Welcome To The New Normal! Emerging Patterns And Trends To Rethink What Cities Are

Abstract

Hello everyone, and thanks to Polis University for the introduction and to the conference organizers for the invitation to talk to you today. It is a genuine pleasure to be able to do so as the pandemic has profoundly changed the ways we relate to one another, and it has also transformed how and why we interact with places. A renewed interest in how the pre-pandemic places we live, work, and play in our cities could be good for us and support our health and well-being, was gaining signifcant momentum during the pandemic. However, the pandemic has revealed existing health and social inequalities in many contexts, and the need to assess our health and wellbeing in relation to our environment. Now we must ask: what is the future for cities? My talk is split into two parts.