The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted life everywhere, but particularly in cities. The question is whether it can also spur an urban renewal, with cities being transformed into cleaner, safer, more equitable, and more sustainable places to live.

*Yves Daccord, a co-founder of Edgelands Institute and a fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, is a former director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross.