Enhancing the quality of life in Egyptian cities during pandemics and its consequences on urban planning

Abstract

This research aims to develop mitigation techniques for the implications that affect the city planning sectors in Egypt during COVID-19, which will guide urban planners and policymakers to enhance Egyptian citizen life during pandemics. A statistical thematic methodology was adopted by the research. The research method divided into three phases. The first phase considers the attitude of Egyptian citizens toward the global pandemic through conducting surveys. These surveys discuss the global effects of the pandemic and if these effects are felt in the Egyptian context or not. The second phase targets the citizen that disagree with the global effects as a result of the phase one survey through structured interviews. These interviews concluded the reasons behind the disagreement of the surveys in phase one as well as the effects that they personally suffer from during the pandemic. The third phase targets the policymakers and planners inside Egypt and their perspectives on the suitable mitigation techniques that can be implemented in the Egyptian context. This will finally lead to suggesting a set of mitigation techniques suitable for Egyptian cities. The research paper identified through a review of literature the mostly affected city planning sectors during COVID-19 which were 6 sectors. In addition, 25 global mitigation measures were identified through the literature. Results of the Surveys and structured interviews confirmed that the most affected sectors are transport & land use, housing, and ICT respectively. Findings of data analysis showed that 10 extra mitigation measures were encountered to better enhance the Egyptian cities. These findings help planners and policy makers to plan cities that can cope with future pandemics. This research presents mitigation techniques for the implications that affect the city planning sectors in Egypt during COVID-19. It was based on research from case studies, a literature review, and a survey questionnaire. The mitigation techniques developed in a practical procedure where the goals of the research; required activities; techniques, and tools; elaborated the citizen needs and outputs. The mitigation techniques was authenticated by 24 of the Egyptian professionals’ planners and policy makers to ensure its viability and practicability for implementation. The research categorized and examined the global effects that changed the quality of life during pandemics. Moreover, real life case study authenticated the global effects and explored the most successful mitigation countermeasures that suites the Egyptian context. The study focused on a subject that has recently attracted interest on a global scale. In addition, this paper developed 10 extra mitigation measures to better enhance the Egyptian cities and other developing countries of similar context. It represents a novel contribution that planners and policy makers can employ in similar context to the Egyptian cities.

Keywords:

• City planning sectors
• coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
• pandemics
• domains of quality of life

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Huge-scale infectious disease outbreaks known as pandemics can significantly increase morbidity and mortality across a large geographic area and result in serious economic, social, and political disruption which directly affects the citizen quality of life in a negative way. Accordingly, the research identified and analyzed the global effects that changed the quality of life during pandemics. In addition, a real-life case study authenticated the global effects and explored the most effective mitigation measures that suites the Egyptian context. The research tackled a topic that received global attention lately all over the world. In addition, this paper developed 10 extra mitigation measures to better enhance the Egyptian cities and other developing countries of similar context. It represents a novel contribution to be used by planners and policymakers in a similar context to the Egyptian cities.

1. Introduction

Quality of life (QOL) is considered with no doubt a vital step towards evaluating the success or failure of society and residents’ perception of their situation in the city they live in (Serag El Din et al., 2013). Nevertheless, there is no standard methodology used by planners to assess the different aspects that may affect the quality of life either in a positive or negative way. In December 2019 the highly contagious coronavirus disease COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan City and affected the whole world (Melo-Oliveira et al., 2021; Mouratidis, 2021). This in return caused deterioration in different quality of life domains, health, and wellbeing. Recent researches discussed that there is a crucial link between the affected city planning sectors due to the spreading of the virus and the resident’s quality of life inside cities. This link might aid urban planners, researchers, politicians, and policy-makers in creating inclusive, livable, and ecologically sustainable cities that are pandemic-resistant (Rice, 2020).

According to World Health Organization (2012), a Resident’s quality of life inside cities can be defined through six main categories which are: psychological domain, physical health, independence level, social relations, environmental domain, and spirituality domain. Among these categories, The COVID-19 pandemic most adversely affects seven key domains of quality of life (Mouratidis, 2021). These seven domains are as follows: work, travel, social relationship, leisure, residential well-being, health, and, emotional responses (Ebrahimzadeh et al., 2016).

The research questions are: What are the mitigation measures suggested by global researchers to mitigate the affected city sectors during pandemics? How can these mitigation measures be enhanced to better suit Egyptian cities? Therefore, this study investigates the different global effects and mitigation measures suggested by global researchers. In addition, the study argues the proposed global mitigation measures and their suitability to the Egyptian context. This in return leads to adding extra mitigation measures to better suit the Egyptian cities. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a novel contribution that hasn’t been investigated or produced elsewhere because it can be used in any developing nation with a similar Egyptian context. In this regard, it shall act as a guide for Egyptian policymakers and urban planners to better mitigate the effects of pandemics (similar to Covid-19) in Egyptian cities. It should be highlighted that the study employed trustworthy data acquired from trustworthy studies and organizations.

