Maps are not just informative, they are empowering. They can help provide a new perspective to age-old problems

Around the world, responses to the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic are understandably focused on reducing infections and fatalities.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a profoundly urban crisis. The vast majority of the millions of reported cases worldwide are concentrated in overcrowded neighbourhoods and informal settlements.

One of the first countries to register a Covid-19 outbreak, South Korea, flattened the curve in stunning fashion. It registered over 22,000 cases, yet fewer than 400 deaths at the time of writing.

We can give people a better sense of what’s happening around them at a time of extreme confusion and a motivation to act. Because ultimately, the future is what we make it, says ‘Terra Incognita’ co-author Dr Robert Muggah.

Robert Muggah (apparently an old Scottish name, though he is Canadian) has set up two think-tanks in Brazil, where he is based: the SecDev Group focuses on the digital economy and cybersecurity.

As we show in our new book Terra Incognita, COVID-19 is exacerbating multiple forms of inequality within and between countries and cities, and raising fundamental questions about the future of urban living.

During the first half of 2020 when more than two-thirds of the world’s population was in lockdown, many of us were transfixed by a map.

As explained in my new book with Ian Goldin – Terra Incognita: 100 Maps to Survive the Next 100 Years – maps can help make sense of the world around us.

The coronavirus pandemic is exposing the quality of governments around the world. Many national leaders have failed the test—in contrast to the leaders of regions and cities