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The highly contagious coronavirus and the rapid spread of COVID-19 disease have generated a global public health crisis, which is being addressed at various local and global scales through social distancing measures and guidelines. This is coupled with debates about the nature of living and working patterns through intensive utilisation of information and telecommunication technologies, leading to the social and institutional acceptability of these patterns as the “new normal”. The primary objective of this article is to instigate a discourse about the potential contribution of architecture and urban design and planning in generating knowledge that responds to pressing questions about future considerations of post pandemic architecture and urbanism. Methodologically, the discussion is based on a trans-disciplinary framework, which is utilised for conceptual analysis and is operationalized by identifying and discoursing design and planning implications. The article underscores relevant factors; originates insights for areas where future research will be critically needed, through key areas: a) Issues related to urban dynamics are delineated from the perspective of urban and human geography, urban design and planning, and transportation engineering; b) Questions that pertain to socio-spatial implications and urban space/ urban life dialectics stem from the field of environmental psychology; and c) Deliberations about new environments that accommodate new living/working styles supervene from ethnographical and anthropological perspectives. The article concludes with an outlook that captures key aspects of the needed synergy between architectural and urban education, research, and practice and public health in a post pandemic virtual and global world.

This literature review paper aims to discuss the impacts and measures taken on Covid-19 with respect to architecture, built form and its allied fields along with observations from around the world with the end results of its implementation.

Various research journals from Science Direct and Taylor and Francis among others were referred and reviewed to learn more on Covid-19 along with its impacts on people and their built environment. Keywords that aligned with the topic of interest like pandemic, Covid-19, coronavirus, urban spaces, built environment and built-up space were identified. Research papers that aligned with the scope of the paper and its keywords were found. An excel sheet with the basic data of these papers was written down. The essence of each of these articles were understood and linked with the topic in hand. A review of all these papers was written coherently to the topic. Future scope in this field of study was also identified.

It discusses the various measures taken around the world in built-up spaces along with the various measures given by researchers, architects and urban planners to mitigate and reduce the transmission of Covid-19 in the built environment and urban spaces. The discussed measures along with observations from around the world have also been discussed with its end results. Discussions and conclusions on these design strategies and recommendations are made with the anticipation of a paradigm shift due to post-pandemic changes. Current scenarios of public spaces in densely populated countries are discussed. Future scope in this ongoing field of study includes measures that can be taken in specific to some particular built-up typologies like markets, theaters, parks, bazaars, etc.

The limitation of this study is the restricting of the study of Covid-19 to only architectural, urban and public realm scales. The study does not facilitate the involvement of other fields and their influence with Covid-19.

This paper has been completely written by the author and the co-authors and has not been copied from any other sources.

Tracing the development of a parallel-engaged pedagogy of care that extended and adapted the critical and transformative pedagogies of Freire, De Sousa Santos and hooks to the South African context. The development of this transformative pedagogy addresses the local conditions of an architectural design studio at a postcolonial, post-Apartheid and post “Fees must Fall” protests South African university. This pedagogy used practice-based design research to build a more conscious, critical and careful design practice in both students and educators.

The pedagogy was developed through participatory action research, over five years, from 2019 to 2023 including two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parallel and active engagement of students and educators within a nurturing and caring environment evolved from year to year, through a conscious and critical reflection on the process. Student surveys, reflective essays and focus groups unearth the impact of the parallel-engaged pedagogy of care.

The parallel-engaged pedagogy of care was shown to support and scaffold students becoming more conscious, critical and careful in their design practices validating diverse lived experiences as generative for design and important for social justice and transformative equity.

The parallel-engaged pedagogy of care is part of a global shift to more transformative pedagogies that address student diversity and decoloniality.

Through dismantling traditional hierarchical teaching modes, the pedagogy is more student-led, agile and adaptable. Through centring and demonstrating care in the pedagogy, students are encouraged to develop both self-care and care in their design practice. This is especially critical in the South African context where the cultural capital of the institution, with its roots in colonial and Apartheid education differs from that of the majority of students of colour.

The paper aims to assess the impact and responses to coronavirus disease 2019 in six European heritage labs (Horizon 2020 Framework Programme) selected for their adaptive heritage re-use practices based on participation, self-organisation and self-management. As they are naturally oriented towards building resilient urban systems, the hypothesis is that the co-production of cultural values and places promoted by these projects could create the conditions for equitable perspectives of resilience in the normality of contemporary urban life.

The paper draws on data collected through a survey of six European Living Labs between January and May 2021. The survey results are framed by a literature review that defines adaptive reuse in terms of resilience. The five resilience characteristics described by Judith Rodin (awareness, diversification, integration, self-regulation and adaptability) are used to navigate the literature and organise the survey results.

