What will our public spaces look like in the coming months? – Reflections COVID-19

By Louis Mazerolle, Project Manager at L’Atelier Urbain

For several weeks now, the COVID-19 pandemic has been forcing us to adapt our lifestyles. Cities, normally teeming with activity in spring, are quieter than ever: downtowns deserted, no commercial terraces to enjoy sunny days, no rush-hour congestion, few planes in the sky, and so on. So far, it’s been easy to respect the rules of distancing issued by the authorities. What will happen in the coming weeks and months, with the arrival of the fine weather when the population usually invades parks and shopping streets? Many uncertainties remain, both as regards the virus and the restrictions that will be imposed. Nevertheless, what seems likely is that it could take a long time for the situation to return to normal. We therefore need to adapt to this new “normality” of distancing measures, masks, absence of crowds and so on.

As planning professionals, our relationship with space has been turned upside down. The situation and the instructions to distance ourselves paradoxically put “local urban planning” into perspective. In a context where citizens are called upon to limit their travel to the essentials and not to move between different regions, the importance of the local scale is being recognized and rediscovered, whether for procuring basic necessities or for leisure and entertainment.

A few quick observations can be made by looking at our environment and what’s happening elsewhere in the world :

• People are rediscovering walking in a way that has rarely been seen before, both to stay active and for the mental well-being it brings. Walking reconnects people with human distances; local shops can suddenly seem much closer than they were perceived to be;
• Sidewalks are generally too narrow to respect the two-meter distance between two people, especially when there’s a queue in front of one of the few shops still open. At the same time, street and parking spaces seem disproportionate in a context where their use has fallen sharply due to telecommuting and the slowdown in commercial activity;
• Cycling is proving to be an alternative to public transport that is likely to grow in importance in the coming months;
• Telecommuting and its impact on transport demand are no longer just the subject of virtual simulations, but show their potential to “flatten the curve” of road congestion;
• Unlike public transit, the car is seen as a suitable solution to distancing measures, which could potentially encourage its use in the coming months, especially in the absence of alternatives.

Despite the confinement of part of the population, many still have to travel to work. What’s more, since not everyone has access to a vehicle, people need to be able to get around on foot or by bike, both to stock up on food and basic necessities, and to maintain their physical and mental health. These movements, which will increase as decontamination progresses, must also be able to limit the risk of spread, in particular by giving individuals sufficient space to respect a minimum distance between them. Finally, as the population has to avoid moving between regions, urban and riverside parks are more essential than ever for the urban population: to get active, to be in touch with nature, etc. Without claiming to have the answer to this crisis, the above observations give us food for thought. Should temporary or permanent solutions be put in place for this exceptional and highly unpredictable situation? At this stage, it’s hard to say whether the transitional imperatives of the pandemic will lead to permanent transformations. Nevertheless, here are some initial thoughts, which may evolve over the coming weeks and months, as the situation and scientific knowledge evolve.

REDISTRIBUTING PUBLIC SPACE

Reducing road traffic offers the opportunity to allocate more space to people on foot or by bike, with very few negative repercussions. In addition, the closure of many shops and offices greatly reduces the demand for parking. Street space can thus be redistributed, at least in the short term, to provide sufficient space to respect a two-metre distance between passers-by. This can be achieved in the very short term with very limited resources.

Figure 1 – Temporary landscaping, Westmount, Quebec. Source: Piéton Québec

The measures taken by cities around the world to redistribute public space can be summed up in 5 categories:

• Street pedestrianization (implemented in Kamloops, British Columbia, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Denver, Colorado, etc.).
• Informal street pedestrianization by residents, similar to the Neighbors’ Day program already in place in several municipalities (solution implemented in Portland, Oregon, Washington, DC, etc.).
• Shared street where only local traffic is allowed (solution implemented in Westmount, Quebec, Oakland, California, Burlington, Vermont, etc.).
• Widening of sidewalks over on-street parking spaces (solution implemented in Montreal, Quebec, and Austin, Texas, etc.).
• Temporary cycle lanes (used in Milan, Bogotá, Berlin, New York, etc.).
• Change traffic light programming to make the pedestrian phase automatic (solution implemented in Ottawa, Ontario, Calgary, Alberta, etc.).

Figure 2: Pedestrian corridor on Beaubien Street

AGILE ADAPTATION OF CITIES TO EVOLVING PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES

Tactical urban planning is proving to be a particularly suitable solution for today’s circumstances. “Light, quick and cheap ” are the perfect characteristics for making significant, but temporary, changes to public space. Without deploying significant resources, both human and financial, cities and their citizens can help give themselves the space they need to get around on foot without risk and without turning these streets into a carnival. Implementation can be simple, with resources already available to municipalities: cones, bollards, event fencing, temporary signage, flower bins, road markings and so on.

A few issues should be taken into account when carrying out such interventions. Firstly, the fear that such initiatives will only encourage people to congregate there, and will not respect the distancing instructions, can be resolved by applying it not to a single street, but to a sufficient number of streets, spread across all neighborhoods. In this way, as many cities have already demonstrated, the attraction effect can be dissipated. Perceptions also need to be taken into account, especially in the face of retailers who are going through difficult times; good communication is therefore important. In addition, they must be installed with a utilitarian purpose in mind. The streets or street sections to be favored are those where it is difficult, if not impossible, to maintain a distance between two people : commercial streets where sidewalks are narrow or too busy, in front of businesses where queues are required, on major bicycle routes, around parks and waterways, etc. Where temporary cycle paths are concerned, it is necessary to oversize these lanes or create velorues to take account of the distance to be respected. Transitional implementation of already-planned projects can sometimes be easier to achieve, and is likely to meet already-identified needs. Finally, it is important to remain flexible and ready to adjust these layouts according to how they are appropriated by the population, and in the light of rapidly changing circumstances.

As they don’t know how long the distancing measures will last, towns and cities should start thinking now about how to encourage compliance with the public health authorities’ instructions and make daily life easier for their residents.

Permanent adaptations

Depending on how the situation evolves, we may need to consider permanent changes. These could concern design standards for public amenities. Should sidewalk widths, particularly on commercial streets, which are sometimes only 1.5 meters, be a minimum of 3 to 4 meters? Should there be extra sidewalk widths, either on the roadway or in the front setback, in front of certain local businesses? How can we move people efficiently on public transit without crowding them together? Should we increase the width of bicycle lanes and paths? It seems too early to answer these questions, and their answers could have far-reaching consequences.

Other topics for discussion

There are many other topics of equal, if not greater importance, which raise questions and thoughts and are worthy of our attention. Here are a few that we’d like to explore in greater depth: how can urban planning encourage local purchasing and thus support local entrepreneurs; how can distancing measures contribute to the reappropriation of semi-private spaces such as stoops and galleries; is there a link between the city, urban planning and the pandemic?