a suitable case for examining the impact of the post-pandemic lifestyle. Therefore, following three steps were conducted here from October 2020 to October 2022, which were (1) identifying lifestyle changes; (2) observing neighbourhood changes; (3) analyzing the attributes of changes and predicting which changes are guiding future settlement development. For step one, quantity analysis was used, and data was collected from online questionnaire. For step two and three, quality analysis was used including behaviour diaries, investigation survey and workshop. The diagram below (see in Fig. 1) further illustrates the connections between above steps and research objectives.

Fig. 1 Flowchart of the research. Source From the authors

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2.1 Quantity Analysis: Online Questionnaire The research first started in October 2020, six months after Wuhan was officially unsealed [12]. An online questionnaire survey as the initial step was carried out through “Wenjuanxing” platform, focusing on identifying the possible changes of lifestyles, demands as well as values of citizens in Wuhan after the occurrence of COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the questionnaires were posted through snowball sampling using social network, which included 63 Wechat group in a wide range of topics such as childcare, travel, language study, cooking, sports and local issues in Wuhan. The Sociodemographic variables as gender, monthly income, education level was studied to guarantee diverse characteristics of the participants. Till February 2021, the final sample was N = 949 individuals aged 18–83 years. The sample consisted of 432 citizens from Hankow district, 201 from Hanyang district and 316 from Wuchang district, covering residential areas all over Wuhan. The questions in the questionnaire were set in a comparative manner, with following guidelines were given to respondents: “Please think about your life after the COVID-19 pandemic (right now) VS Please think back to your life before the COVID-19 pandemic (before December 2019).” In this context, evaluation of citizens’ lives before and after pandemic (COVID-19) including aspects of food/housing/transport/health/shopping/entertainment was conducted. For questions about demands and values that can neither be described nor measured, 1–5 Likert scale was used for participants to choose to specify the importance of the presence of certain public space (e.g. from 1: “not at all” to 5: “ a great deal”) or the frequency of use of an online activity (e.g. from 1: “never” to 5: “everyday”). The results summary can be found in Sect. 3.1.

2.2 Quality Analysis: Behaviour Dairies, Investigation Survey and Workshop The second step of the study began in February 2021, a year after the first emergence of corona virus in Wuhan. Three typical neighbourhoods were selected for observation, namely Vanke, Gonglu and Eryao community, representing main types of Chinese settlements which are gated-community, work-unit and traditional neighbourhood [21]. Eighteen months had been taken to carefully record every tiny change, which was based on mainly three channels: volunteers’ behavior dairies, regular interviews with residential committee and monthly field investigation. A total of 25 volunteers from all three neighbourhoods joined the “Behaviour dairies” project and each individual was asked to mark interesting findings in his or her neighbourhood by week. Special attentions were paid to interactions between their own and their neighbours’ behaviours and the settlement environment, such as the preferred places to stop, favourite locations for socialize, venues where physical activity was frequently taken, etc. Therefore, information that was difficult for researchers to

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access (details of life that were rarely observed, or hard-to-reach private spaces) was documented in this way [13]. Other valuable clues were obtained through periodic exchanges with neighbourhood committee, which had the first-hand sources of community constructions. Finally, as a complement, and from the perspective of the ‘outsiders’, researchers conducted a monthly field investigation of the three neighbourhoods, using photographs, measurements, interviews, and other components of site mapping. For the last step, the collaborative workshop as a useful model for community participation in urban regeneration was used [11, 18]. At the end of August 2022, workshop consisted of the owners’ representative, property staff, personnel of settled enterprises and residential committee officers was held offline for each neighbourhood. The main task was to verify the accuracy of every item on the change list made over the eighteen months and analyse the driving forces behind. In September 2022, the original team from all three neighbourhoods came together again online and joined by planning experts to discuss the impact of the lifestyle changes on the neighbourhoods, the effective adaptation strategies adopted by the neighbourhoods, and the possible future trends of resilient neighbourhoods. The outcomes of this part were presented in Sect. 3.2. All the data was gathered and information synthesis was carried out manually using an inductive content-analysis method [1], which derived comprehensive cognition from fragmented information. All the changes of neighbourhoods were categorised by type and scale, summarised in Table 1.

3 Results 3.1 Lifestyle Changes (General Situation) The questionnaire data identified the following three main changes in citizens’ lifestyles when comparing pre-pandemic and post-pandemic situation.

