Does the Coronavirus concern us? Yes, it does. Beyond the rush for health cures, cities are seen to react by using both architecture and urban strategic planning as tools for the virus’ containment, shattering our notions of city and resilience planning.
What do we need to know about Coronaviruses? They are not new. First identified in the 1960s, they are common in both humans and animals, and while some of them are not dangerous, others are extremely serious. In 2003, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak was responsible for a death toll of 774, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012 was accountable for 282 dead, and the most recent one — the Coronavirus (technically known as the COVID-19) which started in Wuhan— is alarming in view of its rapidly rising number of suspected cases and death. Coronaviruses are classified as ‘zoonotic diseases’, meaning they can spread to people from animals. Just like in the case of SARS, and the Coronavirus outbreak, bats were the original carriers. The bats then transmitted the virus to other animals, which then transmitted it to humans.
Observing the evolution of the outbreak reveals fascinating insights into how cities (both in China and overseas) are responding to the crisis. Since the reported outbreak on the 9th of January by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Wuhan meat market, where the coronavirus originated, was closed and invaded by people in hazmat suits. Two weeks later the city of Wuhan was placed on lockdown, and rapidly after, the zone expanded to 15 cities (including Shanghai’s Disneyland). In total, 56 million people were physically cut from the outer world with public transportation disabled and roads closed, during the Chinese Lunar New Year. To put this in perspective, 209 countries have a population of less than 56 million!
