City: From home of microbes to coronavirus hotspot

• Main Author: Xenia Kokoula
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Urban Transcripts 2020-12-01
• Series: Urban Transcripts
• Subjects: urban environment; epidemics; spatial fears; disorder; hygiene; infrastructure; urbanization of nature; covid-19; berlin
• Online Access: http://journal.urbantranscripts.org/article/city-from-home-of-microbes-to-coronavirus-hotspot-xenia-kokoula/

Street, sidewalk, façade: What makes this picture instantly recognizable as a late 19th century urban setting is not its architecture but rather the crowds that populate every corner [Image 1]. Walking on the sidewalk, standing in front of shop windows, sitting on the doorsteps, playing on the street, looking down from the windows, the figures merge into the tumultuous urban mass so vividly described by Edgar Allan Poe. In the foreground the children play on top of piles of waste against the backdrop of shops with immigrant sounding names on their signs. What these shops sell is not discernible apart from the prominent sign advertising Wines and Liquors in the center. The heading on top of the image informs us of the concrete location, the city of New York. The subheading on the bottom makes clear what we cannot see but have to assume: The city streets are declared to be the homes of microbes.