Urban spatial policy after the COVID-19 pandemic: Selected aspects

Abstract

The literature on urban planning and spatial planning increasingly emphasizes the need for a more thorough analysis of the impact of pandemics on urban spatial policymaking. This article identifies critical proposals for change regarding urban spatial policies that emerged after the COVID-19 pandemic and relates these to literature on spatial planning. The focus was on two issues directly relevant to this topic: urban spatial planning and environmental protection. The use of the analytical-comparative method, preceded by a literature review, allowed a preliminary characterization of the selected works. The following research questions were posed: 1) What critical spatial planning topics have been addressed in discussion of the pandemic? and 2) Have publications on both the pandemic and urban planning made a vital contribution to the broader discussion on institutional aspects of urban planning? An important conclusion is that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the consequences of ignoring theoretical findings in public policymaking, which can lead to social and environmental inequalities on a global scale, and differences in pandemic restrictions across political and social systems. © 2024 Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia. All rights reserved.