Source: UCLG ASPAC
Cities and local governments worldwide have been facing an extraordinary time, especially in
the post-COVID 19 pandemics. The Pandemic has spread with alarming speed, infected millions,
and brought economic activity to a near stand-still as the country imposed tight restrictions on
the movement of the people. Various methods and alternatives to build a strong come back and
recovery from the Pandemic have created diversity in what the cities will do for the next step,
including the economic recovery, social cohesion, and political stability. However, the social
gaps and economic inequality still seem quite high.
Asia and the Pacific’s cities are heavily affected by the Pandemic. It is worsened by the
massively public spending to mitigate pandemic suffering, but also due to deeper structural
economic issues. COVID-19 has exposed a pandemic of inequality in a region with the world’s
most dynamic economies and half of the global poor. Recorded, nearly half of total income goes
to just 10 per cent of people while the poorest 10 per cent get just 0.2 per cent in the region. This
failure to grow together meant that the Pandemic worsened the circumstances of those left
behind. Estimates suggest that more than 820 million informal workers and over 70 million
children in low-income households have been denied access to adequate income and
education since the outbreak. Even more worryingly, this will leave long-term scars on economic
productivity and learning, harming the future earning potential of those already marginalised.
This report will help us in depth-understanding the common prosperity concept in
consider to be implemented in the cities and local governments in the Belt and Road region to
address common issues of concern with collective knowledge and available resources.
Link: Inequality and Common Prosperity – Issues, Meaning, Implications, and Solutions