Before 2019, cities provided both great opportunity for economic transformation, but also great challenges in addresses the downsides of density, including traffic congestion, crime and infrastructure costs. The return of global pandemic has caused enormous disruptions, especially to cities, because urban face-to-face interactions are particularly fraught in an era of disease. The lecture focuses on the impact of disease on urban life, on the challenges of making cities livable, and on the steps that the public sector can take to ensure that urban areas are places of opportunity for all.