Nevertheless, some limitations were faced during the data collection due to the relatively low response rate from citizens. However, the survey sample collected met the minimum requirements according to the responses needed. The research structure is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The research structure (Developed by Author, 2022).

2. Literature review

Using the Science Direct database, a three-year systematic review of the literature was carried out from 2020 to 2022. To assess the importance and scope of the current study, a selection of peer-reviewed published papers, conference papers E-books and were examined. With a total of 5340 international publications during the last three years. This study topic has attracted a lot of scholarly interest. This demonstrates the existence of global interest in the effects of COVID-19, which were considered the main factors that affect city planning in different sectors. This review was also useful to recognize the global mitigation measures that researchers proposed to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on the Quality of life and city planning sectors. The keywords urban planning, quality of life, and COVID-19 were used in the order of investigating the research problem.

2.1. Affected qualities of life

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, life changed drastically in so many different aspects (Pascarella et al., 2020). The pandemic’s widespread distribution caused panic and directly affected the health of the millions who had the virus globally, in addition to affecting the lives of those who didn’t even get the virus (Nesbitt, 2021; Pascarella et al., 2020). This effect was largely due to the preventive measures implemented by most countries around the world to fight the pandemic (Sharifi & Khavarian-Garmsir, 2020). These measures ranged from the spread of social distancing policies and in some areas partial to complete lockdowns, even the need to use preventive equipment like masks affected people’s life drastically.

Due to these preventive measures, several domains of quality of life were affected. During the COVID-19 pandemic, travel inside cities was tightly constrained in order to stem the pandemic’s spread. Governments and organizations have enacted restrictions as well as residents (Paraschi, 2020). As a consequence, the number of journeys and overall travel distances has decreased significantly. However, some forms of transportation dropped at a faster rate than others. Several studies found that public transportation declined the most during the epidemic (Jenelius & Cebecauer, 2020).

During COVID-19, cities, and localities improved their QOL by favoring some modes of transportation over others. Active means of transportation such as walking and cycling were thought had a slower decline in use compared to public transportation since it seemed to represent a lesser risk of infection (Marti & Espindola, 2020; Nieuwenhuijsen, 2021). According Hu and Chen (2021), “longer trips by public transportation may have been linked to a greater risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection”. Moreover, online industries, fields, and activities have all grown exponentially due to the travel setbacks during COVID-19 (Dhawan, 2020).

Cities promote leisure well-being by making amenities, green areas, and open public places available to residents (Carmona, 2019). Although numerous facilities in many places across the globe were closed during COVID-19, certain facilities remained open in some circumstances. Green places were employed for social activities, physical activities, and cultural activities when restrictive constraints permitted (Douglas et al., 2020). For comparable goals, open public places as streets and public squares were also crucial (Honey-Rosés et al., 2020). Due to spending great amounts of time at home, it was brought to notice the importance of the quality of residences and their effect on leisure (Amerio et al., 2020).

COVID-19 may have caused more severe economic losses in cities and residential regions that were more severely impacted. As a result, residents of such cities and places were more likely to face reduced job activity, lost income, suspension from work, and unemployment (Diener et al., 2018). The concentration of inhabitants in specific cities and residential areas whose occupations were less resistant to COVID-19 may result in reduced inclusive well-being in these cities and locations (Ahrendt et al., 2020). Cities indirectly contribute to work-related QOL by offering or limiting physical and, more recently, virtual access to workplaces (Shamshiripour et al., 2020).

Social relationships and general well-being are significantly impacted by COVID-19, especially in vulnerable populations (Thoresen et al., 2021). On various geographical dimensions, cities enable or limit social contact and the establishment of social relationships, contributing to social well-being (Small & Adler, 2019). The epidemic substantially undermined cities’ ability to play this function. During city lockdowns, they were often the sole place for in-person social contact. During the epidemic, various «third places» such as restaurants, cafés, stores, cultural centers, and libraries, stayed open at different times and in different situations (Williams & Hipp, 2019). Cities with adequate ICT setup contributed favorably to this aspect, reducing the pandemic’s negative consequences for example loneliness, mental health and isolation difficulties. In conclusion, bigger homes allowed for more socialization with less social separation and a decreased chance of infection (Mouratidis, 2021).

Residential well-being is defined as «residents’ perceptions of QOL of their community» (Sirgy, 2012). Residential well-being is influenced by green space, local amenities, and open public space (Pfeiffer & Cloutier, 2016). During COVID-19, these qualities were very crucial. Also, the value of housing traits and circumstances for QOL increased significantly. Private open spaces adjacent to residences, such as gardens and balconies, may have contributed to residential well-being in the period of COVID-19 for the same reasons (Lehberger et al., 2021).

