International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020

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International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
International monitor
of urban approaches
dealing with COVID-19

Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
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This Monitor aims to provide a general impression of the measures taken
by other cities in Europe and around the world following the outbreak of
COVID-19. The Monitor addresses various fields; all examples are selected in
light of their relevance to cities, particularly to Amsterdam. This document
also contains overviews of EU measures and of sources of information that
are relevant to cities.

For more information about the way that Amsterdam is dealing
with the coronavirus pandemic, go to this website.
You can find the previous editions of the monitor here.
International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
Content
Local and regional lockdowns in the United Kingdom 4
Local and regional lockdowns in Germany            6
Local restrictions in the province of Antwerp      7
Face masks in France                               8
Impact of corona on metropolitan regions           9
In lockdown in Israël                             11
Focus on the nights during coronavirus            14
Tourism during and post COVID-19                  16
Housing market: exodus from cities?               18
Overview of relevant resources                    19
International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
Local and regional lockdowns
in the United Kingdom

Local lockdown measures are (or                           At the end of June, Leicester became        Due to the fact that the measures
were) in place in four areas of the                       one of the first cities in Europe to face   taken in in schools and workplaces
United Kingdom. These areas are                           a local lockdown. While some measures       proved not to have been sufficiently
in Leicester, Luton (not far north of                     were relaxed in the rest of the United      successful, more drastic measures were
London) and Northern England, which                       Kingdom on 4 July, this was not the         implemented in Leicester in order to
includes Greater Manchester. On 22                        case in Leicester. A local lockdown was     reduce the spread of the virus. After
August, Northampton was added to                          deemed to be required after health          having been open for two weeks,
the list of locations where stricter                      workers reported a steep rise in the        shops not selling basic necessities
local measures apply. The measures                        number of infections in the city. In the    were required to shut their doors
were relaxed in Luton on 1 August.                        two weeks prior to 23 June, Leicester       again. Restaurants, bars and fitness
                                                          City Council reported 944 positive          centres had to stay closed. During the
To assist local authorities in establishing               coronavirus tests.                          local lockdown, non-essential visits to
and managing local lockdowns, the                                                                     Leicester are permitted. Residents are
national government has published                         This increase was striking, as the          also permitted to leave the city.
guidelines, which are designed to help                    number of infections in Leicester was
local decision-makers. Local authorities                  three times higher than in the city         A striking number of infections were
are responsible                                           with the second-highest number of           reported among young residents and
for planning and implementing                             coronavirus infections in the United        in a neighbourhood in the east of the
local lockdowns and the associated                        Kingdom. In this period, Leicester          city. This is a poor, densely populated
measures. The police are authorised to                    accounted for 10 per cent of the total      neighbourhood, with large families
fine anyone who fails to comply with                      infections in the whole of the United       living in small houses, which renders
the measures.                                             Kingdom.                                    social distancing more difficult. People

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020                                      Page 4 of 20
International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
with health issues were advised to stay                    for the rise in the number of infections   travel outside of your own district or
at home (shield) as much as possible                       are considered to be meetings and          area. Holidays are permitted, but only
and to avoid contact with others.                          parties involving different households     with people from the same household.
Leicester City Council published advice                    and the failure to observe social
on this subject on their website. The                      distancing measures. The national          Northampton
local authorities offered people who                       government and local authorities are       A recent outbreak of coronavirus
decided to shield two face masks for if                    working together to stop the virus         infections has been linked to the
they needed to leave the house.                            spreading further.                         Greencore factories in the city of
                                                                                                      Northampton. Greencore, which
The measures in Leicester were relaxed                     The measures are in force in the           produces food for stores including
again on 19 August. Beauty salons,                         following districts and areas:             Marks & Spencer, decided to close
tattoo shops and nail studios are all                      Greater Manchester: City of                their doors from 21 August after
now allowed to reopen. However,                            Manchester, Trafford, Stockport,           almost 300 of their 2,100 staff tested
services requiring close contact – such                    Oldham, Bury, Wigan, Bolton,               positive for coronavirus. Staff who had
as eyebrow and facial treatments – are                     Tameside, Rochdale and Salford.            worked in the factory in the two weeks
still not permitted. Fitness centres                       Lancashire: Blackburn together with        prior were asked to go into quarantine
offering indoor sports activities, indoor                  Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle,         for two weeks. The measures are
swimming pools, casinos and indoor                         Preston and Rossendale.                    focused specifically on the staff, their
playgrounds are all to remain closed.                      West Yorkshire: Bradford, Calderdale       housemates, and their homes. •
The local lockdown is in force for the                     and Kirklees.
entire city and the surrounding area.
                                                           The specific measures can vary per
Greater Manchester                                         district and area. For example, the
There is a new coronavirus outbreak                        measures in Bradford are stricter
in parts of Greater Manchester,                            than those in the other areas in the
East Lancashire, Preston and West                          Northwest of England. The advice in
Yorkshire. The most significant causes                     the Northwest of England is not to

