How covid-19 influences the 2030 Agenda: Do the practices of achieving the sustainable development goal 11 need rethinking and adjustment?

Abstract

Our cities represent the crucial nodes of intervention to improve living conditions and promote sustainability. Therefore, the current pandemic, combined with the climate emergency, translates into an urban emergency. In light of the devastating effects of Covid-19 and the rethinking of the concept of sustainability, the goal of developing inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements pursued by the Sustainable Development Goal 11 may now require revision in terms of the indicators used for its monitoring. Indicators are crucial since they help to make sustainable development visible and transparent, enable comparison, build and harmonize databases and provide information relevant to decision-making processes and urban and territorial policies by facilitating communication across arenas. The aim of this paper is to provide a picture of the indicators currently used to monitor SDG11, to present a series of critical reviews of them in light of the Covid-19 emergency, and to suggest the introduction of some new indicators, thus opening a scientific debate on the topic.