Planning the Future Post-COVID-19 Risk City

Dear Colleagues,

Contemporary societies and cities are currently facing phenomenal mounting levels of evolving risk and vulnerability, stemming, inter alia, from social polarization, the growth of urban poverty levels, urban conflict and violence, natural disasters, climate change, and, most recently the coronavirus epidemic disease. In my The Risk City (Jabareen, 2015), which conceptualizes the contemporary city as Risk City, I suggest that we are facing a great challenge of how to plan our contemporary cities under the new circumstances of anticipated future risk and uncertainties. In light of the complex threats and risks to the human habitat that have emerged in recent years, this Special Issue seeks papers that investigate planning policies and practices aiming at coping with threats and risk that cities face. We seek papers on issues regarding urban policies and planning coping with various type of urban threats and risk. City planning and development have an important role to play in contending with the future impact of climate change, the complexities and uncertainties of which pose new theoretical and practical challenges. In this context, generating a broad understanding of the role of planning in fighting risk is currently emerging as a crucial task for scholars and decision-makers at the national and local levels. Thus, this Special Issue will focus not only on climate change-related risk but also on other type of threats. What kinds of risks do cities attempt to address, what types of practices do they institute, and what types of approaches do they apply? Do they adequately address the risks and uncertainties posed? Do they address social issues and reflect social agendas and whether they marginalize urban social issues? Answering these questions will enable us to understand whether the cities of the world are contending with risk and uncertainties in a responsible manner, or, alternatively, becoming death traps for their residents by failing to effectively meet the challenges of countering various risk such as the pressing climate change.

Prof. Yosef Jabareen
Guest Editor

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