
COVID-19 and the challenge of crisis urbanism | James Evans, Karen Lucas, Jim Walker and Bronwen Thornton
We are living through a period during which cities are changing much faster than usual. Lengthy and conservative cycles of planning, consultation, policy development, budgeting and implementation are being bypassed by accelerated delivery frameworks and temporary...

Not enough beds, not enough care: putting New York City’s COVID-19 crisis in context | Caitlin Henry
Socio-economic inequality in cities has exacerbated the uneven impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with people in poverty and people of colour more likely to be exposed to and more likely to die from the virus. Accounting currently for nearly ten percent of the...

The COVID-19 lockdown has forced us to decentralise work: let’s not go back | Matthew Harrison
One faint silver lining to the very dark cloud of COVID-19 is the positive effect the lockdown has had on the environment. As many employers have been forced to embrace remote working and with the restriction on ‘unnecessary’ travel, the reduction in road use has had...

Inflammatory Bowel Disease and COVID-19: experiences of those well versed in social distancing | Poppy Budworth.
The global outbreak of Coronavirus has prompted important questions around the impact of isolation on people’s mental and physical health, interactions with the environment, their relationships, work life and social life. The words ‘social distancing’ have echoed in...

Pandemic-3.0 and the Cities Game – from crisis to transformation | Joe Ravetz
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a multitude of deaths, the lock-down of huge populations, and the decimation of economies, not least in the UK. But here we take a forward look on cities and settlements of many shapes and sizes – not only as grey areas on the map,...

How has coronavirus changed cities? Using urban data to understand lockdown | Manchester Urban Observatory
What would happen if we could remove cars from our cities? Can we improve air quality to reduce vulnerability to Coronavirus? These are big questions with massive ramifications for public health, liveability and climate change. This post uses urban data to examine how...

Whose park is it anyway? Social distancing and park users during the Covid-19 pandemic | Ian Mell
How should we react when we see people outside in public spaces or parks when we’re all supposed to be at home self-isolating? When does our daily constitutional exercise turn into a group activity? Who are we allowed to spend time with outside of the home?Each of...

Labouring Urban Infrastructures digital magazine
The Manchester Urban Institute is pleased to present the Labouring Urban Infrastructure digital magazine.From the ‘infrastructural age’ to crises of care, infrastructures have taken a paramount place within contemporary discourse and debates. Promises of better...

#CreativeInfra: A reflection
Amy Barron, 30.04,2019The sun was shining bright over the University of Manchester on 28th and 29th March creating the idyll backdrop for The Creative Methods for Researching Urban Infrastructures workshop. Organised by a passionate group of postgraduate researchers...

Shed housing in the UK – looking beyond stereotypes
Melanie Lombard, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, University of SheffieldOver the last decade, the phenomenon of ‘beds in sheds’ has regularly caused consternation among media and policy observers. The issue of shed housing has appeared on local and...
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