From damaged livelihoods to a lack of hospitals, the Covid-19 pandemic has drastically affected cities across the United States. As the pandemic exacerbated inequalities present in urban areas and drained local budgets, metropolitan areas have required support.

Building Back Better - What is Infrastructure?

The episode takes a closer look at the core slogan from Biden’s presidential campaign and if the American Rescue Plan is able to fulfill the promise of building back better by providing funding to cities. The two guests Sly James and Rep. Strickland discuss what infrastructure is in the 2020s and how the American Rescue Plan can help cities modernize their infrastructure to make their communities more equitable.

A Window of Opportunity for an Equitable Society

With historic funding reaching cities and metropolitan areas during extremely trying times, Sly James and Rep. Strickland converse about the importance of recognizing the sexism and racism that have been present in modern US cities. As infrastructure, ranging from roads to broadband, is rebuilt and strengthened, there is the opportunity for society to be built more fairly and accessible for everyone, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity.

Find out more!

Read up on the American Rescue Plan Act and Covid-19 relief and recovery goals at the White House.

This episode was first released by the Progressive Policy Institute, post-production and additional recordings were done by Annika Hoffmann and Das Progressive Zentrum. It is part of New Urban Progress, a joint metro initiative on the future of work, democracy, and well-being launched by Das Progressive Zentrum, the Progressive Policy Institute and the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft.

The project is supported by the Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi).