WILL CITIES SURVIVE? SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM FOR FUTURE CITIES

Abstract

For decades, the climate crisis has been demanding our action and commitment. Numerous efforts to reach an international consensus via climate summits, such as COP25 and the Paris Agreement, have not had any expected results yet. However, many talks about climate change were put on hold during the last two years when the new coronavirus put the world on alert. This process has not been easy as COVID-19 highlighted critical deficiencies in our built environment and urban design. Even though infections battered affluent areas too, the pandemic hit high-poverty areas the hardest. Dense neighborhoods and overcrowded buildings could facilitate the rapid spread of infections due to the difficulty of generating social distancing and the application of extensive quarantines. Yet, various changes have been adopted rapidly. On top of that, the use of public spaces, streets, parks, homes, and all buildings had to be adjusted to control the spread of the virus, which transformed our habits and conceptions. Numerous studies showed great variations in the use of transportation during the pandemic too. Fundamental questions that remain unanswered are: are those changes here to stay? What does the future hold for our built environments? Some even go as far as to question: will cities survive? While many intellectuals and academics call for the end of cities (at least as we know them), some stakeholders urge to return to normality, or so-called status quo.