Welcome to EURA Conversations
EURA Conversations is a blog conceived as a democratic space to share experiences, offer reflections and open up conversations on various aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The questions we hope to address along with readers include.
Does the Covid-19 pandemic raise new questions for urban studies? What are the implications of this disaster for the future of cities and urban governance? Amid all the suffering are there positive stories and insights to unearth? Can international exchange help different societies share good ideas and practices on how to recover from the Covid-19 onslaught?
This new interactive space has been created to facilitate exchange of views on how different cities and communities are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, and to explore ideas on what our world might look like in the future.
Each Post is less than 500 words. Please consider leaving a “Comment” at the end of the Post to stimulate fresh thinking and idea development.
If you would like to offer a Post to appear in this space please send your proposal in a Word document with: your title, your text, your name and affiliation to: secretariat@eura.org
You will reach scholars in over twenty countries!
Robin Hambleton and Ignazio Vinci
Co-editors of the EURA Conversations series
07/06/2021
COVID-19 – a view from Trinidad and Tobago EURA Conversations Post #26 – 7 June 2021Julia R. Kotzebue, habitant at the Institute of Geography at the […]
24/05/2021
How will the COVID-19 pandemic affect the use of public space? EURA Conversations Post #25 – 24 May 2021Evangelia Athanassiou, School of Architecture, Aristotle University of […]
10/05/2021
The Response of Urban Africa to COVID-19 EURA Conversations Post #24 – 10 May 2021 Costanza La Mantia, In-house Technical Advisor at Rwanda Ministry of Infrastructure […]
26/04/2021
Education EURA Conversations Post #23 – 26 April 2021 Maria Antónia Pires de Almeida, Researcher at CIES, ISCTE, University Institute of Lisbon In Portugal municipalities are […]
12/04/2021
Urban greenspace during lockdown EURA Conversations Post #22 – 12 April 2021 Danielle Sinnett, Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments, University of the West of England, […]
22/03/2021
Urban green space and the mental health of young people EURA Conversations Post #21 – 22 March 2021 Isabelle Bray, Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing, […]
08/03/2021
Please, stop turning the temporary into tokenism EURA Conversations Post #20 – 8 March 2021 by Sara Caramaschi, Gran Sasso Science Institute, Italy As discussed by […]
23/02/2021
Are temporary uses back in town? EURA Conversations Post #19 – 22 February 2021 by Robin Chang, Department of European Planning Cultures, TU Dortmund University, Germany Temporary […]
08/02/2021
Distancing EURA Conversations Post #18 – 8 February 2021 by Henrique Dorneles De Castro, UFRGS Geography post-graduate program, Observatório das metrópoles, Núcleo Porto Alegre, Brazil It […]
25/01/2021
Remember Teaching? EURA Conversations Post #17 – 25 January 2021 by Alistair Jones, De Montfort University – Department of Politics, People and Place, UK As I […]
13/01/2021
Learning from 2020 EURA Conversations Post #16 – 11 January 2021 by Ignazio Vinci, University of Palermo A few weeks ago, a column in Time magazine […]
14/12/2020
Media responsibility? EURA Conversations Post #15 – 14 Dec 2020 by Cristiana Rossignolo, Politecnico di Torino I would like to contribute to this series of EURA […]
30/11/2020
Safe or free? EURA Conversations Post #14 – 30 Nov 2020 by Marta Lackowska, University of Warsaw, Poland Safety and freedom have always been qualities expected […]
16/11/2020
Instruments and relations between different levels of government EURA Conversations Post #13 – 16 Nov 2020 by Cristina Stănuș, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania A […]
02/11/2020
Can urban design be “Covid-safe”? EURA Conversations Post #12 – 2 Nov 2020 by Inigo Lorente Riverola, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid More than a century […]
20/10/2020
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 […]
05/10/2020
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 […]
27/07/2020
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 […]
20/07/2020
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 […]
13/07/2020
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 […]
30/06/2020
Healthy public spaces EURA Conversations Post #6 – 29 Jun 2020 by Marichela Sepe Italian National Research Council & University of Naples, Italy. The 2020 public […]
23/06/2020
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 […]
16/06/2020
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 […]
18/05/2020
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, […]
18/05/2020
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 […]
04/05/2020
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 […]
I suggest that the Covid-19 pandemic has shown how important it is for countries to have good local governance. In particular, I sense that local leaders, in and outside the state, have played a very positive role in bringing people together to solve problems arising from the pandemic.
But this is, in truth, a hunch. If you know of any examples of inspirational local leadership it would be great to hear about them.
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But this is, in truth, a hunch. If you know of any examples of inspirational local leadership it would be great to hear about them.
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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 lock down will be on the government agenda for weeks, with no expectation for the opening of concert halls and sports arenas, cinemas and museums. In many others social interactions are still minimized for fear that people’s efforts to recover from the pandemic may be frustrated by a new virus explosion.
