Preface

Abstract

With cities embracing the dawn of digital revolution, rapidly changing urban settings triggered by digital technology which has pushed urban planning to adapt dramatically and involving processes of making decisions on resource allocations. Planning interventions are now strongly related to internet connectivity, big data exchange, and management, Artificial Intelligent (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), digital advertising, video surveillance, and analytics. As technologies advance, so does the city’s demand for digital infrastructure or commonly labelled as “smart infrastructure”. Digital infrastructure has changed the configuration of urban infrastructure, altering planning space from heavily relies on physical functions to the world that highly depending on digital systems. It improves the efficiency of decision-making processes in most cities. However, the utility of such new approaches remains the question when it comes to their benefits for urban poor and disadvantaged.Current conditions of hitting the COVID-19 pandemic have paralyzed economic and social joints in nearly every country in the world and have worsened the situations in informal settlements as the most vulnerable areas. In their respective capabilities, the government and many elements of society make every effort to overcome the impacts that have occurred that have become known as an adaptation to the “New Normal” situation, including building resilience for urban poor as the most impacted urban populations. All sectors of the economy, banking, telecommunications, transport, public services, and social services are encouraged to undertake major reforms in the types of activities, budget allocations, and work procedures that are shifting from face-to-face (offline) systems of online (online) systems.Numerous questions have followed the great opportunities and challenges faced during the New Normal. How adaptive and anticipative will it be and which new approaches to adopt? How classic infrastructure issues are addressed in this unprecedented COVID-19 situation given restricted funding and scarce resources? How to promote inclusive and sustainable development by connecting people with different socioeconomic backgrounds and geographic locations in the current global pandemic situations? How residents of informal settlements have responded to the situations, given limited access and capacity to connect with the main formal recovery plans? What should be the focus of policymakers, business actors, and society, in general, is responding to climate change and other environmental issues in the new normal era?List of Welcoming remarks, Editorial Team, Committees, Overview of Conference Agenda and The 5th PlanoCosmo International Conference are available in this pdf.