Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

In recent years urban planning has revolved around principles of shared spaces e.g. shared offices, vehicles, city squares and parks, and available transport to help people travel to urban centres so that they can access goods and services. COVID-19 has required cities to revaluate these in light of radically changed human behaviour that relies on distancing from one another. Spaces therefore need to be thought about differently, not just as the physical spaces we inhabit, but as complex realities that can meet a variety of functions. Consider how social planning can:

• Relieve loneliness and allow for spending time with friends and family in the open air
• Facilitate alternative safe work environments e.g. moving meetings from offices to outdoor spaces
• Renovating urban spaces to meet new multi-functional requirements while considering the need for green space

Consider also, that social planning may require increased investment in infrastructure and services such as:

• Free and reliable WiFi in outdoor spaces to help meet the requirements of spaces as places that can accommodate work
• Localising 'downtown' areas e.g. ensuring every neighbourhood is serviced with essential shops and services to avoid unnecessary travel