Berkeley Planning Journal

The global pandemic continues to challenge the different scales of human decision making. Governments, communities, and individuals around the world have responded in a myriad of ways and to varying degrees of success to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19. Legislation passed at national and local levels can have disastrous consequences if delayed or hastily constructed. Communities can support or hinder government response (or non-response), and may rise in solidarity to provide essential services or falter without critical resources. Households may be forced to juggle an impossible calculus to balance the need for income, shelter, food, and care provision (including childcare and home education) for themselves and loved ones. Each of these decision spheres is being tested in novel ways and is influenced by our culture, institutions, geography, and psychology, often in unpredictable ways. How have we attempted to address the many adverse and uncertain impacts of coronavirus — many of which only exacerbate existing inequities? How can these compounded, disproportionate health, economic, and technological effects across race, gender, the global North-South divide, and other demographics be addressed alongside general recovery efforts? What are the near- and long-term implications of these responses across individual, local, federal, and global scales? And what lessons can we learn from the broad range of adaptations moving forward?