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                  Page 5 of 20
International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
Local and regional lockdowns
in Germany

Germany is fighting outbreaks of                           During the lockdown, inhabitants of        to Gütersloh and the neighbouring
COVID-19 with targeted local and                           Gütersloh were only allowed out of         district of Warendorf. The inhabitants
regional restrictions, such as bans on                     the house with one other member            were permitted to leave the district.
going out in the evenings. Closing                         of their household, and all public         Restrictions did not apply outside the
down entire neighbourhoods is thought                      buildings, including museums, were         zone where the lockdown had been
to be impossible and ineffective. Local                    closed. Catering establishments were       imposed. In July, the courts ended this
lockdowns can be introduced when the                       allowed to open but customers were         local lockdown, advising ‘flexible tailor-
number of infections rises above                           only welcome with a member of their        made measures’ instead.
50 per 100,000 inhabitants.                                own household. The restrictions applied

Gütersloh
On 23 June, a partial local lockdown
was introduced in the German town
of Gütersloh. It followed a huge
COVID-19 outbreak linked to a meat
factory in Rheda-Wiedenbrück. The
number of people in the meat factory
who contracted the coronavirus rose
to 1,553, which was approximately one
quarter of the workforce. Some family
members of employees also contracted
the virus.

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                   Page 6 of 20
International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
Local restrictions
in the province of Antwerp
A lot of Dutch people spent part of this summer with their southern neigh-                            Decision-making on crisis measures
bours (the Belgians). The borders with Belgium had been open again from 15                            These extra restrictions came about
June and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs classified the whole of Belgium as                           after consultations between the
a ‘code yellow’ country. But Dutch tourists in Belgium were soon faced with                           governor of Antwerp, the Provincial
more stringent measures than they had been used to at home. From 29 July                              Crisis Cell and the Director-General
to 26 August, the restrictions that had previously been lifted were tightened                         of the National Crisis Centre. They
up in response to the rising rate of coronavirus infections.                                          came on top of the existing federal
                                                                                                      measures. Municipalities can refine
Restrictions                                               ■ Alcohol may not be sold between          and tighten the measures after
■ Face masks were made mandatory in                          22.00 and 6.00.                          consultation. Mayors were involved in
  public areas throughout the province                     ■ Overcrowding on the Oostende             the process, but decisions were largely
  of Antwerp for everyone of 12 years                        beaches meant that for a long time,      made at the Provincial Resolution
  and older. This means that everyone                        people had to reserve a place on the     level. The governor is responsible for
  over 12 must wear a face mask on the                       beach.                                   enforcing public order in the province,
  street, and on the way to the toilet                                                                i.e. public peace, security and health.
  from an outdoor terrace.                                 Extra restrictions were imposed in the
■ A curfew was imposed. People are                         hardest-hit areas (in and around the       The latest figures show that the
  banned from public areas between                         city of Antwerp): all events and parties   situation appears to be under
  1.30 and 5.00, except essential or im-                   were strictly forbidden, party venues      control since these measures were
  perative journeys for urgent medical                     were closed, gyms were forced to shut      introduced. Read more about the
  reasons, for essential work or when                      their doors.                               restrictions in Flanders here.
  leaving for/returning from holiday.

