The Covid pandemic with a new and acute urgency highlighted the considerable risks and challenges at which substandard housing conditions in informal settlements put more than a billion people forced to reside in such kind of housing worldwide. It becomes clear more than ever that not just immediate action was needed to waive the worst of impacts: A much more systemic approach is required to meet the basic housing demands of marginalized groups of society if cities in the 21^st century ought to become truly inclusive.

Introducing students to knowledge about the pandemic’s impacts on residents of informal settlements thus requires interweaving two strands of knowledge: that of socio-economic framework conditions of informal and precarious housing on one hand and the public health threat posed by a highly contagious epidemic like Covid 19 on the other hand.

Our knowledge of the disease, its ways of transmission, and the effects it causes on all parts of life is still evolving by the day. What is regarded as standard knowledge today might seem outdated in a few weeks. And it’s far from being over. Thus, while this course deals with the implications of the global pandemic on informal settlements in cities around the world, it therein establishes what is current knowledge in this respect as of now (May 2020).

The course is loosely structured in sessions around different aspects of the epidemic, which are particularly relevant/ linked to people residing and living in substandard informal housing. Most sessions additionally provide suggestions for tasks/ exercises to further engage students with specific topics either during the session or before/ after.

Click for course details "Covid 19 and its impacts on informal settlements"