Moving forward: new priorities for public spaces and the role of Smart Cities
I recently got an invitation in my mailbox: my neighbours were working to revive our block’s Straßenfest, a once annual tradition that, at least partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had not happened for several years. After a past year and a half of uncertainty and periods of lockdown, now that we collectively have a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 and how it is transmitted and prevented, people are eager to find safe ways to gather and seek meaningful connection to others.
Streets — and other public spaces — provide vital gathering points for achieving this connection. They are places to meet friends and family, contacts new and old. And, during the pandemic, they have been a place of reprieve — to get fresh air, exercise, and experience life. More and more, streets are also sources of information and serve as an integration point of technology and digital services.
I am not the first to write about the role of public spaces in moving forward from the pandemic and achieving new goals, but I hope to share a few inspiring examples where smart technology and public spaces intersect that can help us to achieve key priorities — importantly, also equitably and with the just transition in mind.
SAFE PLACES to gather
First and foremost, to serve as a point of coming together, public spaces need to be safe, not only from criminal activity but also now from disease. Pilots such as the Open Streets strategy in Logroño, Spain, or the intersection to city square implementation in Berlin aim to tackle the role of infrastructure in both supporting safe gathering and active mobility. These Use Cases are providing practical, scalable examples that can be customised — and therefore easily replicated — in communities across Europe. Although the “Open Streets” strategy in Logroño was accelerated by the pandemic, importantly, the local agenda had already begun prioritising such measures, so implementations carried out on short notice (and in a low budget and reversible manner) in response to the pandemic are actually now intended to be permanent.
RESPONSIVE to emerging pandemic-related and other needs
Looking again from a public health lens, to stay as safe places of gathering, public spaces need to be able to adequately respond to emerging threats. Particularly at the start of the pandemic, there was an inclination toward hysteria and fear of the unknown, with some grounding their perceptions and decisions in emotion instead of fact. Decision-making must be supported by data and objective evidence, and cities are implementing new ways to gather such data justly and in a way that builds public confidence toward being able to respond to new needs.
For example, London is using an AI tool to detect how infrastructure is supporting or detracting from safe social distancing. The data gathered from this tool can be used to guide decision-making such as e.g., where the greatest priorities are to widen pavements or implement one-way systems to ensure safe mobility and interaction. Beyond responding to pandemic needs, the tool can also be used toward achieving the UK’s Vision Zero goals, aiming for zero traffic fatalities for all types of road users.
Addressing the realities of CLIMATE CHANGE
Finally, public space implementations should be, and already are being, prioritised as levers for positive environmental impact to address the climate emergency. Funding opportunities such as the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund in the UK are providing pathways for new research and creative implementation like the net-zero garden village in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, UK. Many cities are already including climate recovery as part of their COVID-19 recovery plans, and these types of implementations will be increasingly serving as inspiration for other necessary future retrofit and low carbon developments.
This weekend I’ll be taking to some new streets: the roads of Amsterdam for the city’s annual marathon. It will be my first time in the city and the largest public gathering I have taken part in since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with event proceedings grounded in data and objective understanding, I am looking forward to an event that aligns with these priorities of being safe and responsive while also not causing negative climate impact. These are just a few key priorities smart cities should be keeping in mind for public spaces moving forward, and I am personally looking forward to witnessing and participating in how cities continue to adapt and move forward toward best serving their citizens in these spaces and beyond.
*Note: The principles and examples highlighted in this article are a sampling curated by the author for this opinion piece and are not intended as an all-inclusive list.