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I would like to advocate that the Covid-19 pandemic can serve as a catalyst, encouraging cities and local authorities to fast-track urban transformation. A prime example of this type of change has been given in several cities all round the world where adjustments in public transportation systems were implemented in just a few days. Similar experiences within the most diverse areas of city governance were applied: soft mobility, pop-up place making, relieve of crowded areas...
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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.), some will be long term. One of these short-term measures with an eventual long-term effect is discussed with a positive undertone: the opening up of temporary additional cycling lanes or even the closure of streets for cars.
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#5 People’s responses
By
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. That is, it depends on peoples’ trust to or fear of their authorities- and the virus.
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#6 Healthy public spaces
By
Marichela Sepe
Italian National Research Council & University of Naples, Italy.
The 2020 public health emergency has interested the whole word and 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. Houses and balconies were used as work and study spaces, breaking down the boundaries between public and private life.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Three important reasons why place should be central to the development of any successful post COVID-19 strategy.
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Covid-19 is the most mapped disease in history by public administrations, data journalists, and scholars attempting to depict its urban geography. Snow’s map proved that far from being airborne, cholera was related to unsafe water sources that needed to be re-planned, whereas empirical evidence shows the opposite for coronavirus.
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The instruments at the disposal of the cities could make a difference. And any discussion about instruments requires, in my view, a look at relations between different levels of government (intergovernmental).
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Safety and freedom have always been qualities expected from and connected to cities. In ancient and medieval times, city walls were a symbol of shelter and protection from external threats. They signaled a territory governed under a rule of well-known law [...]. 2020 has, perhaps, turned our ideas about the city upside down. Many of the largest cities in the world – those with the highest number of infected and ill people, with overcrowded hospitals, with constant ambulance sirens, and with suddenly ominously empty squares and bars – do not offer a feeling of safety anymore
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I would like to contribute to this series of EURA Conversations by suggesting that the Covid-19 pandemic has shown how important it is for all of us to give “good” information. Nevertheless, I am not going to tell you about the proliferation of news about the pandemic, ranging from scientific and objective data to images on long ambulance queues in front of hospitals. On the contrary, I would like to offer you a reflection on how news can be dangerous to some vulnerable population groups if incorrectly mediated.
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A few weeks ago, a column in Time magazine was accompanied by an eloquent drawing: in it, a big red X overlapped the number 2020 and, just below, an inscription said ‘The worst year ever’. There are many reasons to recognise that the Time’s statement isn’t without foundation.
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As I sit back to reflect upon my teaching experiences over this academic year, I try to count the number of silhouettes I have taught, the number of breakout rooms in which tumbleweed has rolled, and the number of silhouettes who have remained in the virtual classroom long after it has concluded, ignoring requests to leave the room.
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#18
Distancing
By
Henrique Dorneles De Castro
UFRGS - Observatório das metrópoles, Núcleo Porto Alegre, Brazil
It might be the pessimist geographer in me, or maybe it is because I live in Latin America, but I not only share Filipe Teles’ concerns about social distancing becoming the next pandemic, I indeed think this is a very possible path for post COVID-19 cities
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#19
Temporary uses 1
By
Robin Chang
Department of European Planning Cultures, TU Dortmund University, Germany
Temporary uses were alternatives to conventional and rational planning, but are now recognizable ways to collectively produce and maintain space while claiming rights
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As discussed by some, the reconceptualization of temporariness will be among the many post-pandemic challenges to consider. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, a common response has been to mobilize a variety of temporary arrangements as ad hoc physical solutionss
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#21
Mental Health
By
Isabelle Bray
Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing, University of the West of England, Bristol
Urbanisation is seen as a solution to the current environmental crisis, yet at the same time the global trend towards urbanisation is having a detrimental effect on our mental health
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#22
Greenspace under lockdown
By
Danielle Sinnett
Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments, University of the West of England, Bristol
Greenspaces in urban areas are critical for a host of environmental, economic and social reasons. They benefit our mental health, providing space for exercise, rest and relaxation
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#23
Portuguese municipalities and education
By
Maria Antónia Pires de Almeida
Researcher at CIES, ISCTE, University Institute of Lisbon
In Portugal municipalities are responsible for school infrastructures and staff, whereas teachers are provided by the Ministry of Education. In face of the Covid-19 pandemic, a state of emergency was declared on March 18th, 2020. Schools and universities were closed, and online teaching was enforced, as well as a state program for TV-schoolingn
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#24
Africa
By
Costanza La Mantia
In-house Technical Advisor at Rwanda Ministry of Infrastructure for the World Bank-led Rwanda Urban Development Project Phase II (RUDP II), Rwanda, Kigali
UN-Habitat estimated that 95% of all COVID cases worldwide are located within urban areas. African cities are historically characterized by unequal spatial patterns and a substantial lack of networked basic infrastructure, making most inhabitants unable to meet their basic needs
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#25
Public space
By
Evangelia Athanassiou
School of Architecture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Research on public space was already proliferating long before the COVID-19 pandemic started. And so were worries regarding the erosion of its true function as a democratic space accessible to everybody as well as projections of “the end of public space”.
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