3.1.1

Change-1: Strengthening Trend Towards Online Activities

All the online activities including shopping, working, learning and entertaining covered in the questionnaire all increased compared to pre-COVID-19 period. Figure 2 displays the detailed comparisons of frequencies of online activities. The biggest changes lied in online learning and working, with 29.5% and 59.8% of respondents said they had never worked and learned online before COVID-19 dropped sharply to 7.3% and 37.2% respectively after. Online shopping and online entertaining were already popular among respondents before COVID-19, so the growth in frequency of use was not significant in comparison to online working and learning. However, taking into account that 13.5% of the participants were from the 65+ age group who did not use electronic devices regularly, the questionnaire was therefore

Outdoor

1/2/3

Rooftop playground for children

1/3

1/2

Added sky garden

Parking lot transformed into public space

1/3

1/2

Garage rental to commercial tenants, being transformed into various small shops (haircut/ bakery/milk station …)

Addition of terrace or roof layer

1/2/3

Increase of temporary tables or shelves at the entrances when the community was closed

Roof

2021.4

1/2

Increase of posthouses

2022.3

2021.6

2021.4

2021.3

2021.8

2021.7

2021.5

Increase of touchless smart 1/2/3 lockers

Earliest emergence

Ground floor

Neighbourhood in which it appeared

Specifics of the changes

Spatial dimension

Owners

Owners

Owners

Owners

Owners; Self-employed

Property

Self-employed

Property; Enterprise

Subjects of participation

Table 1 Change list of Vanke, Gonglu and Eryao communities from Feb. 2021 to Oct. 2022

2

2/3

2

2

3

1

1

1

Corresponding changes

S

S

L

S

S

S

L

L

Long term (L) versus Short term (S)

Physical and mental health benefits

Encourage contact-free behaviour to reduce the spread of the virus

Qualities supporting public health in pandemic

(continued)

Multiple and adaptive uses

Self-sufficiency in extreme circumstances

Filling the gaps in provision within the community

Impromptu response/ Adaptive behaviour

Features affecting resilience

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1

Tent setters appear on the greenbelt

2022.3

2021.4

1/2/3

Neighbour chatting or chess and cards with mobile furniture

Earliest emergence

2022.1

Neighbourhood in which it appeared

Increase of outdoor sports 1/2 venues (ping pong table/ basketball hoop/badminton court…)

Specifics of the changes

Owners

Owners

Property; Residential committee; Enterprises

Subjects of participation

2/3

2

2

Corresponding changes

S

S

L

Long term (L) versus Short term (S)

Qualities supporting public health in pandemic

Impromptu response/ Adaptive behaviour

Reuse of redundant space

Features affecting resilience

Note Neighbourhood 1 = Vanke 2 = Gonglu 3 = Eryao, Change 1 = Strengthening trend towards online activities 2 = Expanding demands for green and outdoor spaces 3 = Proximity choices in daily activities

Spatial dimension

Table 1 (continued)

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analysed separately for only the senior group, and it was found that those who chose the “sporadically” and “occasionally” options for online shopping surged to 213% of that in pre-COVID-19 time, confirming that elderly citizens living alone can hardly survive in extreme pandemic conditions without internet [12]. In a sense, COVID-19 made the online lifestyle not just the icing on the cake, but a necessity.

3.1.2

Change-2: Expanding Demands for Green and Outdoor Spaces

Figure 3 illustrates that the importance of community green space, community garden, community fitness facilities (outside), ground for sports (outside) all increased after COVID-19. On average, the most important public space before and after COVID-19 was found to be community green space, followed by ground for sports. Significant rise in importance was reported for community garden (45.5% increase), while the increases in the importance of community fitness facilities (outside) was considerably smaller (16.1% increase). The popularity of community garden in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak might also be linked to food shortages during the lockdown, as the results of the questionnaire also showed that 17.1% of respondents grew plants (including vegetables) on their balcony or terrace while 6.7% tried to grow plants for the first time after COVID-19, showing a great enthusiasm for gardening. On contrary, the importance of community activity center (inside) saw markedly reduced (26.9% reduced). Similar reduction (11.1% reduced) was also recorded in community fitness facilities (inside). The rise in the importance of outdoor public spaces was accompanied by a decline in the importance of indoor public spaces. Overall, the results suggested that outdoor and green public spaces were preferable in post-COVID-19 time.