Several processes, counting blue and green space, traffic, noise, and housing features, may impact emotional reactions in the city (Chatterjee et al., 2020). Due to mobility issues that prohibited individuals from going for leisure and nature trips during COVID-19, blue-green space play a significant role in evoking positive emotional responses (Pouso et al., 2020). During COVID-19 lockdowns, larger, higher-quality residences may have been less stressful and more enjoyable, leading to more positive or less negative feelings (Amerio et al., 2020).

The virus appeared to spread more quickly in larger cities at the beginning of COVID-19 (Stier et al., 2020). Yet, as time went on, the pandemic began to spread to rural areas and smaller cities (Stier et al., 2020). On the other hand, in some cases, COVID-19 spread wasn’t connected to city density (Carozzi, 2021). It was noticed that open public spaces and green spaces were especially important during the period of COVID-19 as they were often the only available urban spaces where citizens can perform social activities, physical activities, or cultural activities (Ugolini et al., 2020). During COVID-19, researchers observed significant advantages of green and blue spaces as they enhanced the mental health of citizens as well as their emotional well-being (Poortinga et al., 2021). Because of these roles, maintaining excellent accessibility to urban blue-green space and the adjacent environment was proposed as one of the primary ways to attenuate COVID-19‘s physical and mental health implications in cities (Slater et al., 2020). Noise levels, which are a common concern in cities, were much lower during the pandemic period (COVID-19) as a result of limited urban mobility, which may have aided mental health, and emotional well-being (Basu et al., 2021). COVID-19 saw a significant reduction in air pollution, which might have a good influence on physical health (Sharifi & Khavarian-Garmsir, 2020). During COVID-19, the significance of housing features and housing circumstances skyrocketed. During COVID-19 lockdowns, larger, higher-quality residences were less tense, more efficient, and more enjoyable, resulting in improved mental health results (Amerio et al., 2020). Studies also showed that mental health was severely damaged in developing countries, leading to a tendency to suicidal behavior (Shoib et al., 2022). During COVID-19, ICT was very vital for health. Through telehealth, ICT infrastructure and accompanying services gave possibilities for controlling COVID-19 as well as other health conditions remotely (North, 2020). During COVID-19, ICT played several additional important roles, allowing individuals to do a variety of everyday tasks from a distance without the danger of infection (Mouratidis & Papagiannakis, 2021).

After discussing in detail how every Domain of QOL got affected during COVID-19, and what city sectors each domain affected, a matrix was made pinning out this relationship, as shown in Figure 2 .

Figure 2. Relation Matrix of the Affected City Sectors by the QOL Domains (Developed by Author, 2022).

2.2. Affected city planning sectors

After the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, different domains of quality of life got affected, which in turn affected different city planning sectors (Mouratidis, 2021). According to Jenelius and Cebecauer (2020), public transportation has a more significant impact on health than other modes. Residents hold public transportation in lower regard than other modes of transportation (Nieuwenhuijsen, 2021). Residents who rely on public transportation, particularly those who work, were more likely to be exposed to health concerns since they required physical presence and a higher level of travel-related anxiety (Jenelius & Cebecauer, 2020).

Cycling, Walking, and driving a private automobile were all safer modes of transportation, as well as less stressful residents who had access to a vehicle were able to move further distances to take part in activities with a reduced risk of illness and reduced anxiety caused by travel (Marti & Espindola, 2020). Walkability and bike-ability were especially significant since they allow people to get about more easily and facilitated safer travel while also encouraging physical activity (Teixeira & Lopes, 2020).

The frequency and quality of the public transportation services, as well as preventative measures for Virus spread, may have been aided by precautions taken on board (Mouratidis, 2021). A personal reaction to traveling long commutes has been linked to an increased risk of illness and maybe even death (Paraschi, 2020). This had a detrimental impact on one’s health and well-being. Different travel-related implications may have resulted from a compact urban form dependence on public transportation was probably bad, while the capacity to walk and bike was perhaps beneficial to one’s QOL. Throughout COVID-19 less mobility and less activity resulted in poorer productivity (Zheng et al., 2020). As for Teixeira and Lopes (2020), Zheng et al. (2020) & Mouratidis (2021) five factors affected the transport & land use sector as follows:

• Helped in increasing the infection rate.

• Walkability and bike-ability provided safe transportation during pandemics.

• Private transportation demand increased.

• Compact urban forms provided easy accesses to facilities.

• Reduced mobility decreased air & noise pollution.

Urban spaces either blue or green in addition to the neighboring nature provided safe spaces for social interactions. These spaces allowed people to do different physical, social, and cultural activities (Nieuwenhuijsen, 2021). These spaces also helped in improving the overall emotional wellbeing and citizens’ mental health. Additionally, private outdoor spaces provided safe spaces for social interactions (Pouso et al., 2020). Necessary space for engaging in physical, social, and cultural activities while reducing the danger of infection, in addition to improving the citizen’s mental health and emotional wellbeing (Lehberger et al., 2021). As for Nieuwenhuijsen (2021), Pouso et al. (2020) & Lehberger et al. (2021) five factors affected the urban blue-green space & nearby nature sector as follows, the first four points affected the open space sector as well:

• Provided safe space to perform physical activities.

• Provided safe space to perform social activities.

• Provided safe space to perform cultural activities.

• Helped in improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of citizens.

• Private outdoor spaces provided safe spaces for social interaction.

Even during pandemics, having access to the right amenities and healthcare facilities was essential for wellbeing. The availability of additional healthcare resources in larger cities is anticipated, which may have facilitated the management of sickness. Compact urban forms offered greater accessibility to amenities and healthcare services than other types. Due to mobility restrictions and the risk of infection from using public transit, nearby recreational facilities were essential for both leisure and residential wellbeing (Ribeiro et al., 2020). During the epidemic, “third places,” including restaurants, cafés, stores, libraries and cultural spaces were open and approachable to provide opportunities for social engagement and the development of new relationships. Third places with outside spaces gave more opportunities for social contact while reducing the danger of illness. During the epidemic, COVID-19 test centers in cities helped citizens to resume a more regular life (Poortinga et al., 2021). As for Ribeiro et al. (2020) & Poortinga et al. (2021) three factors affected the facilities & services sector as follows:

• Heath care facilities needed safe and easy access.

• Facilities with accessible and open spaces provided safe spaces for social interactions.

• Testing facilities allowed residents to resume normal life activities.

In congested households, more illnesses have been recorded, perhaps due to the difficulties in encouraging social separation and quarantine. Teleconferencing, telework, and online leisure activities have all been enhanced as a result of larger residences (Aulia, 2016). During lockdowns, larger, higher-quality residences may have been pleasant, less stressful, and functional, resulting in more positive feelings and enhanced mental health results. Interior spaces with poor ventilation were more to contribute to viral transmission (Bhagat et al., 2020). As for Mouratidis and Papagiannakis (2021) & Bhagat et al. (2020) four factors affected the housing sector as follows:

• It was challenging to maintain social distance in overcrowded dwellings.

• Bigger dwellings with good ICT infrastructure faced fewer difficulties during COVID-19.

• Inadequate ventilation in the indoor spaces contributed to virus transmission.

• Larger and Higher quality dwellings contributed to the physical and mental wellbeing residents.

ICT infrastructure and technologies enabled remote control of COVID-19 and other health issues via telehealth services. Teleconferencing, teleworking, online learning & buying, tele leisure, and socializing online allowed individuals to carry out a variety of everyday activities at a distance, with no danger of infection (Mouratidis, 2021). As a consequence, distant such as teleconferencing, online learning & buying, teleworking, tele leisure, and socializing online have been shown to help alleviate COVID-19‘s detrimental impacts on QOL. ICT did not help everyone; it may have had negative implications for specific groups or family types (Mouratidis & Papagiannakis, 2021). As for Mouratidis and Papagiannakis (2021) four factors affected the ICT sector as follows:

• ICT enabled people to perform daily activities online.

• People with good ICT access faced fewer Struggles during COVI-19.

• People with poor ICT access struggled more during COVID-19.

• ICT allowed people to socialize online contributed to their mental health and social wellbeing.

To conclude the global researchers noticed a total of 25 effects made on the different city sectors which directly related to the QOL of citizens globally during COVID-19. It was noticed that generally, 5 factors affected the Transport & Land use sector, 5 factors affected the Urban Blue-Green Space & Nearby Nature sector, 4 factors affected the Open Public Spaces sector, 3 factors affected the Facilities and services sector, 4 factors affected the Housing sector and finally 4 factors affected the ICT sector.

2.3. Global mitigation measures

After studying the effects of COVID-19 on the different relevant city sectors, researchers globally agreed on a set of different mitigation measures, that will help mitigate the negative effects and enhance the positive effects of COVID-19 and future pandemics. During COVID-19, the effects of land use as well as transportation on QOL were redefined. During the outbreak, public transportation was hampered.

This is not to say that public transportation should be diminished or disregarded during pandemics. On the other hand, public transportation is to be strengthened even more to promote sustainable mobility (Menezes & Souza, 2014). Maintaining frequent public transportation (especially during peak periods), providing proper airflow in public transportation vehicles, disinfecting public transportation vehicles regularly, enforcing harsh social distancing policies on board, enforcing passengers to put on face masks on board, as well as preventing overcrowding are some suggestions for guaranteeing lesser spread of the virus and reduced travel stress for anyone who cannot stop using public transportation throughout pandemics (Gkiotsalitis & Cats, 2021).

Because cycling and walking provide a minimal risk of infection as well as well-being and health advantages, they contribute to pandemic-resilient mobility. During pandemics, bike-sharing and e-scooter sharing might be enabled as alternatives for public transportation usage (Nieuwenhuijsen, 2021). For people who do not possess a vehicle, car-sharing services might be regarded as an alternative for required long-distance travel. Additional car-sharing assistance might be offered to poorer families who do not possess a car to address disparities associated with pandemic-related transportation consequences (Teixeira & Lopes, 2020). By providing a secure setting for activities and benefits for mental health, urban blue-green spaces, as well as neighboring nature, were critical for minimizing the harmful effects of COVID-19 affecting the QOL (Pouso et al., 2020). As for Nieuwenhuijsen (2021), Teixeira and Lopes (2020), & Pouso et al. (2020) six global mitigation measures have been proposed to mitigate the global effects on Transport and land use sector as follows:

• Continue offering regular public transportation, particularly during rush hours.

• Adequate ventilation in public transportation vehicles, regular sanitation of those vehicles, stringent policies to preserve the social distance on board, the wearing of facemasks, and limiting the number of passengers.

• Improvements to bikeability and walkability.

• During pandemics, facilitate the sharing of electric scooters and bicycles.

• During pandemics, make car sharing options available.

• More assistance with car sharing during pandemics for lower-income households without cars.

Cities should provide more trees, plants, and other types of greenery while still preserving the natural environment around them. Accessibility to blue-green space as well as the environment is also important so that inhabitants may reap well-being and health advantages. Planning and regulations may also consider more advantages of maintaining private or community green space next to households (Mouratidis, 2021). As for Pouso et al. (2020), Lehberger et al. (2021) & Mouratidis (2021) four global mitigation measures have been proposed to mitigate the global effects on urban blue-green space & nearby nature sector as follows:

• Grow/maintain trees and other sorts of vegetation in urban areas.

• Protect the nearby landscape & nature.

• Provide easy access to neighboring environment and urban greenery.

• Manage a communal or private green space adjacent to the housing.

Open public spaces counting walking lanes, public squares, and roads, were crucial during COVID-19 as they offered a safe environment for physical, social, and cultural activity (Mouratidis, 2021). The need for open public places was emphasized, particularly in cities and areas which lacked similar places. Because gathering in the few open public spaces did not allow for safe social separation, residents of densely populated urban areas typically experienced greater lockdown and home isolation tactics (Marti & Espindola, 2020). These consequences due to COVID-19 imply that planning should endeavor to provide and preserve comprehensive open public places which are accessible to all resident (Cheng et al., 2021). As for Marti and Espindola (2020) & Cheng et al. (2021), one global mitigation measure has been proposed to mitigate the global effects on open public spaces sector as follow:

• Develop/maintain accessible, inclusive open public spaces.

During COVID-19, the significance of housing for city QOL increased tremendously as urban inhabitants had to spend much more time at home. COVID-19 is likely to have had a greater detrimental effect on the QOL of occupants of tiny, overcrowded, and low-quality houses (Mouratidis, 2021). This emphasizes the necessity of addressing housing inequities through the establishment of housing regulations that ensure acceptable living spaces, enough ventilation, and small home sizes, as well as by providing additional housing assistance to lower-income families to reduce congestion (Amerio et al., 2020). Furthermore, multipurpose communal spaces, particularly built for pandemics, might be constructed in neighborhoods with smaller houses, enabling inhabitants to undertake regular living activities while reducing the danger of infection (Mouratidis, 2020). As for Amerio et al. (2020) & Mouratidis (2021) three global mitigation measures have been proposed to mitigate the global effects on housing sector & two extra global mitigation measures have been proposed on facilities & services sector respectively as follows:

• Create a set of dwelling standards to guarantee proper ventilation and livable conditions.

• To minimize crowded housing, establish minimum dwelling sizes and offer housing assistance to lower-income households.

• Provide adequately crafted multipurpose shared spaces where inhabitants can carry out tasks with a low risk of infection in neighborhoods with smaller homes.

• Develop community centers that combine residential and commercial land uses to give residents easy access to a range of neighborhood services and third places.

• Develop test facilities, particularly in the most at-risk areas.

