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Reclaiming Streets: A new bar has been set for reallocating street space during the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Oakland will open a network of 74 miles of streets throughout the city to walking and biking (KTVU), while New Zealand became the first country to adopt tactical urbanism as official government policy during the pandemic—including funding (Forbes).
However, not all communities are so progressive. In Toronto, Mayor John Tory has considered making sidewalks one-way to enforce physical distancing (BlogTO), while in Washington, DC, residents have resorted to guerrilla tactics to carve out more space and slow traffic on their streets (StreetsBlog USA).
Enforcing Physical Distancing: Aviva Shen argues that relying on police to enforce new public health policies has downloaded the responsibility of responding to the coronavirus to individuals, mirroring our existing biases of overpolicing in public space (Slate). As just one example, Toronto police are allowing residents to sit on public benches to rest but not to "linger," leaving room for arbitrary interpretation by individual officers (Global and Mail).
Once again, a viable alternative comes from Western Canada. This week, Winnipeg, Manitoba, launched a Community Service Ambassador initiative, where City employees monitor public gathering places (Winnipeg Free Press). Last weekend, 234 parks were patrolled, resulting in 809 positive interactions, 12 verbal physical distance warnings, 32 closed facilities warnings, and zero fines (The Province).
Public Life Data Goes Public: Google released COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports for 131 countries (The Keyword). The reports chart movement trends over time across different categories of places, such as retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential.
While this data may aid in understanding the effectiveness of policies like work from home and shelter in place, it also raises questions about the level of surveillance we already allow in our lives, and what additional levels may be added in response to this pandemic (Governing).
Environmental Injustice: COVID-19 and its economic fallout is hitting Black and Latino Americans hardest, and the reasons why can be traced to the geography of inequality (Planetizen). Segregation and environmental factors, from access to public space and healthy foods to pollution exposure to lack of economic opportunity, have left these communities vulnerable in times of crisis. To make matters worse, some fear that the pandemic will only accelerate the gentrification of these areas (Crosscut).
Markets as Sparks of Recovery: As a glimmer of hope, Gregory Scruggs reports on how Syria's war-torn cities are starting to recover by starting with their traditional souks (Next City). While they are relatively easy to rebuild compared to housing, these traditional markets also provide access to food and income—and help foster a sense of hope.
Some may be surprised to hear that the wet markets of Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus was first transmitted to humans, have also already reopened. However, the main cause of transmission was China's dangerous trade in live animals—not the markets themselves—and like the souks of Syria, wet markets serve the daily needs of many ordinary people (Bloomberg).
Places in the News: Finally, here's a roundup of 13 recent innovative placemaking projects making headlines:
- COVID-19 matching grants for crowdfunding placemaking projects (ioby)
- A "social distancing machine" shows why most city sidewalks are too narrow (Price Tags)
- A physically-distanced chalk art contest (Montclair Center BID)
- A drive-in concert takes over a grocery store parking lot (Billboard)
- Pop-up handwashing stations support safety for people experiencing homelessness (GPB Radio News)
- A prototype for a physically-distanced farmers market redesign (Dezeen)
- A no-touch COVID-19 screening booth in public space (Fast Company)
- Positive Propaganda (Instagram)
- Park workers bringing parks to people's homes (Next City)
- More handmade maps of quarantine (CityLab)
- Tips for being neighborly in a pandemic (CityLab)
- A guide to equitable creative placemaking (Next City)
- Walking as quarantine self-care (America Walks)
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