3.1.3

Change-3: Proximity Choices in Daily Activities

Although the questionnaire research was launched six months after Wuhan lifted lockdown and the entire city was gradually returning to normal order, the data revealed that people’s daily travel range narrowed down considerably. In Fig. 4, for example, 52.6% of respondents sought medical treatment within 15–30 min of travel before COVID-19. While the proportion decreased to 34.1% after and almost half of people surveyed (45.9%) chose to travel within 15 min for doctors. The proximity options were also found to occur for offline shopping, dating, dining and weekend trips.

3.2 Neighbourhood Responds Through a year and a half of observation, changes were found in all three neighbourhoods, with most of which concentrated at the microscopic scale where ‘soft’

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Fig. 2 Frequency of online activities before and after COVID-19. Note: sporadically = less than once a month; occasionally = sometimes a month; often = sometimes a week. Online working and learning were analyzed only for those with jobs or students among participants (N = 755). Sampling of other activities was complete (N = 949). Source From the authors

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Fig. 3 Mean values of importance of spaces before and after COVID-19

Fig. 4 Travel time for medical appointments before and after COVID-19. Source From the authors

adjustments took place. After intensive verification and discussion with multiple actors, Fig. 5 shows the exact locations of changes in each settlement. In terms of the range of changes, the three showed a striking consistency, all focused on ground floor layer, roof layer and outdoor layer. In total, 4 logistics stations, 1 enlarged waterfront green space, 2 roof gardens, 9 sports grounds, 21 small shops, 7 informal public spaces were added, and 15 examples of self-renovation of houses had been found, providing a glimpse of how quickly settlements were responding and adapting to the changing lifestyles. And Table 1 presents a attempt at cataloguing built environmental changes of all samples.

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Fig. 5 Maps showing the locations of changes of Vanke, Gonglu and Eryao communities. Source From the authors Fig. 6 Touchless smart lockers

3.2.1

Ground Floor Layer: Rapidly Emerging Logistics Stations and Inner Commercial Street

With the popularization of online lifestyles among residents, especially the rapid increase in online shopping during COVID-19, ‘contactless delivery’ has been widely practiced (‘contactless delivery’ refers to the delivery of goods by logistics personnel through smart parcel lockers, posthouse or user-designated locations, avoiding direct contact with the recipient), which gave rise to a large number of new logistics spaces. From March 2021 to September 2022, a total of 9 additional smart lockers on the ground floor of residential buildings were counted in the three neighbourhoods (see in Figs. 6 and 7). And the embeddedness of such logistics space in living space

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Fig. 7 Touchless smart lockers

Fig.8 Inner commercial street transformed from garages. Source Photo taken by the authors

also inspired the development of community businesses. In the Gonglu residential area, the earliest case was found where the owner rented out the garage as a courier house. With its arrival, garage rentals were taking place one after another in the surrounding area to the extent that within a year an internal shopping street gradually formed (see in Fig. 8). Considering the background of mass demise of brick-andmortar businesses, the internal commercial street was very lively. And the variety of these stores, most of which were based on the O2O (online to offline) business model, was also increasing, from the first food, restaurants to clothing, beauty salons and wellness, attracting more and more regular consumers, which can be seen as a response to the tendency of localisation of residents’ daily activities.

3.2.2

Roof Layer: Sky Garden and children’s Games

House renovation had been found common especially in low-rise and multi-story buildings. The focus of the renovation was on outdoor or semi-outdoor spaces such as balconies, terraces and front yards (see in Fig. 9). In addition to the reopening of the sealed balcony, it also included the enlargement of the area, the addition of outdoor furniture and of course the introduction of more greenery. In the case of high-rise buildings, concentrated and larger-scale green spaces appeared as roof gardens (Fig. 10), with two newly opened ones with an area of 286 m2 and 115 m2 found in Vanke and Gonglu Community respectively. The plants grown were mainly vegetables, including tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and spring onions. Residents living in the same building built them on their own initiative and maintained together. Each household was given an area of about 3m*3m and shared the harvest to each other afterwards. New residents were constantly joining the rooftop planting, so they were still growing at the end of our observation period. And as well as being a

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Fig. 9 Roof additions

Fig. 10 Sky garden

Fig. 11 Children’s games. Source Photo taken by the authors

blessing for gardeners, the roof space has also become a playground for children. It was written in the observation dairy of a volunteer in Er Yao community that “on 18th June 2021, first time I found children meeting up to play on the roof terrace”. Closely following, similar discoveries were reported in the other two samples (see in Fig. 11).