The COVID-19 epidemic promoted ICT. Tele activities were formalized, and Infrastructure, tools, and abilities were all developed as a result of their major mitigating role during COVID-19. ICT allowed telemedicine (or telehealth) that assisted in the management of COVID-19 and other medical conditions, supplanting certain healthcare services (Mouratidis, 2021). Furthermore, ICT aided individuals to complete numerous everyday activities from anywhere without any risk of contamination and the associated psychological stress through virtual activities such as working at home, videoconferencing, web-based learning, shopping online, tele-leisure, and digital communicating. To guarantee that all people benefit from ICT’s mitigating role, cities must establish and maintain adequate ICT infrastructure, systems, and services, as well as offer necessary material and educational assistance to vulnerable populations (Mouratidis & Papagiannakis, 2021). As for Mouratidis and Papagiannakis (2021) two global mitigation measures have been proposed to mitigate the global effects on housing sector as follows:

• Create and maintain an adequate infrastructure, system, and service for ICT.

• Provide vulnerable groups with materials and instructional IT help to prevent their exclusion from participation in social activities.

To conclude, global researchers agreed on 18 general mitigation measures that designers and policymakers should apply to help mitigate the different negative effects of COVID-19 on global citizens. Researchers proposed 6 different mitigation measures for the Transport & Land use sector, 4 mitigation measures for the Urban Blue-Green Space & Nearby Nature sector, 1 mitigation measure for the Open Public Spaces sector, 2 mitigation measures for the Facilities and services sector, 3 mitigation measures for the Housing sector and finally 2 mitigation measures for the ICT sector.

3. Research method

Based on the literature review, the research method will be divided into three phases. The first phase will consider the attitude of Egyptian citizens toward the global pandemic through conducting surveys. These surveys discuss the global effects of the pandemic and if these effects are felt in the Egyptian context or not. The second phase targets the citizen that disagree with the global effects as a result of the phase one survey through structured interviews. These interviews concluded the reasons behind the disagreement of the surveys in phase one as well as the effects that they personally suffer from during the pandemic. The third phase targets the policymakers and planners inside Egypt and their perspectives on the suitable mitigation techniques that can be implemented in the Egyptian context. This will finally lead to suggesting a set of mitigation techniques suitable for Egyptian cities. The following Figure 3 shows a framework for the research method.

Figure 3. Framework for the Deductive Method (Developed by Author, 2022).

3.1. Case study: Ismailia city

The city of Ismailia will be the chosen case study for the implementation of the method, which is located in the northeastern part of Egypt. There are different selection criteria for why specifically Ismailia city was selected as the case study among the different Egyptian cities. First of all, Ismailia has multiple Isolation hospitals with good capacities, that helped in managing the pandemic cases (Al-Warwari, 2022). Also, it was one of the first cities in Egypt to take serious precautions against the COVID-19 pandemic. It was included in the UNICEF campaign to give 300 schools preventive equipment (Hamed, 2021). Finally, as it has some urban dense areas, Ismailia also has a lot of open public & private spaces, which makes it suitable to study the effect of COVID-19 on both situations (Al-Warwari, 2021).

3.2. Phase 1 (citizen survey)

The survey was designed to ask citizens if they felt or didn’t feel the different global effects of COVID-19. Ismailia city population is 296,730, with the confidence level being 95% and the margin of error being 5%. These pieces of information were inserted into an online calculator to determine the survey sample size; which came out to be 384 as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Survey Sample Size Calculator (calculator.Net, 2023).

Of the 384 Survey takers, 200 of them were males, and 184 were females. And according to the age group, 94 were teenagers ranging from 16 to 19 years in age, 83 were young adults ranging from 20 to 35 years in age, 108 were middle-aged adults with an age range from 36 to 50 years, and finally, 99 were old adults ranging from 51 to 60 years in age, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Survey Statistics (Developed by Author, 2022).

3.3. Phase 2 (Citizens Questionnaire)

The questionnaire participants will be selected from the participants who took the prior survey and disagreed upon some of the global effects, either for not feeling them or for feeling some entirely other effects. Each effect that the citizens disagreed upon should be discussed with at least 10 different persons.

3.4. Phase 3 (Policymakers and designer’s Questionnaire)

As discussed in the literature review, a lot of mitigation measures were collected from the researchers on a global level. However, these mitigation measures shouldn’t specifically be suitable for Egyptian cities. Therefore, a questionnaire will be directed toward the policymakers and Egyptian planners to see their beliefs on the applicability of those mitigation measures in Egyptian cities.

4. Results and discussion

This section compares the research results and findings to the previous researches on the scale of a contemporary Egyptian city, taking into account the opinions of the current residents who live there today as well as policymakers and urban planners. The findings of the current study agreed with the findings of the previous researches.

Mouratidis (2021) stated that Transport & Land use, Housing, Open Public Spaces, Facilities and Services, ICT, and urban green blue spaces & nearby nature are the main sectors that got affected by the change in the quality of life. In this research, the relevant effects that act upon the fore mentioned sectors were investigated through surveys that have been conducted by the researcher for the Egyptian citizen. The results are shown in the following Figure 6. A related study by Shoib et al. (2022) looked at several mitigation strategies for developing nations.

