NATIONAL STORY DOTI said the program is designed to offer “convenient, clean, and safe facilities for the whole community.” Amenities include a full-time attendant, security cameras, waste and recycling stations, and a micro-mobility station for users to park their bicycles. “Providing residents and visitors with access to a comfortable, clean restroom meets a basic and universal human need and we’re proud to deliver this facility to the people of Denver,” said Mayor Michael B. Hancock. “By making restroom facilities more accessible to all, we increase people’s ability to get out and enjoy our downtown area with confidence and improve quality of life and the way our city looks and functions,” he continued. ■ TURNING POINT: CITIES URGED TO ACT ON LESSONS LEARNED IN PANDEMIC BY CAREY L. BIRON From Chicago to Mumbai, the public health crisis created by the coronavirus could be a chance to tackle long-standing problems in major cities – from social inequality to infectious diseases. FROM BETTER HYGIENE to greater awareness of inequality and recognition of ‘essential workers’, lessons learned during the coronavirus pandemic could be harnessed to improve city life for years to come. The health crisis has gutted urban economies, emptied offices and public transport, and shuttered communal spaces, but it might mark a watershed as cities seek to get back on their feet, the annual CityLab global summit heard. “One of the big headlines coming out of the pandemic is that the things we thought were impossible before are actually possible and really absolutely necessary,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told the three-day event, this year held virtually. COVID-19 has laid bare “a lot of the economic fault lines around race, around class, gender and inequalities that people believed were intractable – too big to actually solve,” Lightfoot said. In the United States, the pandemic’s economic effects have taken a far heavier toll on Black and Hispanic families, while federal data from December showed women have been disproportionately affected by job losses. “The crises we face have made clear the inequity and injustice that persist,” U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris told the event. “We want our cities and countries to thrive, not just survive.” There are hopeful signs, several participants said. The pandemic creates an opening to tackle issues exposed over the past year, such as the financial struggles of low-paid workers and their lack of social protection, said Ai-jen Poo, executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. “Now we all see that some of the work that was least visible to us is actually essential – to our safety, health, and our well-being,” Poo said. She noted advances made amid the pandemic for domestic workers, most of whom are women and from minorities, including a new “bill of rights” in Philadelphia and a push in Chicago to ensure fair wages, time off, and safe workplaces. Such opportunities are not limited to rich countries, said Reuben Abraham, chief executive of the IDFC Foundation and IDFC Institute in Mumbai, suggesting the pandemic could be a “turning point” for cities in the developing world. “Is there a way for us to embed the good behaviors that we’ve learned during COVID?” he said, noting the possibility of addressing “crowding” in cities through land use management, zoning, and the provision of affordable housing. Diseases such as cholera and typhoid have dropped substantially in Mumbai due to COVID-related hygiene practices such as hand-washing, Abraham said, while the wearing of face masks has had a significant effect on tuberculosis. “[The pandemic] has been a disaster for all of us,” he said. “But if we do the right thing now, net-net we end up with a positive outcome.” ■ Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo NEW ITEMS NEEDED: Socks Bottled water, non-perishable snacks Hand-warmers, toothpaste, deodorant, chapstick Paper products for the office GENTLY USED ITEMS NEEDED: Refurbished laptops or desktop computers Backpacks Gloves Heavy jackets (Men’s L, XL, XXL; Women’s M, L, XL) Spring WISH LIST PEDESTRIANS WALK PAST A STORE WITH GUIDELINES FOR SOCIAL DISTANCE AND FACE MASKS AS THE GLOBAL OUTBREAK OF THE CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19) CONTINUES, IN NEW YORK CITY, U.S., NOVEMBER 14, 2020. REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS DENVERVOICE.ORG/VENDOR-NEEDS Drop-offs are accepted Mon, Weds, Fri., 9 a.m. – 12 p.m., or schedule a drop-off by emailing program@denvervoice.org. April 2021 DENVER VOICE 5
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