Sick City

A Global Investigation into Urbanism, Infrastructure and Disease

Hilary Sample

A treatise on urban pathologies, Sick City is about the first global epidemic of the 21st century, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which claimed lives, infected thousands, quarantined tens of thousands, devastated economies and reconfigured urban infrastructures. In our globally mobile and interconnected world, disease and disaster are never isolated to one country or region. SARS originated in China and surfaced in Europe, North and South America and throughout Asia during 2003. In this thought-provoking book, author Hilary Sample, a Boston-based architect and teacher, takes a long and sober look at the SARS epidemic, considering how urban areas and their infrastructures can respond to crises in public health, and suggesting that maintenance and expansion for the future development of cities require flexibility. The author considers potential catastrophic events resulting in urban trauma – a subject that is extremely timely when issues like bird flu and terrorism are in the news.

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