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Healthy Sustainable Cities and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Sustainable Development Goals Perspective

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Abstract

The world is experiencing a pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which develops the disease COVID-19. Taking care of yourself and others are attitudes considered more than a norm or suggestion, it is an attitude governed by common sense and also, an act of love. A new reality for many: work at home or with protective equipment; home studies; limitations when leaving home (use of mask, alcohol gel, and temperature measurement in different environments); excessive hygiene; numerous surveys (products, services, medicines, vaccines); hospital products and equipment. The importance and benefits of living in a sustainable city have become even more evident. Investments and emergency aid, water management, waste management, home education, health, are old needs, even more evident in a new reality. A sustainable city aims to develop responsibly, taking into account the triple bottom (economic, social, environmental). Based on this context, the objective of this research is: How the concept of sustainable cities can contribute in a pandemic context. This research aims to contribute theoretically, by addressing a series of measures and actions, foreseen in a sustainable city and that can positively help the population, when they find themselves in a pandemic. Still, there is a practical and social contribution, as the research contributes to the management of cities, aiming for smart, healthy and sustainable cities, focusing on education, security, and public health.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted by the Centre for Sustainable Development (Greens), from the University of Southern Santa Catarina (Unisul) and Ânima Institute—AI, in the context of the project BRIDGE—Building Resilience in a Dynamic Global Economy: Complexity across scales in the Brazilian Food-Water-Energy Nexus; funded by the Newton Fund, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina (FAPESC), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível superior (CAPES), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the Research Councils United Kingdom (RCUK).

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  1. University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Florianópolis, 88010-010, Brazil

    Stephane Louise Boca Santa, Graziela Oste Graziano Cremonezi, Thiago Coelho Soares & André Borchardt Deggau

  2. Centre for Sustainable Development (GREENS), University of Southern Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 88010-010, Brazil

    José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra

  3. Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN, UK

    José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra

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  1. Stephane Louise Boca Santa
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Correspondence to José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra .

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    Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

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Santa, S.L.B., Cremonezi, G.O.G., Soares, T.C., Deggau, A.B., de Andrade Guerra, J.B.S.O. (2021). Healthy Sustainable Cities and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Sustainable Development Goals Perspective. In: Muthu, S.S. (eds) COVID-19. Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3860-2_6

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