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                  Page 7 of 20
International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
Face masks
in France

France makes face masks mandatory                          applies to                                                      Confined areas
at work and in schools                                     anyone over                                                Face masks have been
Due to the rising rate of infections in                    11 and has been in                                    mandatory in confined areas
France in recent weeks, as from 1 Sep-                     force since 21 August.                         in France for several weeks. This
tember, the French must start wearing                      Face masks are also mandatory when         includes public transport, museums,
face masks at work. They may only take                     riding a bike or scooter, and when         cafés, restaurants, shops, churches,
their mask off if they are working in an                   carpooling. The general response from      post offices, banks and cinemas. Peo-
individual, closed-off workplace.                          residents has been positive because it     ple may only remove their face masks
                                                           takes away the uncertainty about when      in restaurants while they are eating.
The French government has also made                        and where face masks should be worn        They must be worn when arriving at
it mandatory for secondary school                          and when not. As from 26 August, face      the restaurant, when leaving and when
pupils from the age of 11 to wear face                     masks will also be mandatory through-      going to the toilet.
masks when at school. The Ministry of                      out the city of Marseille.
Education is supplying teaching staff                                                                 Restricted opening hours in Marseille
with face masks; pupils must provide                       In recent weeks, hundreds of towns         Marseille is the first city in France to
their own.                                                 and villages decided to make face          force bars and restaurants to close
                                                           masks mandatory in busy streets and at     their doors between 23.00 and 6.00.
Face masks mandatory throughout                            markets. Examples are Paris and Lyon,      This step was taken when the number
Nice, Toulouse and Marseille                               and suburbs such as Saint-Denis, the       of infections rose steeply over the past
Toulouse and Nice are the first major                      holiday destination La Rochelle and the    few days. The measure is currently set
cities to make face masks mandato-                         industrial city Rouen. Non-compliance      to apply until 30 September.
ry throughout the city. The measure                        can lead to fines of € 135 or more.

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                  Page 8 of 20
International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
Impact of COVID-19
on metropolitan
regions
COVID-19 also has its impact on a
metropolitan scale. This impact is
seen in challenges related to mobility,
the labour market, sustainability and
the recovery phase.

Metropolitan regions in Europe differ
in terms of structure, management and
democratic content. What they have
in common is reflected in the issues
dealt with. They are spatial, economic
and mobility challenges, which include                     bus services. Stations, stops and means     As far as sustainability is concerned,
issues relating to sustainability, afforda-                of transport need to be arranged dif-       many metropolitan regions, including
bility and quality of life.                                ferently to facilitate social distancing.   the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam
                                                           In metropolitan regions, the pedestri-      (MRA), aim to use the momentum cre-
 As a result of COVID-19, for example,                     an and cycling infrastructure has to be     ated by the recovery from the corona
the use of local and regional public                       developed faster: better connections,       crisis to accelerate the transition to-
transport systems has sharply declined                     more space, better flow of traffic. This    wards a more sustainable society. This
and public transport companies are                         presents metropolitan regions with new      is prompted by economic and ecolo-
sustaining considerable losses on the                      dilemmas in spatial choices and the use     gical convictions and agreements. It
operation of underground, tram and                         of scarce resources.                        involves accelerated greening of busi-

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                  Page 9 of 20
International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19 - Edition 9, 27th of August 2020
with these issues. The EMA organises
                                                                                                      webinars in which officials share their
                                                                                                      experiences, expertise and ambitions.
                                                                                                      On behalf of the MRA, Haarlemmer-
                                                                                                      meer alderwoman and MRA adminis-
                                                                                                      trator Marja Ruigrok took part in a we-
                                                                                                      binar with the metropolitan regions of
                                                                                                      Milan and Oslo, led by Metropolis GZM
                                                                                                      (Katowice).

                                                                                                      These metropolitan regions have simi-
                                                                                                      larities with regard to impact and reco-
                                                                                                      very ambitions, each emphasising their
                                                                                                      own aspects based on their local situati-
                                                                                                      on. Alderwoman Ruigrok presented two
                                                                                                      scenarios for recovery for the MRA. The
                                                                                                      first scenario concerns a 20-minute me-
                                                                                                      tropolis in which housing, work and re-
                                                                                                      creation is accessible within 20 minutes
nesses (reduction of CO2 emissions),                       pean Green Deal and the fight against      for every resident. The second scenario
the use of circular chains, more clean                     COVID-19, more policy, knowledge and       is the modular metropolis, in which new
energy generation, the transition of la-                   finance instruments are being made         and existing buildings are developed or
bour from a ‘fossil’ economy in which a                    available by the EU.                       redeveloped based on the principles of
lot of labour is lost to growing sectors,                                                             sustainability and reuse. These scena-
accelerated improvement of internati-                      Metropolitan regions use their net-        rios were developed by the Amsterdam
onal rail links to replace short-distance                  works, such as METREX and the Euro-        Economic Board. •
flights, the development of heating and                    pean Metropolitan Authorities (EMA),
cooling solutions, etc. With the Euro-                     to exchange knowledge on how to deal

