The Impact of COVID-19 on the Right to the City Post-Pandemic Perspectives
to Build Back Better and Fairer Cities and Human Settlements
Eva Garcia Chueca
[Senior Research Fellow of Barcelona Centre for International Affairs]
This paper argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the failures of the current economic and urban models in many fields. A number of unresolved problems suddenly emerged in a simultaneous manner: gross inequalities, poor access to adequate housing, homelessness, urban economies incapable of ensuring livelihoods for all, poor public healthcare systems, lack of digital skills or tools, insufficient basic urban infrastructures, and so on. The evidence of these structural failures opens up a window of opportunity to change the hegemonic patterns of city-making.
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To this end, the paper first provides the international legal and political ground on which such change can be underpinned, as well as offering a succinct diagnosis of how the pandemic has impacted cities and human settlements. On the basis of such a diagnosis, several fields of action are offered to guide the policies of national and local governments. Finally, the paper points out the main elements that make up an enabling framework for the realization of the Right to the City.
The Impact of COVID-19 on the Right to the City Post-Pandemic Perspectives
to Build Back Better and Fairer Cities and Human Settlements
Eva Garcia Chueca
[Senior Research Fellow of Barcelona Centre for International Affairs]
This paper argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the failures of the current economic and urban models in many fields. A number of unresolved problems suddenly emerged in a simultaneous manner: gross inequalities, poor access to adequate housing, homelessness, urban economies incapable of ensuring livelihoods for all, poor public healthcare systems, lack of digital skills or tools, insufficient basic urban infrastructures, and so on. The evidence of these structural failures opens up a window of opportunity to change the hegemonic patterns of city-making.
.
.
.
To this end, the paper first provides the international legal and political ground on which such change can be underpinned, as well as offering a succinct diagnosis of how the pandemic has impacted cities and human settlements. On the basis of such a diagnosis, several fields of action are offered to guide the policies of national and local governments. Finally, the paper points out the main elements that make up an enabling framework for the realization of the Right to the City.