Knowledge Finder
The Pandemic and the Public Realm
Global Innovations for Health, Social Equity, and Sustainability
The Pandemic and the Public Realm
March 3, 2021
Featuring more than 30 innovative public space programs and projects since COVID-19 public health measures began in Spring 2020, The Pandemic and the Public Realm: Global Innovations for Health, Social Equity, and Sustainability showcases how temporary, flexible, equitable, and iterative projects can be more responsive to quickly changing needs while building support for future projects in the recovery.
This look book documents the innovations so that, in the midst of the many devastating effects of the pandemic, cities can take inspiration from examples of adaptability and creativity around the world. Urban planners, designers, artists, city officials, and residents all can learn from these perspectives, carrying forward cities’ ideas even after the pandemic is over.
As city leaders learn from one another during and after this crisis, they can reflect on these public realm innovations—and their own approaches to public space throughout the pandemic—to sustain their work moving forward and to create healthier and more equitable places.
Photo By Calvin Ambani and Jurgen Mbalais, Hope Raisers Initiative
A person walks by a mural with public-health messaging in Nairobi, Kenya.
The profiles in this look book fall into four categories:
- Streateries, Businesses, and Neighborhoods. To support local businesses and community life, cities encouraged outdoor dining, safe shopping, and efforts to ensure that residents can meet all their basic needs within their own neighborhoods.
- Slow/Open Streets and Bike Network Expansions. By closing streets to car traffic and expanding bike networks, cities reclaimed streets for pedestrian and cyclist use.
- Creative Placemaking and Public Art. Arts initiatives provided information about COVID-19 safety precautions, attracted people to local business districts, and thanked frontline workers.
- Innovations in Parks. Cities made existing parks safer, such as by drawing social distancing circles, and found creative new spaces to serve as parks, such as by opening golf courses to the public.
Photo By Seattle Department of Transportation
Beginning in April 2020, the Stay Healthy Streets program has used moveable signage to close streets to car traffic, covering 25 miles (40 km) in 13 locations.
Although each profiled city is distinctive, the following main themes emerged:
- Temporary, flexible, low-cost, and iterative projects can respond to rapidly changing needs while building support and collecting data for more permanent projects in the future.
- The most successful public realm interventions and associated programs have challenged assumptions—and ultimately altered perspectives—on entrenched policies and public realm needs.
- The majority of these efforts were led by city agencies—often in collaboration with local businesses, building owners, and nonprofit organizations. The public sector can play an essential role in cross-sector coordination while also streamlining necessary permitting processes and project approvals.
- Cities can maximize the impact of multiple local projects by combining efforts. For example, creative placemaking initiatives can complement a slow streets program, making both more effective.
- Equitable, people-centric public space has been essential during the pandemic, and continuing to prioritize equity will remain critical in the recovery and beyond.
Public Space Image Gallery
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Common Ground social distancing mural in Jackson, Mississippi.
Photo By Travis Crabtree
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Dining on the Spot in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Photo By Sherryl Muriente
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“Safe Active Transportation Circuits” in Montreal, Canada.
Photo By Mathieu Rivard
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Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in Singapore, which is accelerating its expansion of urban green space during the pandemic.
Photo By Choo Ruizhi
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Outdoor dining in Melbourne, Australia. MOD.DAP, the Melbourne Outdoor Dining Design Assistance Program, provides pro bono assistance to hospitality venues and business owners. The program assists with obtaining required permits for outdoor dining and expanding existing outdoor dining.
Photo By Assembly Store
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Temporary lanes are part of a bike network expansion in Bogotá.
Photo By Carlos Felipe Pardo
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Cathedral Gardens Park opened in Belfast’s city center in August 2020 after construction was halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic, transforming a poorly designed, underused
open space into a colorful, fun gathering place.Photo By Martin
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Temporary cycling route in Dublin, Ireland.
Photo By Conor McCabe Photography
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By partially mowing grass in a checkerboard pattern, an arts organization in Elblag, Poland, transformed a lawn into a socially distanced park
Photo By Ada Kotynska
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A street is closed to car traffic as part of New York City’s Open Streets program.
Photo By Brechtbug/Flickr
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In 2020, Buenos Aires pedestrianized 100 streets.
Photo By Government of the City of Buenos Aires
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Curbside pickup in Vancouver, Washington.
Photo By Vancouver's Downtown Association
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Artist-designed dome installations in Hennepin County, Minnesota, were part of the Love Local Initiative.
Photo By Mod and Company