SEVENTEEN Experiential Equity: An Environmental Neuroscientific Lens for Disparities in Urban Stress
-
Robin Mazumder
Abstract
This pandemic has highlighted and demonstrated the bidirectional relationship between urban design and stress. At a very fundamental level, COVID- 19, a communicable disease, has shifted how we engage with urban environments; places of connection that once brought joy may now be seen as places that expose us to threat of the disease. The term ‘pandemicrelated stress’ refers to the stress and anxiety associated with contracting the illness, passing the illness onto others, as well as the financial stress associated with the pandemic’s impact on the economy (Barzilay et al, 2020). As other chapters in this volume have emphasized, these impacts and their associated stresses vary considerably due to intersecting identities and geographies. There are many unknowns during the pandemic which have driven a sense of uncertainty and stress (Hirsch et al, 2012).
How, then, can we address this stress, which is a detrimental threat to central life goals? Considering that the threat of spreading, or contracting, the virus is primarily dependent on proximity to others within indoor spaces, the use of outdoor space, including both private and public spaces, could be seen as a way to mitigate pandemic- related stress. To help ensure the physical and mental well- being of residents, many cities have adapted their public spaces and built environments in order to increase the amount of open and public space available to use (see Volume 3). This has been done through the closing down of roadways to cars, implementing new bike lanes and, as more was learned about virus transmission, encouraging the use of park spaces.
Abstract
This pandemic has highlighted and demonstrated the bidirectional relationship between urban design and stress. At a very fundamental level, COVID- 19, a communicable disease, has shifted how we engage with urban environments; places of connection that once brought joy may now be seen as places that expose us to threat of the disease. The term ‘pandemicrelated stress’ refers to the stress and anxiety associated with contracting the illness, passing the illness onto others, as well as the financial stress associated with the pandemic’s impact on the economy (Barzilay et al, 2020). As other chapters in this volume have emphasized, these impacts and their associated stresses vary considerably due to intersecting identities and geographies. There are many unknowns during the pandemic which have driven a sense of uncertainty and stress (Hirsch et al, 2012).
How, then, can we address this stress, which is a detrimental threat to central life goals? Considering that the threat of spreading, or contracting, the virus is primarily dependent on proximity to others within indoor spaces, the use of outdoor space, including both private and public spaces, could be seen as a way to mitigate pandemic- related stress. To help ensure the physical and mental well- being of residents, many cities have adapted their public spaces and built environments in order to increase the amount of open and public space available to use (see Volume 3). This has been done through the closing down of roadways to cars, implementing new bike lanes and, as more was learned about virus transmission, encouraging the use of park spaces.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors xi
- Acknowledgments xvii
- Preface to All Four Volumes of Global Reflections on COVID-19 and Urban Inequalities xviii
- Introduction 1
-
Working Practices
- Street Vendor Struggles: Maintaining a Livelihood Through the COVID-19 Lockdown in Hanoi, Vietnam 21
- The Man and the Scooter: How the Low-Income Worker Helps Save a Locked-Down City 31
- The Hidden Inequities and Divisions among Workers in the US: The Domestic Workers’ Workforce as Non-Essential Workers 41
- Reflections of Living ‘Hand-to-Mouth’ among ‘Hustlers’ During COVID-19: Insights on the Realities of Poverty in Jamaica 51
- Looking at Urban Inequalities Regarding Different Jobs in the Age of COVID-19: Who Stayed at Home, Who Did Not? 61
-
Life During Lockdown
- Ageist Transport Infrastructures: Rethinking Public Transport amid COVID-19 Lockdowns in India 73
- The Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Small Cities of the Global South: A Case Study of Noapara in Bangladesh 83
- How Governments’ Response to the Pandemic Exacerbate Gender Inequalities in Belarus and Ukraine: Comparative Analysis of Minsk and Kyiv Cases 93
- Infrastructure Inequality and Privileged Capacity to Transform Everyday Life in COVID-19 South Africa 105
- Under Quarantine in a City Project: Stories of Fear, Family, Food, and Community 117
- The Impacts of Socio-Spatial Inequity: COVID-19 in São Paulo 129
-
Migration, Migrants, and Refugees
- Liminality, Gender, and Ethnic Dynamics in Urban Space: COVID-19 and its Consequences for Young Female Migrants (YFM) in Dhaka 143
- Spatial Inequality and Colonial Palimpsest in Kuala Lumpur 155
- The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Travails of Rohingya Refugees in the Largest Bangladeshi Refugee Camp 165
- Singapore’s Pandemic Governance and Deepening Marginalization of Migrant Workmen 175
-
Age, Race, Gender, and Ability
- Experiential Equity: An Environmental Neuroscientific Lens for Disparities in Urban Stress 187
- What is the Relationship between COVID-19 and the Movement to ‘Defund the Police’? 197
- Following the Voices of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Crisis: Perspectives from the Netherlands 209
- The Role of Social Infrastructures for Trans* People During the COVID-19 Pandemic 223
- COVID-19 and Blind Spaces: Responding to Digital (In)Accessibility and Social Isolation During Lockdown for Blind, Deafblind, Low Vision, and Vision Impaired Persons in Aotearoa New Zealand 235
- Conclusion 245
- Index 251
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors xi
- Acknowledgments xvii
- Preface to All Four Volumes of Global Reflections on COVID-19 and Urban Inequalities xviii
- Introduction 1
-
Working Practices
- Street Vendor Struggles: Maintaining a Livelihood Through the COVID-19 Lockdown in Hanoi, Vietnam 21
- The Man and the Scooter: How the Low-Income Worker Helps Save a Locked-Down City 31
- The Hidden Inequities and Divisions among Workers in the US: The Domestic Workers’ Workforce as Non-Essential Workers 41
- Reflections of Living ‘Hand-to-Mouth’ among ‘Hustlers’ During COVID-19: Insights on the Realities of Poverty in Jamaica 51
- Looking at Urban Inequalities Regarding Different Jobs in the Age of COVID-19: Who Stayed at Home, Who Did Not? 61
-
Life During Lockdown
- Ageist Transport Infrastructures: Rethinking Public Transport amid COVID-19 Lockdowns in India 73
- The Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Small Cities of the Global South: A Case Study of Noapara in Bangladesh 83
- How Governments’ Response to the Pandemic Exacerbate Gender Inequalities in Belarus and Ukraine: Comparative Analysis of Minsk and Kyiv Cases 93
- Infrastructure Inequality and Privileged Capacity to Transform Everyday Life in COVID-19 South Africa 105
- Under Quarantine in a City Project: Stories of Fear, Family, Food, and Community 117
- The Impacts of Socio-Spatial Inequity: COVID-19 in São Paulo 129
-
Migration, Migrants, and Refugees
- Liminality, Gender, and Ethnic Dynamics in Urban Space: COVID-19 and its Consequences for Young Female Migrants (YFM) in Dhaka 143
- Spatial Inequality and Colonial Palimpsest in Kuala Lumpur 155
- The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Travails of Rohingya Refugees in the Largest Bangladeshi Refugee Camp 165
- Singapore’s Pandemic Governance and Deepening Marginalization of Migrant Workmen 175
-
Age, Race, Gender, and Ability
- Experiential Equity: An Environmental Neuroscientific Lens for Disparities in Urban Stress 187
- What is the Relationship between COVID-19 and the Movement to ‘Defund the Police’? 197
- Following the Voices of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Crisis: Perspectives from the Netherlands 209
- The Role of Social Infrastructures for Trans* People During the COVID-19 Pandemic 223
- COVID-19 and Blind Spaces: Responding to Digital (In)Accessibility and Social Isolation During Lockdown for Blind, Deafblind, Low Vision, and Vision Impaired Persons in Aotearoa New Zealand 235
- Conclusion 245
- Index 251