3.2.3

Outdoor Layer: Thriving Public Space

As residents were more bound by place, which made public space more relevant than ever before. Bottom-up intervention was noticed in all communities with people reclaiming spaces to create playground for children, to socialise and exercise. It has seen a series of ’spatial magic’ including street corners occupied by mobile furniture, greenbelts turning into campsites and tai chi box on parking lot (Fig. 12). Most of the space properties have not changed, only with adjustments of time allocated for use. While there were still very rare exceptions, such as the car parks at both the Er Yao and Vanke communities which finally changed to public space through over-oneyear behaviour of residents (Fig. 13). In addition to fighting for space like this, there

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Fig. 12 tent setters on greenbelt

were also active interventions from the management level of residential committee. For example, in the case of Gonglu community, a large amount of unused space was reused and designated as public areas. Children’s outdoor play facilities were added to vacant spaces, and various corner plots were painted and converted into badminton or basketball courts (Fig. 14). Thus, sufficient outdoor activity venue for residents has been opened up in quite a short time.

Fig. 13 Transformation from parking lot to public plaza Fig. 14 new badminton court. Source Photo taken by the authors

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3.3 ‘New Normal’ As shown above, the emerging solutions of all the community samples showed a positive response to the alterations of lifestyle. In order to cope with the massive delivery pressures associated with online shopping, new logistics space was transformed from garage or embedded in the porch of residential building, which successfully assumed the role of a “third party” for the safer transfer after COVID-19. For the growing demands for outdoor activities, it is the redundancy of space that created the possibility as a large amount of unused space reused, or in another way residents manifested the public ownership of space (full or incomplete) through their own behaviour. Due to the reduced travel range of residents, almost all daily needs were addressed through a flexible layout with multi-function. It is not difficult to see through the community that changes in behaviour, use and duration are much faster than that in urban morphology. The best chances for successful short-term adaptations appear to have been offered by flexible layouts, multi-functions, space redundancy, and public ownership. But whether the neighbourhood we have already converted will serve as our “new normal” or if they are only an assemblage of temporary solutions?

3.4 Co-Development of Community Space and Logistics Space The emergence of inner commercial streets was seen as a short-lived adaptation, and with the relaxation of the pandemic control policy, people’s travel will no longer be restricted to the confines of neighbourhoods. But COVID-19 did become a catalyst for improving the environmental quality of the community, just like other pandemics did before [3, 4]. Some essential services in the shopping street, such as haircuts, should be permanently identified in the community plan. As for other non-essential services, they are bound to be hit in a relaxed environment in the future, but there is no denying that the sale of food and daily necessities served as a temporary resupply during the closure period. In contrast, the combination of logistics space and living space looks more certain in the future as online lifestyles already existed before the pandemic, but COVID-19 has certainly accelerated their development [16]. With people increasingly dependent on online shopping, courier delivery has gradually become another piece of urban infrastructure, a ‘lifeline’ of sorts. The long-term presence of logistics space in the community has built a bridge for the “last mile” of living materials between the city and residents. Based on the successful practice of “contactless delivery” such as smart parcel lockers and posthouses in reducing the spread of viruses, there is an urgent need to explore new models for the future of community spaces and their co-development.

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3.5 Self-Sufficient and Self-Organising Building Whether it is the expansion or reconstruction of balconies and terraces, or children’s games and vegetable planting on the roof terrace exemplifies the power of residents to fully mobilise their initiative to change and create the environment. In a limited space, residential buildings need to be flexible enough to cope with changing scenarios under different stressors. In the case of COVID-19, we see it as both a residence and an office, it is both a school and a nursing home, it is a playground and of course it can be a vegetable garden. As a result, the solidity of building functions will be further broken down in the future, and the boundaries between living/working/studying/playing will be blurred even further. Due to the constraints of building density, small-scale lowrise buildings will be able to make fuller use of their spatial flexibility, while the space for centralized renovation of large-scale high-rise buildings is limited to the roof level, which put forwards new requirements for high-rise buildings on how to organise more free spaces. In the future, the transformation of home space centering on healthy living and the reconstruction of public space enhancing neighbourhood support will become the following focus.