Combining survey results and insights from the literature, some modes and elements (territorial, social, financial) are presented that contribute to creating the conditions for resilience through adaptive heritage reuse according to community-based approaches. Without claiming to be exhaustive, this evidence should be considered in the design phase of resilience programmes, policies or projects related to cultural heritage.

The concepts of community and resilience are becoming increasingly important in the field of cultural heritage. This paper makes a creative contribution to the ongoing debate by presenting and evaluating the contribution of adaptive reuse practices to resilience building.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to propose a methodology to empirically investigate the longitudinal development of social media content concerning buildings characterized by iconic architecture and second, to report on the application of this methodology.

We collected and analyzed empirical data of social media content shared via Instagram between 2011 and 2019 on 16 buildings that can be considered iconic architecture projects. Using an automated pipeline, we collected and processed 264,000 posts and 140,000 images from Instagram for the selected case studies. By studying the posting activity of Instagram users through time series analysis and conducting content analysis of the social media posts by means of both image classification and topic modeling, we report on the development of users’ capturing and reception of the selected case studies on Instagram over time.

First, we identify two distinct time patterns of social media content: instantly popular buildings whose popularity fades over time and buildings that gradually gain popularity over time. Second, we distinguish differences in the content of social media posts: some buildings are primarily covered for their architectural features and others for their cultural function and facilities.

Using empirical investigation of Instagram data on iconic architectural projects, we have identified a correlation: buildings primarily posted for their architecture are generally also the ones to gain instant online popularity that subsequently faded over time. In contrast, buildings primarily posted for their function and facilities slowly gained popularity on the social media platform over time.

This paper delves into the critical role of women in the domains of architecture, engineering, construction and urban planning, particularly within the context of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the imperative of achieving gender parity. Concentrating on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, this paper explores the profound importance of women as essential contributors to urbanisation and sustainable development. It scrutinizes the existing gender disparities within the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries; evaluates prevailing women empowerment indices in diverse sectors; and presents a strategic framework for harnessing women’s engagement to cultivate inclusive and sustainable urban cultures in the GCC. This conceptual paper introduces an actionable framework that can serve as a guiding agenda for empowering women in the AEC sectors by incorporating their socio-cultural, economic and ecological contributions towards creating sustainable cities.

Centring its focus on Gulf Cities, this paper employs a comprehensive approach to examine the current gender disparities within the architecture, engineering and construction sectors. It probes potential barriers and advocates for leveraging women’s participation to foster inclusive and sustainable urban development in the GCC. The study introduces the Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI) for the Gulf AEC industry elucidating how these measures are translated into a tailored framework.

The paper presents a practical framework that provides actionable guidance for engaging various stakeholders, including governments, academia and industry players, to empower women within the AEC industries. An “Agenda for equitable AEC industries for sustainable urban development: Our Common Gulf Cities” is culminated in a Women Empowerment Index for the AEC Industry (WEI-AEC) designed to serve as a guidance tool to monitor progress within industry, governments and academia.

Future research endeavours could advance the framework by conducting institutional support analyses, multi-stakeholder collaboration studies and practical testing of the framework within real-world scenarios.

The findings of this study can guide and influence a diverse range of initiatives, including policy development, educational strategies, corporate endeavours, awareness campaigns, capacity-building programs, skill enhancement initiatives and knowledge exchange among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

This conceptual paper introduces a practical framework that can serve as a roadmap for implementing the study’s potential to shape policies, educational programs and corporate initiatives aimed at advancing both gender equality and the development of sustainable cities.

The interconnections between climate change and health are well studied. However, there is a perceived need for studies that examine how responses to health hazards (e.g. cardiovascular diseases, ozone layer effects, allergens, mental health and vector-borne diseases) may assist in reducing their impacts. The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence on health responses to climate hazards and list some measures to address them.

A mixed literature review, bibliometric analysis and an original online survey were undertaken on 140 participants from 55 countries spread across all geographical regions.

The bibliometric analysis identified that most climate-related health hazards are associated with extreme weather events. However, only one-third of the investigated papers specifically analysed the connections between climate change and health hazards, revealing a thematic gap. Also, although Africa is highly affected by climate change, only 5% of the assessed studies focused on this continent. Many respondents to the survey indicated “heat distress” as a significant vulnerability. The survey also identified social determinants relevant to climate-induced health vulnerabilities, such as socioeconomic and environmental factors, infrastructure and pre-existing health conditions. Most respondents agree that policies and regulations are the most effective adaptation tools to address the public health hazards triggered by climate change. This paper presents some suggestions for optimising public health responses to health hazards associated with climate change, such as the inclusion of climate-related components in public health policies, setting up monitoring systems to assess the extent to which specific climate events may pose a health threat, establishing plans to cope with the health implications of heatwaves, increased measures to protect vulnerable groups and education and awareness-raising initiatives to reduce the overall vulnerability of the population to climate-related health hazards. These measures may assist the ongoing global efforts to understand better – and cope with – the impacts of climate change on health.

