City Responses to Disruptions in 2020 From Lockdowns to Aftermath

Giuseppe T. Cirella, Professor of Human Geography, works at the Faculty of Economics, University of Gdansk, Sopot, Poland, where he received a Doctor of Habilitation (Dr. Hab.) in Economics and Finance. He specializes in economic development, environmental social science, and sustainability. His interdisciplinary background also includes socio-political research throughout Eastern Europe, Africa, and China. After completing a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) at Griffith University, Australia, within the Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and Management, on developing a sustainability-based index, he founded the Polo Center of Sustainability in Italy. Notably, he has held professorships and scientific positions at the University of Pretoria, South Africa; Saint Petersburg State University, Russia; Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, China; Life University, Cambodia; and Free University of Bozen, Italy. In his early career, he worked with the Canadian International Development Agency in Indonesia as well as with Radarsat International in Brazil.Bharat Dahiya is Director of Research Center for Sustainable Development and Innovation at the School of Global Studies, Thammasat University, Thailand. He is Extraordinary Professor at the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Western Cape, South Africa, and Adjunct Faculty at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. An award-winning urbanist, he combines cutting-edge research, policy analysis, and development practice aimed at examining and tackling socioeconomic, environmental, and governance issues in the global urban context of sustainable development. Since the early 1990s, his research and professional work has focused on sustainable cities and urbanization, strategic urban planning and development, urban infrastructure, urban environment, climate change and urban resilience, post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, and cultural heritage and landscapes.