The experience of cities during the COVID 19 pandemic: What are we going to do now?

Abstract

The Covid 19 pandemic, taken as a social crisis, has pointed to the high vulnerability of the basic organizational principles of modern society and the inherent inequalities, particularly those related to the urban space. Therefore, the first part of the paper presents ideas and practices initiated by the Covid 19 pandemic regarding (re)conceptualization of urban mobility and (re)organization of urban spaces in searching for more sustainable and resilient solutions, in Europe and the developed world. Secondly, the analysis addresses ecological modernization and the entrepreneurial (smart) city models as conceptual frames that limit considerably the approach to urban sustainability and resilience, both in general and in a pandemic context. The concluding part highlights the missing political will and economic interest to deal with the pandemic as an opportunity to reset existing urban policies/measures and seek to balance the economic, social and ecological dimensions of urban development. By employing critical sociological thinking on contemporary cities, the authors emphasize the need to recognize social and environmental justice issues in urban sustainability discourse and practice.