The COVID-19 pandemic has made explicit the health disparities that have long existed worldwide, exposing their roots in systems of exclusion and power. Since the novel coronavirus first hit cities across the globe, we have seen drastically different local and national responses, levels of risk and vulnerability, and emergent supports—in response to both the health crisis and the accompanying economic downturn. These dual crises have disproportionately affected health outcomes for people of color at a time when they are already marked by disparities. This has created an important reflection point, allowing us to better comprehend the strengths of and gaps in the drivers of systems of urban health, understood not only as the ability to deploy formal health care services in urban neighborhoods but also the social determinants of health that compound vulnerability during a crisis. Because of its reach and depth, the pandemic has turned the world’s attention to the ills that affect health outcomes and provided societies with the opportunity to be ambitious in how they invest in post-COVID-19 recovery. (author introduction)
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