Figure 6. Citizen Survey Results (Developed by Author, 2022).

Despite the importance of open public spaces, as well as facilities and services as main sectors in city planning and their impact on the resident’s quality of life, a lower average suitability rate has been received compared to other city sectors. This shows that various implications of both city context and planning have a great effect on citizens’ responses. On the other hand (Shoib et al., 2022), analyzed the importance of these two city sectors in developed countries. In the current study, Table 1 shows the effects that have been excluded by the Egyptian citizens and the reasons behind that. These data were accumulated on the basis that each Global effect that the citizens didn’t agree upon, where each disagreed effect should be discussed with a total of 10 different personnel from those who conducted the previous survey, reaching a total of 38 Personal interviews.

Table 1. Citizens’ Questionnaire Answers (Developed by Author, 2022)

Sectors	Excluded effects	Reasons behind exclusion
Transport & Land use	Walkability and bike-ability provided safe transportation during pandemics	There are no dedicated spaces to walk or bike safely during COVID-19
Urban Blue/Green Space and Nearby Nature	Private outdoor spaces delivered safe spaces for social interaction	Most people don’t have nearby Private outdoor spaces
Open Public Spaces	Safe space to perform social activities	Most open spaces (excluding Natural green areas) are Private
	Safe space to perform Cultural activities
	Safe space to perform Physical activities
	Helped in improving the emotional well-being and mental health of citizens
Facilities and services	Facilities with accessible and open spaces provided safe spaces for social interactions	There are few facilities with accessible and open spaces
	Testing facilities allowed residents to resume normal life activities	Testing facilities didn’t allow residents to resume normal life activities (due to generally high costs)
Information & Communications Technology (ICT)	ICT enabled people to perform daily activities online	1- Many of the residents lack good access to ICT. 2- Many of the residents are not well-versed in the utilization of ICT-related services.

According (Shoib et al., 2022), these fore mentioned effects had corresponding average low suitability rates in developing countries and similar results were indicated by (Giri & Rana, 2020) in the context of Nepal. Furthermore, the current study has pinned out the effects that impact Egyptian citizens due to COVID-19. Egyptian Planners and policymakers proposed different mitigation measures that suites the Egyptian Context in addition to the global effects as shown in table 2).

Table 2. Professionals’ Questionnaire Answers (Developed by Author, 2022)

Sectors	Proposed Mitigation Measures
Transport & Land use	Increasing the frequency and quantity of public transport to accommodate the dense nature of Egyptian cities. This will help in facilitating social distancing. Sitting clear policies to ensure abidance with the mitigation measures.
Urban Blue-Green Space & Nearby Nature	Due to the dense urban forms usually seen in Egyptian cities, the best place to add private or communal green spaces is on top of buildings, this could be added into consideration when putting new policies.
Open Public Spaces	Since the majority of open spaces are suitable for different activities and are private, therefore it was suggested that once or twice a week these spaces can be opened with lowered fees for organized activities.
Facilities and services	To put regulations regarding people that need testing to resume their work, these people should get tested free of charge, so that they can continue to contribute to the community.
Housing	Provide training for citizens on how to apply the precautionary measures for the pandemic inside houses. Provide any preventive types of equipment needed inside houses to fight the pandemic like sanitizers, medications, and masks.
Information & Communications Technology (ICT)	Make minimum knowledge in ICT a requirement to ensure that Egyptians can use the basic form of teleservices. Lower the prices for internet services, especially for citizens that need internet for work. To make a local Egyptian ICT system that can be easier to use for Egyptians with low knowledge in ICT.

The proposed mitigation techniques showed in Table 2 provides recommendations for future urban planning strategies based on the suggestion that might aid as a reference for practitioners, policymakers, and decision-makers dealing with urban planning difficulties now and in the future. These mitigation strategies are doable solutions to raise livability in cities starting by increasing the quantity and frequency of public transportation to account for Egyptian cities’ high population densities, followed by adding private or communal green spaces on top of buildings, then managing the green public spaces for all citizen twice a week, as well as advertising for the precaution measures using public signs in streets and public spaces, and finally providing the ICT networks to all citizen.

