Inoculating Cities: Case Studies of Urban Pandemic Preparedness begins with a brief historical description of infectious disease outbreaks in cities as well as an overview of infectious disease outbreaks since 2000 that hold profound implications for cities and urban environments - such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, H1N1 influenza in 2009, Ebola virus in 2014, Zika virus in 2015, and more recently, COVID-19 in 2020. Each of these outbreaks affected different geographies of the world and underscored the importance of urban pandemic preparedness or urban health security as a means of mitigating the threats posed by infectious diseases. This book describes several of the characteristics of cities that make them uniquely vulnerable to infectious disease threats which include, but are not limited to, their population density, population diversity, internal and external population movements, and inequalities in cities. Finally, the book discusses frameworks and capacities that are essential for preparing cities to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks. With contributions from experts and researchers with first-hand experiences with infectious disease outbreaks, their impact on the management of disease, and pandemic preparedness in progressively urban societies, Inoculating Cities addresses the unique threats infectious diseases pose to urban environments and surveys innovative models that cities are using to combat these threats.

Inoculating Cities: Case Studies of the Urban Response of the COVID-19 Pandemic uses detailed case studies to document and describe how cities located in high, middle and low-income countries responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. City governments and municipal authorities exist and operate in extremely varied contexts (i.e., socioeconomic, demographic, legal and governance, etc.) and intentionally documenting the experiences in these different contexts provides guidance to decision-makers for future preparedness and response activities. This volume highlights the innovative solutions throughout the pandemic as described by the people who designed and implemented pandemic response efforts in their cities. In addition, it identifies successful models that can be adopted in the future by city leaders around the world.