Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are already reshaping urban areas, and some cities have rolled out ambitious plans to make some of the changes more permanent.
Illustrations by Joan Dymianiw
In the span of a few short months, we have witnessed the emergence of a new coronavirus and watched it kill more than 200,000 people worldwide, bedevil the health-care system, batter the global economy and change how (and where) we work.
While some cities have eased lockdown restrictions, physical distancing measures that health officials say are crucial to halting the spread of COVID-19 will likely be with us for months, if not longer. They are already having an effect on activity levels and the flow of cities, and planners, architects and designers are seeing changes both in Canada and around the world that could become permanent.
Rachel MacCleery, senior vice-president at the Urban Land Institute, a city planning think-tank in Washington, D.C., said that “over the short and long term, certain aspects of city life will shift,” from the use of streets and transit to the design of spaces inside buildings.
Every major calamity, from the 19th-century cholera outbreaks to the 2013 floods in Calgary, has provided valuable lessons in better city-building, said John Brown, dean of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary. For example, the identification of waterborne diseases forced authorities to rethink water and sewage infrastructure and “led to the whole notion of city planning.”
But COVID-19 poses a unique challenge. Ensuring people have access to transit, shopping amenities and fresh air, all while maintaining a two-metre distance, is difficult in high-density areas.
The importance of streets
Brent Toderian, a former city planner for Vancouver who now runs an urban design consultancy, said “the biggest conversation during the pandemic is the role of streets as a principal public space in cities.”
As a result of our collective self-isolation, there are fewer cars on the road. At the same time, people are seeking respite outdoors by walking. But it is increasingly challenging to maintain a respectful distance on sidewalks without veering into traffic.
“The irony is that as people are walking out onto the street to give reasonable space to their neighbours on the sidewalk, they are risking safety,” said Toderian.
Some municipalities are taking bold action to address this. Last week, the Italian city of Milan announced “Strade Aperte,” a plan to transform 35 kilometres of streets to expand cycling and walking space. In reducing car capacity, it will have the dual effect of providing a safe outlet for walkers and reducing air pollution. Berlin, Budapest and Mexico City are just some of the cities proposing similar measures.
In the interests of less physical contact and more consideration for pedestrians, Toderian said city officials should deactivate crosswalk buttons (what some urbanists call “beg buttons”) and program the crossings to light up at frequent intervals — something Calgary recently did.
Calgary was also quick to close a number of city streets to cars in order to provide an outlet for cyclists and pedestrians. Other cities have gone significantly further. Oakland, Calif., for ex