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                  Page 10 of 20
In lockdown in Israël
                                                                                         Text and photographs by Hadas Itzkovitch
                                                                                         and Anya van Lit

                                                                                         Photographers Hadas Itzkovitch and Anya van Lit flew
                                                                                         to Israel at the end of February for a photo project and
                                                                                         to visit family. Due to a lockdown, they were stuck in an
                                                                                         idyllic living/working community for 3 months. Israel is
                                                                                         now experiencing its second wave of COVID-19 cases,
                                                                                         this time without a lockdown but with strict measures.

                                                                                         The sky is blue today, bluer than it was yesterday. It is
                                                                                         day 50 of our lockdown in the Garden of Eden. Nothing
                                                                                         is happening here. There is a snake sunbathing at the
                                                                                         entrance to the house. It’s a grass snake that has lost its
                                                                                         way in the fields around our temporary home.

                                                                                         We came here at the end of February to spend a few
                                                                                         weeks visiting family in Israel. We settled into a beautiful
                                                                                         house with a swimming pool surrounded by fields and
                                                                                         plantations in moshav Haniel, an agricultural cooperative in
                                                                                         the Hefer Valley. We had been there just a few days when
                                                                                         the first infections were discovered in the Netherlands and
                                                                                         Israel, and the virus was spreading all over the world.

‘50 tangerines, 50 days in lockdown’ Photography by Hadas Itzkovitch and Anya van Lit

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                            Page 11 of 20
Tourists were no longer allowed into                       But this paradise contrasted sharply       death toll had already risen to more
the country, but we thought we could                       with Israel’s harsh reality. The govern-   than 3,000. After just over 3 months,
still get out. Our flight was cancelled,                   ment made the lockdown stricter and        we flew back to Amsterdam in a
and Israel closed its airspace to almost                   stricter. Everyone had to wear a mask      crowded plane.
all passenger flights.                                     in public, all shops were closed except
                                                           supermarkets and pharmacies. You           The sky is blue today. From our
We were safe, and we were in a nice                        had to stay within a hundred metres of     window, in the centre of Amsterdam,
place. At the time, we had no idea that                    your house. No family visits; parks and    we watch lines of tourist following their
soon we would no longer be able to                         beaches were closed. The government        guide across the Torensluis bridge. The
step outside the house.                                    set up a special army unit to help the     outdoor cafés are still open after
                                                           police monitor the roads. The Israeli      1 a.m.. As soon as the sun shines,
Our friends assured us that we could                       secret service, Shin Bet, tracked the      people sit close together, slightly
stay in their house for the time being.                    residents through the mobile phone         inebriated, in small boats. In the hustle
We walked into the garden and felt a                       network. We instinctively turned off all   and bustle of Amsterdam it seems like
sense of peace come over us. From                          of our phones. Only to turn them back      the virus never existed. It’s difficult to
then on, we would take everything one                      on again half an hour later, because we    keep a distance from whole groups
day at a time. There was nothing else                      can’t live without them.                   of unmasked people in the narrow
we could do.                                                                                          streets.
                                                           When we decided to drive to Hadas’
We woke up to the sound of singing                         parents to deliver groceries, we almost    Israel appeared to have defeated
birds, with the smell of pure air filled                   drove into a barricade. After showing      the virus. Public life opened up again
with citrus blossom. We followed the                       the soldiers the full bag on the back      there too, and people were able to
bees to the best fruit trees in the area                   seat we were allowed to continue our       meet up in groups again. As a result,
and at night we listened to the jackals                    journey. But it felt as if we were under   a second wave, with more than 1000
howling nearby. Meanwhile, we were                         siege.                                     infections a day, is now flooding the
busy working on sketches for a new                                                                    country. Our visit in October, to finish a
photography project. The surrounding                       The rigorous lockdown is slowly            photography project, seems like a far-
area became our studio.                                    containing the virus, with 208 people      fetched
                                                           killed so far. In the Netherlands, the     reality. •

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                   Page 12 of 20
‘Hold your breath for 50 seconds’ Photography by Hadas Itzkovitch and Anya van Lit

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                          Page 13 of 20
Focus on the nights
                                                           during coronavirus

