This book highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cities. The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic and social impacts have been felt around the world. In large cities and other urban areas, the pandemic has highlighted a number of issues from pressures on urban labour and housing markets, shifts in demographic processes including migration and mobility, changes in urban travel patterns and pressures on contemporary planning and governance processes.
Despite Australia’s relatively mild COVID exposure, Australian cities and large urban areas have not been immune to these issues. The economic shutdown of the country in the early stages of the pandemic, the sporadic border closures between states, the effective closure of international borders and the imposition of widespread public health orders that have required significant behavioural change across the population have all changed our cities in some and the way we live and work in them in some way. Some of the challenges have reflected long-standing problems including intrenched inequality in labour markets and housing markets, others such as the impact on commuting patterns and patterns of migration have emerged largely during the pandemic.
This book, co-authored by experts in their field, outlines some of the major issues facing Australian cities and urban areas as a result of the pandemic and sets a course for future of the cities we live in.
Author(s): Scott Baum, Emma Baker, Amanda Davies, John Stone, Elizabeth Taylor
Series: Cities Research Series
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 119
City: Singapore
Foreword to Pandemic Cities by Baum et al
Preface
Contents
About the Authors
1 COVID-19 and Australian Cities: When the Pandemic Came to Town
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The Pandemic Comes to Town
1.3 About This Book
References
2 Population Challenges and Change in Pandemic Cities
2.1 The Big Population Questions for COVID Cities
2.2 Fortress Australia and International Migration
2.3 Sea Change, Tree Change, or No Change: Internal Migration
2.4 Where to Next for Australia’s Population
References
3 COVID-19 and the Social Structure of Cities: The Forgotten Vulnerable
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The Forgotten Vulnerable: Lost in Space
3.3 It Wasn’t Only Case Numbers That Were Haunting the Forgotten Vulnerable
3.4 Singling Out the Forgotten Vulnerable
3.5 The Continued Disadvantage of the Hidden Vulnerable
References
4 The Great Job Reshuffle: How COVID-19 Changed Urban Labour Markets
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Australian Economy and the Onset of COVID-19
4.3 The Unequal Labour Market Burden of the Pandemic Shutdown
4.4 Some of Us Jumped on Our Scooters
4.5 Some of Us Started Working in Our Pyjamas
4.6 Essential Workers: Not All Heroes Wear Capes
4.7 What Now for the COVID Job Shuffle?
References
5 Housing and the Pandemic
5.1 Housing Outcomes in the Pandemic City
5.2 COVID-19 Adding to the Housing Crisis
5.3 Marginal Housing and Homelessness During COVID-19
5.3.1 Governments to the Rescue
5.4 COVID-19 and Rental Financial Stress
5.4.1 Governments to the Rescue
5.5 Housing and the Post-pandemic City
References
6 Moving Around the COVID City
6.1 COVID-19 and the Transport Reshuffle
6.2 We Fell Out of Love with Buses (and Other Public Transport)
6.3 We Retreated to the ‘Safety’ of Our Cars
6.4 We Got Active
6.5 After the Reshuffle
References
7 Planning the COVID City
7.1 Planning the COVID City
7.2 ‘Pop-Up’, Fast Track, and Re-opening the Centre to Cars: Australian Planning Reforms in Response to COVID
7.2.1 ‘Pop-Up’ and Active Transport Responses
7.2.2 Re-opening the City to (COVID-Safe?) Cars
7.2.3 ‘Fast Tracking’, ‘Resetting’ and Continuing Erosion of Public Engagement
7.3 COVID Responses: Implications for Sustainable Transport and Compact Urban Form
7.4 Planning and Crisis: Implications of COVID Responses for Practice and Research
References
8 The Future of COVID Cities
8.1 Are We There yet?
8.2 The Post-pandemic City
8.3 What Have We Learned
8.4 Where to from Here?
References
