Assessing the Future City Post COVID-19: Linking the SDGs, Health, Resilience, and Psychological Impact

Abstract

This paper explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected progress toward urban sustainability. A methodological framework was developed as an integrated-assessment tool for future cities, triangulating indicators that are relevant to cities. The development of this framework was based on understanding the dimensions of sustainable cities and factors related to the urgent crises, and the related lifestyle and psychological factors. The study focuses on the SDGs and health and resilience requirements and links them with the behavioral changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper builds on the advantages of various methodological frameworks by integrating their respective approaches, to offer a more comprehensive solution. A series of measures and actions (scenarios) related to sustainable cities and pandemics are discussed. This approach involves developing relevant indicators by fitting the urban health and resilience goals to the social, economic, and environmental goals of sustainable cities, as well as considering the factors affecting people’s perception of cities during and after the pandemic. The paper provides insights into how future cities could be planned, designed, and governed to reduce the impact of health crises and to enable the assessment of cities in relation to the chosen dimensions (health, resilience, sustainability, human).