COVID-19: The missing insights

This issue highlights the lesser articulated impacts and consequences of the pandemic. Some of the themes highlighted include the devastating impact of the pandemic on vulnerable communities with little access to social protection; the need for decentralized governance in times of top-down lockdowns; the urgency to design buildings and human settlements in a more sustainable way to withstand the onslaught of the pandemic etc. Sectors such as public transport, heritage and museums, urban infrastructure and ambient air quality which are often ignored while discussing the pandemic, also find mention in this issue.

This issue provides new ways to address the systemic risk of the pandemic. The missing insights on COVID-19 articulated in this publication call for long-term re-thinking to come up with sustainable and lasting solutions to this crisis. The missing insights into the pandemic offer a new perspective on how to plan for resilience against another wave of this contagion.