3.6 Neighbourhood Co-governance Most of the changes that residents make to the properties of a space through their own behaviours are ephemeral and temporary, such as camping in the green belt of a car park, which can be replaced by new ways of living at any time. However, the community bonds they build through joint creation, use and defence of space are long-lasting and strong. In the observed samples, behind the successful shaping of public space is often a group of closely-knit communities whose shared desire to break down longstanding differences and barriers ultimately drives the substantive transformation of the space. The communities bring together different stakeholders including residents, properties, residential committees and enterprises. Their common aspirations in the midst of a crisis make them closely unite and lead to a cooperative and tacit model of co-governance. Residents first help each other through neighbourhood networks (in the form of group buying of food, mutual assistance for necessities and medicines, etc.), while needs that are still difficult to meet are reflected to the community in a bottom-up manner and ‘identified’, through the ‘joint design’ and decision making of residents, properties and social enterprises, led by the residential committees, greater human and material resources can be mobilised for larger scale improvements to respond positively (e.g. the recreation of public spaces in Sect. 3.2.3). Compared with unified dispatch and planning from top to bottom, the co-governance mechanism makes it easier to deal with emerging demands and changeable challenges, which ultimately contribute to community resilience.

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4 The Path Ahead This study was carried out during a period when the pandemic in Wuhan was relatively calm under China’s zero-Covid-19 policy, using empirical cases to examine the ‘postpandemic’ impact. Special attentions were paid to exploring how the neighbourhoods responded to the changing lifestyle of residents and made adaptions to limit the spread of the virus on the one hand, and to improve life quality maintaining physical separation on the other hand. With the strengthening trend of online lifestyle, the increasing demand for outdoor space and the temporarily reduced scope of movement, neighbourhoods offer a viable, flexible and low-cost adaptation strategy in a short time. As we have observed in Wuhan, the implantation of ‘contactless delivery’, the expansion of greenery in residential buildings and the rise of public spaces, not engaging in any demolition and reconstruction, but rather micro and gentle adjustments starting from adapting to a new way of life. But it is also through such changes that we can glimpse the possible role of urban form and use in accelerating restoration and crisis preparedness in different contexts, such as the possibility of embedded development of “third party” spaces, self-sufficient and self-organising building adapting to different scenarios and the activation or transformation of public ownership. And more importantly, these bottom-up interventions connect people, from home to public, from indoor to outdoor, and strengthen community resilience through interpersonal networks of trust. COVID-19 has changed people’s material and emotional worlds. Spaces are redesigned and reorganized to help people heal from shared experiences and remind us that communal living is more important than ever. The two years of research after the outbreak in Wuhan is just the beginning, lifestyle changes in crisis deserves longer-term observation and study. Given that we will be coexisting with the new coronavirus for a considerable period of time, it allows us to examine the interface between the fabric of cities and the behaviour of urban dwellers in space under pressure. Each city has a different lifestyle change due to its socioeconomic background, and on this basis the strategies for environmental changes will of course vary greatly. Further research is needed to investigate the interplay between behaviour and space in different local communities, which together will advance our understanding of resilient urban planning and design approaches.

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Towards Resilient Cities and Neighbourhoods to Pandemics Ali Cheshmehzangi, Maycon Sedrez, Ayotunde Dawodu, Tim Heath, Tian Li, and Hang Zhao

Abstract This chapter summarises the valuable insights in the field of resiliencerelated innovations for cities and neighbourhoods to pandemics presented in the chapters of this book. There has never been a comprehensive and multi-scale book that shares scientific experiences, reviews, analyses, discussions, recommendations, and solutions with scholars, practitioners, policymakers, planners, and stakeholders on how pandemic-resilient innovations can be applied in the planning, design, management, and perception of the built environment. The book brings together a group of scholars and researchers to elaborate on resilient strategies, practices, tools, and ideas for post-pandemic cities and neighbourhoods by highlighting the experience learnt from COVID-19. Moreover, this chapter also extracts some key lessons for resilient cities and communities during pandemics. It also highlights some potential directions and future research from the perspective of pandemic-resilient strategies, public policies, tools, implementation, design and planning, and built environment management. After all, our work aims to create pandemic-resilient cities and communities and achieve urban sustainability. Keywords Resilience · Pandemics · Cities · Neighbourhoods · Urban sustainability · Innovation · Management A. Cheshmehzangi (B) Qingdao City University, Qingdao, China e-mail: [email protected] Network for Education and Research On Peace and Sustainability (NERPS), Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan M. Sedrez Deakin University, Geelong Waterfront, Australia A. Dawodu University of Greenwich, London, UK T. Heath University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK T. Li · H. Zhao University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus, Ningbo, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 A. Cheshmehzangi et al. (eds.), Resilience vs Pandemics, Urban Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7996-7_12

