Monitoring the Effects of the Pandemic on Metros and Cities

Two shocking events bookended the first decades of the 21st century: the 2008-09 recession and the 2020-21 pandemic. As part of its Cities and Contagion Initiative, launched in April 2020, Penn IUR has covered and is continuing to cover the situation in a variety of ways, including the recent release of three publications: a national overview assessing the recovery trajectories in the nation’s 105 most populous metros; a report monitoring and interpreting the recovery of New York City, the original epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. and a bellwether for other urban places; and a report focusing on cities in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, that have the chance to re-invent themselves in a more ecologically sensitive way.