A manifesto for planning after the coronavirus: Towards planning of care

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis upended the status quo of our everyday life. The rising discourse in the midst of this pandemic is ‘human guilt’ (e.g., ‘we are the virus!’), reviving the dark side of neo-Malthusian environmentalist ideology. While the pandemic should be considered a wake-up call for us to drastically rethink our relationship with nature, planning discipline cannot resign itself from its power and responsibility to make a difference in human and nonhuman lives. So, here I ask: How can we carefully reposition ‘human intervention’ in the aftermath of this ‘human guilt’, without nullifying the hopeful spirit and our belief in the power of planning? Inspired by Tronto/ Lawson’s geographies of care and Dewey-an pragmatism, this essay calls for the rise of ‘planning of care’. Planning of care not only recognises humans’ interdependency on one another, but also acknowledges cities’ on-going, dialectic relationship with their natural surroundings.

The COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts on cities and major lessons for urban planning, design, and management

“…While historical experience shows that previous pandemics such as the 1918 flu pandemic have also revealed the socioeconomic fault lines, they have resulted in limited post-pandemic actions towards reducing inequalities and addressing the needs of minorities and poor groups. It is hoped that more efforts towards solving these issues through more inclusive planning will be made in the post COVID era ( Wade, 2020 ; Jon, 2020 ). Overcoming inequality challenges can also enhance resilience to other threats such as climate change impacts that tend to affect vulnerable groups disproportionately.…”

On the Same Skywalk in a Time of Pandemic: How a vulnerable group copes with the new conditions in Hong Kong

“…Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the crisis, cities may need some critical challenges, as spatial justice, to be addressed in the path towards an inclusive planning agenda for low-income groups (Jon, 2020). New directions for research may include investigations on the use of other PS, interviews with MDWs' and extension of the observation days and location to better capture the PS use and selection choice during the pandemic evolution.…”

Korona ja kaupunkitila

“…Pandemian vaikutus on kaupunkitilan käyttäjien osalta yhtenäistävä: virusuhka on jokaiselle julkisen tilan käyttäjälle yhtä todellinen, ja jokaisen terveys on riippuvainen vastaantulijan terveydestä ( Jon 2020). Pandemia näyttääkin nostavan esiin uuden, yhteisvastuuseen perustuvan terveyden edistämisen ihanteen ( Jon 2020). Kun terveellinen tila tarkoittaakin turvallisuutta kaikille, limittyy se myös kaupunkitilan avoimuuteen ja siellä kohtaamiseen liittyviin ihanteisiin.…”