Version 1
: Received: 3 April 2020 / Approved: 6 April 2020 / Online: 6 April 2020 (10:14:50 CEST)
How to cite:
Amekudzi-Kennedy, A.; Labi, S.; Woodall, B.; Chester, M.; Singh, P. Reflections on Pandemics, Civil Infrastructure and Sustainable Development: Five Lessons from COVID-19 through the Lens of Transportation. Preprints2020, 2020040047. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0047.v1
Amekudzi-Kennedy, A.; Labi, S.; Woodall, B.; Chester, M.; Singh, P. Reflections on Pandemics, Civil Infrastructure and Sustainable Development: Five Lessons from COVID-19 through the Lens of Transportation. Preprints 2020, 2020040047. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0047.v1
Amekudzi-Kennedy, A.; Labi, S.; Woodall, B.; Chester, M.; Singh, P. Reflections on Pandemics, Civil Infrastructure and Sustainable Development: Five Lessons from COVID-19 through the Lens of Transportation. Preprints2020, 2020040047. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0047.v1
APA Style
Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., Labi, S., Woodall, B., Chester, M., & Singh, P. (2020). Reflections on Pandemics, Civil Infrastructure and Sustainable Development: Five Lessons from COVID-19 through the Lens of Transportation. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0047.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., Mikhail Chester and Prerna Singh. 2020 "Reflections on Pandemics, Civil Infrastructure and Sustainable Development: Five Lessons from COVID-19 through the Lens of Transportation" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0047.v1
Abstract
Humanity’s social and economic development has been challenged by a range of adversities over the millennia that have caused widespread and unimaginable suffering. At the same time, these challenges have forced humans to evolve more wisely, overcoming adversity through creativity and leading to advancements in science and technology, medicine, ethics and legal systems, and socio-political systems. The dynamics of risks and opportunities caused by COVID-19, in the built, cyber, social and economic environments, present opportunities for deepening our understanding of resilient and sustainable development and infrastructure. This article reflects on five lessons that COVID-19 is teaching us about what it means to develop sustainably through the lens of transportation: (1) sustainable development planning and analytical frameworks must be comprehensive, for long-term sustainability; (2) multi-modal transportation is a superior vision for sustainable development than any one particular mode; (3) tele-activities are part of an effective infrastructure sustainability strategy; (4) economic capital is critically important to sustainable development even when it is not a critical existential threat, and, (5) effective social capital is essential in global disaster resistance and recovery, and can and must be leveraged between fast-moving and slow-moving disasters. Resilient and sustainable infrastructure will continue to be critical to addressing evolving natural and man-made hazards in the 21st Century.
Keywords
sustainable development; system resilience; resilient and sustainable infrastructure; pandemics; COVID-19
Subject
Engineering, Civil Engineering
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Commenter: Cesar Queiroz
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.
Keep safe. Best wishes, Cesar