Parklets, traffic-free zones and outdoor eating: how COVID is transforming our cities

Jan 11, 2022

People wearing protective face masks walk on a street, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Nantes, in France, January 8, 2022.

Both cities and citizens have often shown that they can adapt rapidly under crisis conditions. Image: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Daniel J. Hill

Lecturer, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds

Michele Acuto

Professor of Global Urban Politics and Director, Connected Cities Lab, The University of Melbourne

Our Impact

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Cities and Urbanization is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Cities and Urbanization

According to The Guardian, 'A 'stage' is defined as one part of a journey, and a new stage begins when the mode of transport changes.' Image: Guardian graphic. Source: Department for Transport walking and cycling statistics, 2020

Have you read?

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing to encourage healthy living in cities?

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.