                                                           In many cities across the globe, night-    was compiled in cooperation with an
                                                           time culture is facing its greatest        international panel, including night
                                                           challenge ever: clubs, venues and          mayors, academics and people from
                                                           other cultural places where people         the music industry, among others, and
                                                           gather are likely to be the last places    is intended as an interactive platform
                                                           allowed to reopen. A balance needs         for cities to share strategies, tools and
                                                           to be found between health, public         lessons learned. Chapters of the plan
                                                           order and security, the economy,           will be published over the course of
                                                           employment, public space, culture,         the year.
                                                           events and enforcement.
                                                                                                      The first chapter, published in July,
                                                           Examples from practice:                    focuses on the use of open-air space.
                                                           Berlin, Vilnius                            Due to the ongoing restrictions on the
                                                           Research into this balance is also         use of indoor spaces and the increasing
                                                           being conducted in the international       desire to socialise, the demand
                                                           sector, in the ‘Global Nighttime           for open-air space has increased
                                                           Recovery Plan’ report, for example.        significantly over recent months.
                                                           This report offers a practical guide       The report lists the advantages and
                                                           for cities trying to determine ways        challenges of open-air hospitality,
                                                           and strategies to safely reopen their      outdoor events and ‘free gatherings’. It
                                                           creative and night-time economies. It      discusses case studies including open-

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                   Page 14 of 20
air festivals in Berlin which, according to
the report, did lead to a great deal of
criticism but not to a rise in infections.
The pavement café policy in Vilnius
resulted in more space but, just as in
Amsterdam, also met with criticism
from local residents.

The Global Nighttime Recovery Plan
conducted research in several cities and
reached the following findings:
1. In cities where there are no
   alternative social activities, dangerous
   illegal social activities are found.
2. In cities where lockdown easing takes
   place too soon, people quickly relax
   and are less inclined to adhere to the
   rules, increasing the risk of a second
   lockdown.
3. In cities where infection rates are low,
   a false sense of security develops,                     These issues are also prevalent in         The above findings reveal that local
   leading people to act as if the virus                   Amsterdam. There is close coordination     governments and authorities which are
   no longer exists and the economic                       with the sector in that respect. Close     close to their people and communicate
   problems have disappeared. This                         contact is also maintained with fellow     clearly with their residents will come
   can affect vigilance and moreover                       governments of various cities in the       out of this crisis better and be better
   leads politicians to ignore struggling                  Netherlands, Europe and the rest of the    able to cope with a future one. More
   businesses (in the night-time culture,                  world to share policies, strategies and    info on the Global Nighttime Recovery
   for example).                                           experiments.                               Plan is available via vibe-lab.org.

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                 Page 15 of 20
Tourism
during and post COVID-19

Amsterdam has asked the city ad-                           over-tourism before the pandemic took
ministrations of Barcelona, Cologne,                       place and closed down all tourism activ-
Genova, Florence, London and Venice                        ities. For Cologne, Genua and London
about their tourism policies during and                    over-tourism was not really an issue be-
after COVID-19 crisis and whether they                     fore the pandemic. From all the cities it
change their policies in order to pre-                     becomes clear tourism is an important
vent a second wave of COVID-19 and                         part of their economy and that they
to prevent over-tourism in the near and                    are all looking into how tourism can be
further future. The cities were asked                      re-started.
how they deal with tourism in the re-
covery phase in order to prevent a sec-                    Cologne has for example started a
ond wave of COVID-19 infections and                        conversation with hotels, restaurants
potentially a second lockdown of the                       and bars about putting measures into
city, but also how they view tourism in                    place to prevent the virus from spread-
the longer term. Furthermore, the cities                   ing. Also Florence is actively informing
were asked how they involve both the                       the public about health measures to
citizens and representatives of the tour-                  prevent spreading of the virus. Fur-
ism sector in making the policy plans.                     thermore, most cities are looking into
                                                           spreading tourists over the city and to
The cities Barcelona, Florence and                         prevent overcrowding in the usually
Venice indicate they suffered from                         popular city centres.

