Urban Geographies

Of pressing concern in these uncertain times are the structures and livability of urban societies, and how we join with planners and policymakers to create and transform our social and physical spaces. In 2019, the first modern world pandemic began in a local Chinese wet market and rapidly diffused through urban global hierarchies. Globalization and the excesses of capitalism seem to have created a world of greater urban risk. Densely packed urban populations live alongside bats, rodents, pets, birds and other living things. The 2019/20 Covid-19 pandemic mandated a global shut-down with consequential changes in urban health, economies and lifestyles.Urban Geographies: Politics, Pandemics & People's Rights looks closely at the spatial importance of local and global connectivity. In addition to pandemic threats there are pressing issues such urban gentrification, revitalization, political, economic and social restructuring, and social and political activism. Within cities today, wealth and poverty reside cheek-by-jowl. Racial, sexual, and ethnic minorities along with women, children and the elderly fight for representation and political power. Many neighborhoods are no longer safe and the household is an increasingly marginalized economic unit. Within cities, nature and healthy living are at the forefront of concerns, but there is also a rise of communities of care and mutual aid. This books covers these matters as they relate to space, urban living and global connectivity.