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1 A Summary This chapter summarises the valuable insights in the field of resilience-related innovations for cities and neighbourhoods to pandemics presented in the chapters of this book. There has never been a comprehensive and multi-scale book that shares scientific experiences, reviews, analyses, discussions, recommendations, and solutions with scholars, practitioners, policymakers, planners, and stakeholders on how pandemic-resilient innovations can be applied in the planning, design, management, and perception of the built environment. The book brings together a group of scholars and researchers to elaborate on resilient strategies, practices, tools, and ideas for post-pandemic cities and neighbourhoods by highlighting the experience learnt from COVID-19. We extract some lessons from each part in the next section. The pandemic-related research has been conducted from the initial stage of COVID-19, when most countries were suffering and constantly under threat from COVID-19, and their built environment were heavily influenced. In the process of fighting the spread of COVID-19, the dynamics of the pandemic can be influenced by different dimensions of the built environment [3, 4, 7, 10, 13], therefore, in this book, we pay attention to two different dimensions of the built environment at the macroscale and meso-scale, namely, cities and neighbourhoods. We explore the planning, management, strategies, practices, and policies of cities and communities worldwide in the context of COVID-19. By emphasizing the importance of experience in governance and response during COVID-19 [5, 6], we prove that taking appropriate adaptive policies, management measures, actions, tools, and strategies can increase the capacity of the built environment to respond to future potential pandemics like COVID-19 and promote urban resilience and sustainability based on research and analysis of actual case studies. Today, cities worldwide have gradually recovered from COVID-19, and people are progressively returning to their lives before COVID-19. On May 5th, 2023, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) [18]. However, we must be clear that it does not mean the pandemic is over, and COVID-19 is still a global health threat [8]. Pandemics often generate uncertainty, unpredictability, and inevitability [16]. Therefore, virus variants and another new pathogen may appear at any time, putting the world at risk again and cause unimaginable and unpredictable destructive effects [18]. As we all know, cities have always worked to find effective ways to combat pandemic threats and maintain a balance between public health and the built environment [2, 12]. Long-term reflection on historical pandemics is often considered an effective way to provide the built environment with adequate preparation for future potential pandemics [16]. Historically, cities have experienced various epidemic crises, such as the bubonic plague in the eighteenth century, the Cholera epidemics in the nineteenth century, the Spanish flu in the twentieth century, and the SARS, COVID-19 in the twenty-first century, etc. Obviously, COVID-19 is not the first pandemic to threaten cities and communities in human history, but it is one of the

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most severe pandemics, especially in recent years [11, 15]. While the emergence of these pandemics has brought the negative effect on cities and exposed their vulnerability [1, 9, 14], it also actively promotes the realisation of a more pandemic-resilient built environment for the future [1]. In fact, the management, planning, and design of the urban built environment are also one of the key factors in effectively combating and controlling pandemics to create a more resilient and sustainable city [9, 12]. Thus, the emergency of COVID-19 is our chance to rethink how to manage cities and communities when facing pandemics and explore more resilient innovations, strategies, and policies to be ready to respond to future potential pandemics. To this end, we must learn to reflect deeply on the enormous impact COVID19 has brought to the world and the vulnerability of cities to minimize the risk of future pandemics. In doing this, we must attach importance to the core position of resilience in disaster management of the built environment to adapt to dynamic changes in the pandemic and respond in time. We must be aware that resilient innovations, comments, and suggestions contribute to informing planners and policymakers on how to mitigate the effects of pandemics in cities and communities. Also, the improvement of technology, the application of strategy, the innovation of urban planning, as well as the implementation of adaptive policies play a vital role in building the built environment resilience to finally achieve urban sustainability. As part of the ‘Urban Sustainability’ book series, we trust this book can optimize pandemic management strategies, strengthen the balance between public health and the built environment, and promote the development of pandemic-resilient cities and communities by the study of COVID-19 case study examples, actions, and management measures. Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11)—making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, which involves reducing deaths and losses due to disasters [17], has been thoroughly and carefully considered in this book, we hope that we have seized this opportunity to improve the ability of cities and communities to absorb, adapt and recover from disasters, and enable the built environment to function regularly in the face of pandemic threats. In the next section, we extract some prominent points as potential lessons towards pandemic-resilient cities and communities from two parts of the book. Afterward, the last section is a summary that covers some possible new directions and future research in the field of pandemic management and urban resilience. These are summarized in 7 potential areas, and we hope they may conclude the book in a way that readers are left with ideas, innovative thoughts, questions, and answers for the management, design, and planning of a pandemic-resilient built environment.