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	    Page 16 of 20
In general, all cities are looking for                     Florence also consulted the citizens of
more quality tourism, which means                          Florence in a participatory approach
attracting tourists that look at more sus-                 about the new tourism policy plans. In
tainable, greener options but also who                     Genova, the citizens of the city centre
stay for a longer period of time in the                    are made part of the new tourism plans.
city and choose more activities to do
and places to visit.                                       In Venice, where there is a stark con-
                                                           trast between the interests of the tour-
None of the cities mentioned spe-                          ism sector and the citizens, there is
cific measures aimed at preventing                         currently no involvement with the cit-
over-tourism. It seems more focussed                       izens as the local government favours
on changing the type of activities on                      the tourism sector by claiming that
offer and places to visit to change the                    tourism provides jobs and supports the
type of tourists coming to the cities and                  local economy. Cologne and London
to increase the length of time spent in                    do seem to suffer less from stark inter-
the city.                                                  est contradictions between the tourism
                                                           sector and the citizens of the city. •
The Italian cities and Barcelona all con-
sult the tourism sector about new plans
and initiatives concerning tourism via a
so-called tourism council. The process
used in Florence seems quite extensive
with several online meetings and public
presentations. In Cologne and Lon-
don this consult seems less organised
through councils but seem to be more
direct.

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	   Page 17 of 20
Housing market
an exodus from cities due to the corona crisis?

The impact of the coronavirus on                           housing, mostly in larger towns and
the housing market appears to vary                         cities, is often found to be the cause of
around the world. While the housing                        coronavirus infections
market is seemingly unaffected in the
Netherlands (except for the fact that                      The effect of the coronavirus on the
more people are looking for a house                        Berlin housing market is such that
with a garden), the United Kingdom has                     there are currently very few changes
seen more people wanting to leave the                      in ownership or tenancy. There are
cities than those wanting to move to                       no signs of an exodus out of the city,
one. People want more space and, with                      as there is in London. The advantage
so few social activities – if any – being                  of Berlin is that there is a lot of green
able to take place now, there are fewer                    space and relatively much outdoor
and fewer advantages to living in the                      space.
city.
                                                           In the United States we again see
This trend in the housing market has                       that, given the possibilities of working
led to a fear that the inequality in the                   remotely, people are increasingly           coming months, however, house prices
country will increase. Only wealthy                        looking for a home in a less expensive      in the US are expected to fall as a
white-collar workers are able to afford                    area. There was also a rise in the          result of the high unemployment rates
to move away from the cities, in                           number of home sales over the past          the country has experienced and will
addition to which small, poor quality                      months, despite the crisis. For the         continue to experience.

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                Page 18 of 20
Overview                                                                                    If you would like to know more about an example in
                                                                                            this monitor or have a question, please let us know:
of relevant resources                                                                       internationaloffice@amsterdam.nl

■ New in this overview: An overview                       ■ The Global Parliament of Mayors                  ■ This handbook examines research
  of the infection rates at sub-national                    has an overview of best practices and              methods and forecasting relating to
  (regional) level in Europe.                               a forum for questions from directors.              the coronavirus.

■ The OECD has launched a website                         ■ The City Innovators Forum has                    ■ Eurocities has a website containing
  containing policy analyses and figures                    designed a comprehensive toolbox                   urban best practices and organises
  relating to COVID-19, focusing in                         for urban policy during the time of                webinars on a variety of topics.
  particular on the economy, health,                        the coronavirus.
  and social affairs                                                                                         ■ UNESCO has compiled a list of useful
                                                          ■ The European Commission’s Joint                    tools and tips to facilitate distance
■ The National Association of City                          Research Centre has an ‘overview of                learning.
  Transportation Officials has relevant                     overviews‘
  information for and by transport pro-                                                                      ■ Smart Cities World mainly looks at
  fessionals.                                             ■ The European Committee of                          AI, ICT and the future in relation to
                                                            Regions has an interactive map                     the coronavirus.
■ Politics of COVID-19 weekly gives                         on measures in different European
  the most relevant highlights and                          regions                                          ■ C40 also provides information on
  webinars on COVID-19                                                                                         various themes and there are board
                                                          ■ CEMR (Council of European Municip-                 and expert level discussions. In additi-
■ The World Economic Forum, the                             alities and Regions) has recommenda-               on, C40 has a specialised Knowledge
  Resilient Cities Network, Friends                         tions for waste collection during the              Hub.
  of Europe and UCLG also regularly                         coronavirus crisis.
  facilitate webinars.

International monitor of urban approaches dealing with COVID-19   Edition 9, 27th of August 2020  	                                          Page 19 of 20
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