How Has the Pandemic Impacted Global Cities? Some Evidence from London, Paris, and Toronto

The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on global cities in particular. Many of the assets of global cities – connectivity, proximity, agglomeration – almost overnight proved also to be vulnerabilities. As cities emerge from the pandemic into the economic recovery phase, their underlying strengths are beginning to re-emerge. But cities, and city policies, have also been changed by the pandemic, and cities will need to adapt and adjust to address some of these issues, particularly regarding urban inequalities, which the experience of the pandemic has exposed. In this talk, Professor Mark Kleinman of King’s College London discussed these issues with a particular focus on London UK, but drawing also on comparative evidence.

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Co-sponsored by the Institute for Management & Innovation and Master of Urban Innovation

Speaker:

Mark Kleinman is Professor of Public Policy at King’s College London. He has been a government adviser at the No10 Strategy Unit, a civil servant at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and a policy director for all three London Mayors. He is the author or co-author of four books, including A European Welfare State? and Working Capital: Life and Labour in Contemporary London and more than 100 published papers. Kleinman has also been a consultant to the OECD, the European Commission, government departments, local authorities, and major UK and global companies.

Moderator:

Shauna Brail is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto. As an economic geographer and urban planner, her research focuses on the transformation of cities as a result of economic, social, and cultural change. Brail’s research encompasses studies of broad urban economic challenges and transformations associated with 21st century cities – including the impacts of COVID-19 on cities; the relationship between cities and the digital platform economy; and shifts in urban governance, policy and planning in connection to innovation and technological change. Brail is a Senior Associate at the Innovation Policy Lab in the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.