Pro Landscaper Africa, June 2020: Responding to COVID

By Amy Thompson

Published in Pro Landscaper Magazine, July 2020

As the pandemic started to spread across the globe, we watched nervously to determine the fate of our public spaces. With the disease spreading so quickly in dense areas, we worried that we would see the end of compact cities, increased decentralisation and the demise of public space. But unexpectedly, in the midst of the pandemic, we have been offered a glimpse of what public space can be. Streets with fewer cars, less congestion and cleaner air, roads that you can safely walk, cycle or even play on, and importantly, an overall increased appreciation for green open spaces. 

Cities have had to respond in real time to a crisis that, not only has a debilitating effect on health, but a social and economic toll, too. On almost every continent, tactical responses allowing people to occupy and move through space safely and efficiently have been implemented with innovation and pragmatism. 

The information presented here is drawn from best practice guidelines, global examples, our own observations, and workshops held with fellow landscape architects. This mini toolkit offers ideas of how cities can and have responded to the pandemic, and how we can replicate these interventions to create safe and healthy opportunities for our communities to weather the COVID-19 storm and begin to recover together. 

STREETS FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING 

Streets are more than just conduits for vehicular traffic or places to park. In cities across the globe, streets are being reconceptualised as important public spaces that are an integral part of the built fabric. In this time, the key role that streets play has been brought sharply into focus. There has been an acknowledgement that streets must be reconfigured to allow people to move safely around the city, and to create more recreational space in which to facilitate physical distancing. 

INFORMAL TRADE AND MARKETS 

With such a large component of the South African economic base in the informal sector, guidelines to encourage safe interaction and exchange are incredibly important. Global best practice can be seen in countries like Myanmar where active trade with improved physical distancing has been allowed to continue. 

PARKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING 

Most parks and open spaces are under lockdown regulations in South Africa, and the physical health and mental wellbeing these spaces bring to cities is sorely missed. In many other countries, public spaces either remained open or have reopened to allow for recreation to occur. These spaces offer insights into some of the ways the need for social distancing can be communicated and enforced. In many parks, circles to encourage the public to stay safely apart during the pandemic have been painted. These circles on average measure 2.4m in diameter and allow for a social bubble to meet and enjoy the outdoors. This low investment tactical response is quick to implement and easy to understand. At Domino Park in Brooklyn, it was observed that visitors started using them properly almost immediately. 

The COVID-19 crisis has brought with it many challenges for urban area, but has also presented opportunities to build more equitable green spaces and cities. It has heightened our awareness of the way in which one person’s actions can affect another’s, and has made us all more conscious of how we occupy space. Much, or most, of the lockdown’s changes are temporary, but we are seeing how spaces that allow for flexible use and adaption over time can help to create resilient cities.