Urban–rural partnership framework to enhance food–energy–water security in the post-COVID-19 era

Food, energy, and water (collectively referred to as ‘FEW’) security forms the key to human survival as well as socioeconomic development. However, the security of these basic resources is increasingly threatened due to growing demand. Beyond the widespread implications on public health, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has further raised additional challenges for FEW security, particularly for urban populations, as they mainly outsource their FEW demands from rural areas outside their physical boundaries. In light of that, this study reviews existing literature on FEW security to highlight the growing relevance of urban–rural linkages for realizing FEW security, especially against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this, relevant research documents have been identified through Elsevier’s Scopus database and other sources (by applying search equations). The authors have accordingly underlined the necessity of shifting the conventional urbancentric approach to city region-centric development planning for the post-COVID-19 era. To this end, a framework has been suggested for translating physical urban–rural linkages to a partnership enhancing a collective response. The major elements of this framework are the conceptualization of national-level policies to support urban–rural linkages. The framework can play the role of a science–policy–action interface to redesign the FEW system in city regions.