COVID-19 poses a huge challenge to urban public-health emergency and governance systems. Those engaged in spatial planning and management are starting to think about how a ‘people-oriented’ principle can be incorporated into spatial-planning systems. The example of Changchun, China, is used to explore citizen views on the development of the post-pandemic city and on a future prevention and control system of spatial planning. Semi- structured interviews were used to explore the impact of COVID-19 on citizens’ life and work. The prevention and control system of Changchun spatial planning will be explored.