5. Conclusion & recommendations

This study showed COVID-19 emergence and how it impacted the whole world and affected the QOL of citizens all around the globe. It investigated the direct effect of COVID-19 on the planning of different city sectors, and their aptitude to comply with the QOL. Hence, Ismailia City is chosen as a case study based on the adopted way of managing the pandemic cases, as well as it was one of the first cities in Egypt to take serious precautions against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The discussion included two levels; current citizens’ surveys and professionals’ structured interviews. A statistical thematic methodology was adopted. It started with data collection from previous global research. Then, describe the global effects of pandemics on the citizens and query their relevance to the Egyptian cities to rank potential effects into “YES” and “NO”. Following, a survey results verification & analysis through conducting structured interviews with the planners and policymakers to develop additional mitigation measures that suites the Egyptians to cope now and for the future with any expected pandemics. This is considered as a novel contribution that can be applied anywhere to a planning context similar to the Egyptian one. As the WHO stated that there is a direct relationship between QOL and different city planning sectors. The study presented dual-tier outcomes; the former studied the different affected qualities of life (social relationships leisure, work, travel, emotional responses, residential well-being, and health), while the latter analyzed the different city planning sectors, it was noted that 6 main city planning sectors (transport & land use, open public space, urban blue-green space and nature, facilities, housing, services, and ICT) have a direct impact on the QOL. As a result, the research summarized the global effects impacting the fore mentioned six city sectors in a total of 25 effects. As well as setting a total of 18 global mitigation measures, to help enhance citizens’ QOL inside cities during COVID-19, which is considered common practice for mitigating the pandemics’ global effects on both developing and developed countries alike

As cities and citizens around the globe got affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, however every city in the world has its own urban planning form and surrounding environment that differs from others. Therefore, it was a must to investigate an Egyptian city by conducting surveys and interviews to reach the best mitigation measures that suites the Egyptian context. Furthermore, a citizen survey was conducted to a total of 384 participants, to enquire whether they felt or not the global effects in each of the city sectors. Hence, personal interviews were conducted with 38 personnel from those who conducted the previous survey. Finally, structured interviews were directed to a total of 24 professional planners and policymakers to scrutinize the global mitigation measures and their suitability to the Egyptian context. As a result, 10 new mitigation measures were added to the list of 18 global mitigation measures to best suites the Egyptian context.

Hence, future planning regulations should take the pandemic’s effects on cities into account by including the determined mitigation measures in the forthcoming city plans. In order to best recommend the most effective mitigation strategies, a validation stage was carried out by conducting both surveys and interviews with contemporary citizens who lived during the COVID-19 Pandemic and recording their thoughts on their benefits and drawbacks to practitioners. Planners and academics expressed the greatest interest in this, followed by legislators and investors. This demonstrated the importance and contribution of the study and the need to create pilot mitigation strategies that could be used in all cities with comparable characteristics to Egyptian cities in order to improve quality of life. This study can be repeated in order to design anti-cities that have a high quality of life for both current and future resident.

Based on the urban planning sectors that got affected and the proposed mitigation measures, the future urban planning strategy should provide:

• Quick and reliable access to the basic services.

• Public transportation that conform to societal distance norms, where micro-mobility must be planned with the current formal and informal means of commuting inside cities in order to encourage sustainability in transportation. The future mobility needs to be planned by adding a walking and cycling network with multimodal interchange facilities and resting areas to the existing public transport network.

• Low urban density with improved environmental quality, and hygienic living conditions for city residents to prevent future outbreaks. A holistic approach to planning by allotting sufficient land for accessible public places within the city is crucial to address all these issues. The pandemic has caused numerous noticeable changes in the cities and has made it difficult for individuals to get outside into public spaces. To prevent congestion and combine green and blue infrastructures for addressing environmental problems, public spaces must be built based on the population type and density of the locations. Additionally, in order for all of these open spaces to be utilized, infrastructure must be integrated into them.

• Social infrastructures as well as places for healthcare, education, and entertainment facilities that can be walkable accessible.

• ICT networks that should be firstly planned as essential component in future city infrastructure plans.

The research methodology may be used in further studies for upcoming generations of new cities. It also draws attention that these measures if applied will potentially guide urban planners and policymakers to enhance Egyptian citizen life during pandemics. So that the affected relationship between the QOL domains and different city planning sectors would be mended.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eng.Mostafa Mohamed Elsayed Fahmy Shams

Mostafa Mohamed Elsayed Fahmy Shams I am an honors graduate From the British university in Egypt. I am interested in the research field on quality of life on every scale. This paper was developed after my graduation Thesis to be published.

Marwa Adel Elsayed

Marwa Adel Elsayed. I am an Associate Professor at the British University in Egypt since 2015 and GIS Expert. I am interested in publishing research that is related to Planning, Sustainability, and Quality of life using.

Due to the suffering of Egyptian citizens during the Covid-10 pandemic, we decided to search for the most affected planning sectors that cause negative impacts on the citizens’ quality of life and propose a set of mitigation measures that can be used by planners and policymakers to better mitigate the effects of pandemics (similar to Covid-19) in Egyptian cities. The proposed mitigation measures can be developed afterward to be added to the planning strategy for building new anti-pandemic cities.