Covid-19
What does Covid-19 reveal about local leadership?
EURA Conversations Post #1 – 4 May 2020
by Robin Hambleton
Robin Hambleton, Emeritus Professor of City Leadership at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK suggests that the Covid-19 pandemic might remind people of the value of local governance and place-based leadership.
Welcome to the first in a series of weekly posts, all written by EURA members, on various aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic.… Read the rest
What Covid-19 says about the concept of proximity
EURA Conversations Post #2 – 18 May 2020
by Ignazio Vinci, University of Palermo
As I write these lines, all over the world the Covid-19 pandemic is still disrupting a broad range of aspects we usually refer to as “urban life”. In many countries lockdown will be on the government agenda for weeks, with no expectation for the opening of concert halls and sports arenas, cinemas and museums.… Read the rest
Cities learn and adapt through experimentation
EURA Conversations Post #3 – 20 May 2020
by Filipe Teles
Filipe Teles, Pro-rector for Regional Development and Urban Policies, University of Aveiro, Portugal, suggests that the Covid-19 pandemic can serve as a catalyst, encouraging cities and local authorities to fast-track urban transformation.
I follow the tone of the previous posts in this new EURA Conversations channel.… Read the rest
Will pop-up cycling solve our urban mobility problems?
EURA Conversations Post #4 – 15 Jun 2020
by Kartsten Zimmermann
The corona pandemic has a wide range of effects on our cities and many observers speak of cities in crisis. Some of the effects are short term and immediate (closure of shops, bars, schools, museums, collapse of parts of the economy etc.),… Read the rest
People’s responses
EURA Conversations Post #5 – 22 Jun 2020
by Susanne Søholt
Susanne Søholt, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research.
In the first EURA Conversation, Robin Hambleton highlights the importance of good local leadership for handling the corona pandemic.
However, the success of local and national policies to fight back the pandemic depends first and foremost on peoples’ responses to policies restricting their everyday life – every day. … Read the rest
Healthy public spaces
EURA Conversations Post #6 – 29 Jun 2020
by Marichela Sepe
Italian National Research Council & University of Naples, Italy.
The 2020 public health emergency has interested the whole word and, although in different manner and measure, changed habits and use by people of places and cities. In many countries public spaces became completely empty and new urban landscapes have substituted for the previous one, transforming the private into public.… Read the rest
Community Response
EURA Conversations Post #7 – 13 Jul 2020
by Paula Russell, School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin
In the movies the dystopian view of a pandemic and its aftermath is mass unrest, accompanied by a breakdown in law and order. In reality one of the most striking elements of the response to the COVID 19 pandemic is that communities have responded through support and solidarity.… Read the rest
Urban regeneration
EURA Conversations Post #8 – 20 Jul 2020
by Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Along the last months, we have been asking ourselves what changes should take place in the post-COVID city, what themes and approaches we need to put into practice and include in our reflection to emerge stronger from the unprecedented situation that we are facing as European society.… Read the rest
To what extent can local governments tackle the social crisis?
EURA Conversations Post #9 – 27 Jul 2020
by Iván Tosics, Metropolitan Research Institute, Hungary
In the opening COVID post Robin Hambleton wrote “Covid-19 discriminates in a brutal way … really hurting the people in society who are already vulnerable.” Yes, the usual statements that ‘everyone is affected’ hide the reality that people face the difficulties from very different positions.… Read the rest
How local leadership can change our future for the better
What are the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for cities and communities? In a new book, to be published on 16 October by Bristol University Press, Professor Robin Hambleton, a Past President of EURA, suggests that local leadership can help societies recover from the pandemic and address modern societal challenges.
In the book, Cities and Communities Beyond COVID-19.… Read the rest
Not just bad?
EURA Conversations Post #10 – 5 Oct 2020
by Jacob Norvig Larsen, Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University
Evidently, the Covid-19 crisis poses great danger to peoples’ health and to the economy. Nevertheless, just as with any crisis, Covid-19 represents not only disruption but also opportunity.
This health crisis has destroyed lives and disrupted the economy. Nonetheless, all of a sudden it also stopped some of the undesirable consequences of the ways we produce, travel, entertain and live our urban lives.… Read the rest
Why place should be central to the development of any successful post COVID-19 strategy?
EURA Conversations Post #11 – 19 Oct 2020
by Robin Hambleton, University of the West of England, Bristol
Previous contributors to EURA Conversations have drawn attention to the importance of place and place-based action in responding to the COVID-19 calamity.
For example, Paula Russell in Conversation 7 surmised that the impressive efforts of local self-organising community groups in Ireland could be generating a new sense of commitment to place.… Read the rest