2 Extracted Lessons for Pandemic-Resilient Cities and Neighbourhoods This section extracts some potential lessons from all two parts of the book, mainly for achieving pandemic-resilient cities and communities.

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From Part 1, we noted some determinants of urban resilience against pandemics. Crowding factors and environmental factors are the most critical factors which affect urban resilience during COVID-19 in a resource-limited developing country like India. However, not everyone agrees that crowding factors such as urban density are key factors of urban resilience to pandemics. Also, from a health promotion perspective, social participation, intersectorality, and the development of autonomy are key factors to effectively cope with the pandemic by urban planning and governance. In addition, we noted that the good international practices cited by the general press worldwide had a common denominator: the prior existence of a public sustainable urban mobility policy which is based on “tactical urbanism” and constituted “urban laboratories”. They are considered more resilient than others, and here resilience refers to the reaction time from the moment the crisis broke out. Moreover, we recognize the importance of accurate data for research on pandemics and the built environment. Monitoring cities is an effective way to effectively understand and explore the impact of COVID-19 on cities, communities, and streets. Finally, compared with the traditional governance arrangement, COVID-19 provides the opportunity for a wide-area metropolitan governance arrangement to cope with sprawled urbanization and integrated dynamic transportation systems to plan more resilient territorial development futures. We note from Part 2 that community resilience lies in its great flexibility and spontaneity in coping with rapid changes, and bottom-up interventions can strengthen it. In China, gated communities have pros and cons. From the perspectives of architecture and urban morphology, the key element of resilience to COVID-19 originates from the overlap of the organizational and property form of the gated community with the morphology of the superblock, which helps residents deal with intermittent lockdowns. Also, Chinese Community Prevention and Control Measures should be adjusted according to the development of the pandemic, which requires the support of accurate data. In addition, we noted that the main challenge in building city resilience to the pandemic is in unstructured urban areas. Thus, urban planning should focus on informal settlements and vulnerable groups. For example, in marginalized communities around the world, socio-spatial micro-networks can enhance community resilience to meet the needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups.

3 New Directions and Future Research In this last section, we summarise some potential new directions and future research in the field of pandemic management and urban resilience. We particularly look into these from the perspective of pandemic-resilient strategies, public policies, tools, implementation, design and planning, and built environment management. The following list of seven directions and future research summarise some of the suggestions, comments, viewpoints, discussions, ideas, and innovations covered in this book.

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(1) Innovative participatory strategies and public policies As the public/community engagement mentioned several times in the book, we are increasingly aware of the importance of citizen participation in the implementation of urban resilience strategies and public policies. However, now some cities and communities worldwide have not considered the residents’ preferences and voices. To enhance community cohesion and urban resilience, we expect to see more national, urban, and local policymakers implementing innovative participatory strategies and public policies in urban governance to respond to pandemics. Here the support of technologies, more recently AI, can transform how we interact with cities. (2) The implementation of long-term urban observation and monitoring As existing, we highlighted the advantages and necessity of observing and monitoring our cities and the changes in residents’ life in the context of the changing dynamics of the pandemic. Although the pandemic is temporary, considering the long-term impact of pandemics on the urban built environment, residents, cities, and communities deserve long-term observation and monitoring to prepare for future potential pandemics more effectively and efficiently, which promotes urban sustainability and resilience. Moreover, long-term observation and monitoring can detect pandemic changes, and the latest data can adjust public policies. We expect to see more longterm urban observation and monitoring with accurate data becoming available for urban research, management, and governance. Cities working with open data have expanded their planning capacities by collaborating with the scientific community. (3) The health and well-being central to pandemic-resilient cities An area of interest is creating healthier cities. Particularly after the emergency of COVID-19, research on public health and the built environment expanded rapidly. We call for the promotion of health as a priority in the development of resilient cities with full consideration for the well-being to achieve SDG 3, i.e., “Health and well-being”. Based on the background of sustainable and resilient cities, we expect to see more health and well-being-related measures used to balance the relationship between public health and the built environment. This sector represents a bottleneck in public administration due to its need for intensive investment; therefore, solutions to make Health smarter and affordable will need to connect a multitude of research fields. (4) Multiple spatial dimensions of the built environment We have seen a lot of research that takes into account the different spatial dimensions of the urban built environment, including macroscale (i.e., metropolitans and cities), meso-scale (i.e., communities and neighbourhoods), and micro-scale (i.e., public places and buildings). Now research on urban subsystems is still limited, but such (urban) subsystems play an important role in building sustainable and resilient cities; thus, we cannot ignore the significance of the micro-scale built environment in responding to pandemic crises. We expect to see more researchers focus on the impact of pandemics on the micro-scale built environment rather than just cities and

