COVID-19 Spatial Policy: A Comparative Review of Urban Policies in the European Union and the Middle East

This article reviews existing research and discussions on urban policy in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis focuses on the first pandemic period in the European Union and the Middle East. A search was conducted in available databases and search engines (Scopus, Google Scholar). A critical bibliometric analysis of publications from the first pandemic period was carried out. The most frequent topics covered were spatial organization, transport, environment, and social issues. The analysis showed that the quantitative scope and depth of the selected topics in the European Union and the Middle East differ. Activities defined as exploitative should be considered a particularly interesting point of reference in both analyzed regions.

Automated summary

This article reviews the existing research and discussions on urban policy during the global COVID-19 pandemic, specifically focusing on the first pandemic period in the European Union and the Middle East. The author conducted a search in Scopus and Google Scholar to examine the publications during this period, and found that the most frequent topics covered were spatial organization, transport, environment, and social issues. The analysis also highlighted the differences in the quantitative scope and depth of these topics between the two regions, with activities defined as exploitative being particularly interesting in both areas.