Epidemics, Pandemics and Collapse

Given the problem of COVID-19 when this book was being written in 2020, this chapter explores the relationship between previous epidemics, pandemics like the Black Death and societal collapse. Comparing previous pandemics to COVID-19 reveals that how we use the built environment through isolation, quarantine and contact tracing together remain the key measures to prevent the spread of infection, given that a vaccine had not yet been developed at the time of writing this chapter, bringing into question the lack of benefits offered by most modern technology in the face of this global crisis. The economic impact of the present pandemic is discussed as well as its effect on the environment. Looking at the built environment and the current pandemic, an investigation showed no relationship between deaths from COVID-19 and density at both the national and city scales. The chapter looks at the decline in complexity caused by COVID-19 at the city scale and the corresponding increase in complexity at the plot and residential building scale. The chapter concludes by suggesting that critical times are a good test for recognising what matters the most, which is something that needs to be considered in the face of climate change mitigation.