Pandemic Urbanism: Infectious Diseases on a Planet of Cities (Urban Futures)

The authors reveal the historical context of recent infectious disease events and how they have variously transformed the urban social fabric. They highlight the important role played by socio-ecological processes associated with the global urban periphery - suburban or post-suburban zones and hinterland areas of extended urbanization - bringing to light the increased significance of social media, changing mobility patterns, and new forms of urban governance and pandemic response. The book takes forward theoretical approaches to understanding pandemics grounded in urban political ecologies of disease and landscape political ecology, developing novel insights for post-pandemic urban governance and planning. In doing so, it reveals a paradox at the heart of pandemic urbanism: our urban way of life at close quarters enables contagion to spread easily, yet it also makes it easier to contain and respond to disease outbreaks.

Multidisciplinary in its approach and written by three proven experts in the field, this book is an invaluable, accessible primer on the origins, pathways, and management of infectious disease.