Preparing cities and preparing them to face various crises is a topic that has always been present in urban planning; For example, to confront wars, shelters were planned for construction, and to face floods, a number of water drainage facilities were built and constructed.

However, it was noted - during the current Corona pandemic (Covid-19) - that our modern cities are not qualified to face health crises, and that serious consideration must be given to reviewing building and construction laws. Perhaps someone says that pandemics do not appear until decades after a limited period, and therefore it is not necessary to increase the cost of building and construction.

This may be true, but such epidemics leave invaluable losses: large numbers of lives and possibly permanent health damage. Then there is a worse possibility, which is that these crises will recur in a few years. The evidence is the spread of the swine flu epidemic in 2009, and the Ebola virus in 2013 and then in 2018.

So as not to go away, as is customary in the history of urbanism; The first signs of urban planning were after the cholera epidemic that struck the city of London in 1854. Because of the collapse of France as a country when Paris fell easily in front of the Nazi advance, The policy of regionalization and decentralization was enacted after the war, thanks to the book of French geographer John François Graffiti "Paris and the French Desert".

It is known that the procedures adopted to deal with epidemics are two main elements: the distance of social separation and quarantine, and therefore they should be taken into account in planning future cities so that they have immunity from epidemics, and therefore I suggest a new concept is "healthy immunity for cities."

The procedures adopted to deal with epidemics are two main elements: the distance of social separation and quarantine, and it should be taken into account in planning future cities so that they have immunity from epidemics, and therefore I suggest a new concept is "healthy immunity of cities"

In front of the problems that emerged during the Corona crisis; It has become necessary and necessary to review urban policy after this pandemic, and this review should take place at four levels:

1- On the building level : the Corona crisis exposed and exposed the reality of housing and its poor condition. So that we discovered that the majority of the dwellings were designed to become developing places and human warehouses, because the contemporary life system is based on spending more time outside it.

It has also been discovered that the three conditions for decent housing (sunbathing, lighting, and ventilation) were not available as required in most of our legal housing, while unlawful (i.e. randomness) they are often absent in these terms combined or with the required specifications, which calls for a review of the specifications and standards of these conditions.

As for the condition of insolation, It is observed that there is no or poor quality in most housing units. In the past it was said: The house that the sun enters does not enter the doctor. For this condition to be met, at least one of the building's façades must be directed toward sunrise or sunset. The height of the opposite buildings should be respected according to the rule: the height of the building is less or equal to the width of the road.

As for the lighting condition; There is a lack of natural lighting, and accordingly, in addition to respecting the height, a back foyer should be provided for residences that have a single facade, and the use of large windows with double glazing as a means of energy and sound insulation.

As for the condition of ventilation; It is also weak in a large proportion of housing, and it is known that natural ventilation is achieved by expanding the openings of the house, and that all components of the house have these openings.

The Corona crisis has alerted us that the size of housing is the major problem that families suffered during the quarantine period, and therefore it should be added as a fourth condition for adequate housing conditions. So that the residence should be suitable to spend the longest time inside it without feeling crowded and bored, and that it should be sufficient for practicing exercise, studying and playing for children… etc.

Someone may say that the time of an epidemic is an exception, and the exception is not measured by it. The answer to this objection - in addition to the aforementioned possibility of renewed epidemics in the future - is that cities are also subject to similar situations, such as natural disasters and wars.

Also, a number of activities and businesses are taking place from a distance inside the home, and will increase and develop more in the future thanks to digitization and modern means of communication and the Internet, such as: work, meetings, seminars, press meetings, education, shopping ... etc.

Here, a new concept must be established: a house for every age instead of a home, that is, a house that responds to the needs of every age group: celibacy, at marriage and childbearing, and then the third age.

As for non-residential buildings; In addition to the conditions for adequate housing that have been mentioned - but according to the specifics of each building or place - they should take into account the components and elements that help achieve the distance of social distance.

It appeared during the Corona crisis that limited building space is the main obstacle for it to operate at full capacity, so the only solution was to reduce the number of its users.

2- At the neighborhood level : It is known that in the past the city consisted of several neighborhoods, and each neighborhood was known as social cohesion, and it has a good number of facilities and services, especially proximity services, and this is what was allowed for it with a level of independence from the rest of the city.

But this sphere has almost vanished, especially in big cities. Therefore it must be revived because it is an important means to facilitate the process of quarantine during the pandemic, and to ensure that the infection does not spread to the rest of the city. It will also contribute to the preservation of the environment by reducing transportation through the various means of transportation, which is also healthy because it will allow for more dismounting.

Non-residential buildings should take into account the components and elements that help to achieve a social distance. It appeared during the Corona crisis that limited building space is the main obstacle for it to operate at full capacity, so the only solution was to reduce the number of its users.

3- At the city level : It was noted during the Corona crisis that the biggest obstacles to facing the pandemic are: slums and high population density; After the crisis, it is necessary to work on strictly fighting the random construction, and that the slums be converted into organized fields, as well as controlling density through:

Working on multiple city centers instead of the city having one center.
- Publishing some facilities on the outskirts of cities, such as sports vehicles, universities, markets for major areas, etc.

Doubling the percentage of unconstructed and unpaved land to 20% in various parts of the city, and to be in the form of green areas, parks and fields for urban agriculture. This will contribute to facing natural disasters, especially floods, as well as to air quality.

4- At the level of the urban network : urban policy - within one country - should retract the choice of mega cities and mega cities. Because it is difficult to control the spread of the epidemic within it, unlike small and medium villages and cities.

It also appeared that even the choice of planetary cities or those that spread in the metropolitan giant suburb of the city, is not an option either, because a large percentage of its inhabitants move daily to the big center for work, study, shopping ... etc.

Accordingly; The strategic solution is to make the urban network spread to cover most of the national territory, and thus there will be a relatively equal demographic distribution between cities within the various regions of the same country. This will only be done by a fair distribution of development opportunities between the nation’s parties, and by granting fiscal and financing incentives to the enterprises that invest outside the major poles.

  • Source: Al-Jazeera