Public Health

In Houston, the new normal should include more efforts to reduce air pollution

Stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19 resulted in Houstonians driving a lot less. But Houston hasn’t stopped being an industrial city during the pandemic, which shows why reducing all air pollution is key to protecting public health.

Dear cities: Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to remake and retake streets

Over the years, more and more of our public space has been given over to cars and congestion while pedestrians, cyclists and others have been squeezed out. One possible silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic is the chance to give some of that space back.

Update: COVID-19 Registry shows racial disparities in economic impact of pandemic

More than 40% of Houston-area households have lost income as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. And the pandemic appears to be taking a greater economic toll on African American and Hispanic households than white and Asian American households, according to the latest survey results from Rice University’s COVID-19 Registry.

We shouldn’t let this disaster go to waste

As the COVID-19 crisis continues, planners and urbanists should be considering the lessons we’re already learning during the pandemic and think about solutions that will improve our future cities. Those include things like urban farming, neighborhoods that are less drivable and more walkable, and better, safer shared-use of city streets.

Shaping Africa’s urban areas to withstand future pandemics

In many African cities, the combination of density, widespread financial insecurity and underdeveloped health care systems make them especially vulnerable to being hit hard by COVID-19.