The combination of a literature review, bibliometric analysis and an original world survey identified and presented a wide range of responses.

The paper introduces ethical and aesthetical implications emerging from participative forms of adaptive heritage reuse. Its aim is to depict the overall framework to contextualize the investigations explored in the Special Issue titled “Ethics and aesthetics of adaptive heritage reuse in Europe.” Therefore, the article confronts with potentialities and contradictions of “open” heritage processes, introducing key critical elements to recode heritage practices and planning in today’s conjuncture of global change.

The paper drawn on a literature review, which combines different bodies of studies: heritage, urban studies, care studies and recent policy documents. A photographic essay, moreover, serves to “augment” the presented argumentations through a visual apparatus resulting from one of Gaia Ginevra Giorgi’s artwork, which develops in the intersection between performative art, participation and territorial reuse.

The author argues that for adaptive heritage reuse to be really sustainable, ethical and aesthetical heritage codes need to be reassessed and reoriented toward the present socio-ecological priorities, multiplicating the ways cultural heritage is conceived, valued and reused. The paper suggests proceeding along the creative paths of uncertainty, providing the first elements to develop political projects of abundance and enjoyment for current urban settlements.

The presented argumentations can be used as a baseline by heritage managers and policymakers to experiment with participative processes of adaptive heritage reuse and to identify more environmentally and socially just trajectories of urban development.

The paper expands the concept of adaptive heritage reuse, considering the active participation of both human and non-human agents. Treating heritage in a laic way, namely free from absolute and preordered judgments of value, it deals with uncomfortable heritage materiality and contexts, illuminating the quality of unpleasant or odd forms of beauty.

The paper aims to introduce social marketing (SM) as a tool to overcome the low cultural participation, a problem of the arts and culture sector that has worsened in the post-pandemic scenario.

The study uses a multidisciplinary literature review (SM, museum marketing, museology and cultural policy) to address the problem of museums and other cultural heritage institutions, at both the macro-level (prevailing cultural policies and antecedents, barriers and consequences to cultural participation) and micro-level (challenges faced by museums in the 21st century and marketing as a management instrument).

The downstream, midstream and upstream approaches can be used to design and implement SM interventions intended to address the problem of low cultural participation in museums. The three approaches should be considered holistically, with their synergetic and recursive effects.

Due to its introductory and conceptual nature, the study provides a comprehensive intervention framework to be used as a platform for future theoretical and empirical research. Further investigations may expand on the specificities of each approach (down, mid and upstream) and extend the framework to other nonprofit cultural institutions beyond museums, such as libraries and archives, cultural heritage sites and theater, music and dance companies.

The paper proposes a comprehensive SM intervention framework that integrates three interdependent approaches (downstream, midstream and upstream).

The paper provides a starting point for the holistic application of SM in the arts and culture sector. It also encourages researchers, cultural policymakers and cultural heritage professionals to investigate, design and implement SM programs that better understand, expand and diversify the audience and strengthen the legitimacy and relevance of cultural actors and activities to transform them into inclusive, accessible and sustainable institutions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the recovery and resilience tourism strategies and possible future development of four main Chinese tourism cities.

The authors collected data from the official accounts of tourism administrations of these cities, tourist attractions and opinions from media and newspapers in Sina Weibo platform. The authors adopted an inductive approach in observing relevant social media posts and applied content analysis to identify main China’s tourism prevention and recovery strategies.

During the mass pandemic infection period, top-down prevention and control measures were implemented by the Chinese central and local governments, with feasible and regional recovery policies and protocols being adapted according to local situations. Measures related to tourism industrial re-employment, improvement of international images and governmental financial supports to re-boost local tourism in Chinese cities were paid great attention. Digitalization, close-to-nature and cultural heritages became important factors in the future development of China’s tourism. Dark tourism, as a potential tourism recovery strategy, also obtained huge emergence, for the memory of people deceased in the pandemic and for the inheritance of national patriotism.

This study enriches the current literature in urban tourism recovery studies analyzing the specific case of Chinese tourism cities and fulfill some voids of previous research mostly focused on the first wave of the pandemic and the recovery strategies mainly of Western cities. It also provides valuable suggestions to tourism practitioners, destinations and urban cities in dealing with regional tourism recession and finding possible solutions for the scenario associated to the COVID-19 and other similar health crisis.