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communities and also apply resilience-related innovations to all spatial dimensions of the built environment. (5) Optimization and innovation of existing valid tools With growing opportunities to explore cases worldwide, we can find that the common characteristics of good practice that can effectively control and manage the spread of the pandemic are inseparable from the use of valid tools, such as urban laboratories and tactical urbanism actions, as noted in the book. More comparative studies should be conducted in the future to confirm if these tools, which have been widely used, really work. After proving their effectiveness, we look forward to leveraging new digital technologies to optimize and innovate these valid tools to adapt to the dynamics of the pandemic and enhance urban resilience. (6) Flexible, inclusive and equitable urban design and planning To create resilient and sustainable cities and communities, it’s time to rethink and reorient urban planning and design to make them more flexible, inclusive, and equitable. The pandemic is constantly changing, and flexible urban design and planning will become more attractive in the future to adapt to different periods of society. In addition, generally, as vulnerable groups (i.e., the poor, the elderly, children, etc.) and their settlements, communities, and cities may be disproportionately affected by pandemics, urban planning should pay attention to these vulnerable groups and regions. We expect that the fair and reasonable allocation of resources and space to meet the basic needs of different groups of people can be incorporated into the goals of urban design and planning. (7) Cross-departmental public policies In the face of a public health crisis like the pandemic, we expect to see more integrated public policies that incorporate comments and suggestions from different departments to meet the various dimensions of resilient cities and communities, such as social, environmental, public health, economic, etc. Strengthening cooperation and communication between government departments can make policymaking more effective and comprehensive. Different organizations always have different focal areas, and we hope that closer linkages between departments will reduce the limitations that arise from a lack of in-depth consideration of a particular area. To conclude, we would like to reflect on this book as an impressive collection of strategies, practices, policies, tools, guidelines, and discussions for pandemicresilient cities and neighbourhoods. Research and reflection on COVID-19 have exposed many vulnerabilities and inadequacies of cities, forcing us to rethink urban design and planning and think about what pandemic-resilient innovations can help us achieve urban sustainability. We must recognize that the urban built environment has different spatial dimensions, and the impact of the pandemic on the urban built environment can be learned and explored to build resilient cities to pandemics. Thus, long-term monitoring of the spatial dimensions of the urban built environment based on the dynamic changes of the pandemic is conducive to effectively managing cities and communities and formulating adaptive strategies and public policies, which

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requires more accurate data. COVID-19 is a public safety crisis, and there is no doubt that the priority for pandemic-resilient cities should be health and well-being. Based on this premise, the lessons learned from practices worldwide tell us that better resilient urban planning and design for pandemics should pursue flexibility, inclusion, and equity. We have begun to apply public engagement to formulating strategies and public policies to consider the needs of different groups, especially vulnerable groups. However, we still hope that more policymakers can take into account citizen participation. Moreover, we must strengthen communication and cooperation between departments to promote policy integrity and comprehensiveness. The lessons and directions learned from this book can simply serve as a guideline for researchers, scholars, practitioners, policymakers, planners, and stakeholders. We hope the recommendations and comments here will provide them with new ideas for urban resilience research, help them formulate innovative and resilient strategies and adaptive public policies, and help them rethink and optimize existing urban design and planning. After all, the goal is to create pandemic-resilient cities and communities and finally achieve urban sustainability.

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