There’s been talk that the pandemic will mean the end of cities. Cities are resilient, but they face many challenges due to COVID-19. It’s widely accepted that there can be no return to the pre-pandemic society of 2019; that in building back better we need to have recovery strategies that promote social, economic and environmental justice – indeed, solving the problems that existed before the pandemic to create better cities and places for all.

What can cities do? Where is the new thinking? Robin Hambleton (pictured above centre) is the author of Cities and Communities Beyond COVID-19: How Local Leadership Can Change Our Future for the Better (Bristol University Press). It draws on a decade of research to show how cities and communities can lead the way in developing a more inclusive post COVID-19 future for us all. Robin discusses cities after the pandemic with Sheila Foster (Professor of Urban Law and Policy at Georgetown University, pictured above left) and Marvin Rees (Mayor of Bristol, pictured above right). Chaired by Andrew Kelly, director of Festival of Ideas.

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Festival of Ideas: Cities and Communities Beyond COVID-19