Small Steps in the Road to Recovery: Singapore
Its mid May, bubble tea shops remain closed, people have settled into the work from home culture and there is no more panic buying (for now, at least). Case numbers continue to be high on a daily basis.
Months prior, Singapore was receiving praise for their ability to contain and manage the COVID-19 situation without having to enforce an island-wide lockdown or quarantine. Today, we are all asked to stay at home, only go out for essentials (groceries, doctor’s appointments), and always wear a mask.
Singapore’s Foreign Worker Community
The first infected migrant worker was reported on the 8th of February 2020, giving rise to the meteoric rise of case numbers that has followed since. COVID-19 case numbers have now exceeded 25000 with over 80% of them being migrant workers. This growth in numbers put a spotlight on the poor living conditions that foreign workers face in the country. With 12 to 20 workers packed into rooms fitted with bunk beds and communal bathrooms for everyone on one floor, the spread of this highly contagious virus was inevitable. In the short term, the government is working to test these workers, isolate the infected and move the uninfected individuals to new living quarters. The question is, what will the government do in the long run to ensure that foreign workers are given sanitary and healthy living quarters.
Once this issue gained national attention, several members of the community took action in different ways to attempt to alleviate the hardships faced by migrant workers. Donations are being given to charities to help provide migrant workers with meals during their lockdown. Marina Bay Sands donated 15,000 Kg of food. A young woman built a translation portal to assist medical teams in communicating with migrant workers. The way in which the community has mobilized has been incredible, but the fact of the matter is that these living conditions must drastically change in the long run to ensure that this cannot happen again.
Many people have raised the issue of living in areas of high density (cities), during a pandemic like this. COVID-19 has disrupted and affected cities worldwide, but it will hit marginalized and lower socio-economic groups the hardest. Not only must we reevaluate the way in which cities are structured to accommodate for high density, we must reform how we build for the most marginalized individuals in society — not only for the sake of equality and fair living conditions, but now for public health too.
I can only imagine the plight of cities that have large homeless populations or issues of overcrowding. This pandemic unfortunately puts those populations at higher risk but hopefully pushes our leaders to think harder about innovative solutions for long-term development.
Community-level Urbanism
Looking at the cases above, the worry is that lockdown measures in the city will be relaxed too early based on the low numbers of “community cases.” This could result in a second wave of cases emerging. Before Singapore, and other cities, can ease the quarantine guidelines, we must find innovate planning solutions to make sure public space is provided in a safe manner. Many people have highlighted that the pandemic will result in a more top-down approach to planning, however, I disagree. More grassroots and community-driven initiatives can be incredibly powerful in this time and help build resilience and comfort within neighbourhoods. Moreover, small neighbourhood-scale, community planning interventions can ease people into life outside home before we are ready for country-wide opening up.
Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, has allowed restaurants and bars to spill out and use large public spaces. By using streets and plazas to seat restaurant-goers, people can sit spaced out and there is no worry of adequate ventilation. This allows people to go back and experience having a meal outside with friends and family, rather than being cooped up at home. Of course, this solution needs other considerations for different weather, but it is a good way to bring people outside and allow them to physically socialise without being in cramped spaces.
Furthermore, we have seen small-scale built solutions to help assist in bringing some sense of normalcy to this time.
As seen above, these dividers in gyms can help people feel safer. This, spacing out machines and consistent disinfecting can allow people to return to use these spaces earlier than we imagined.
In addition, this Amsterdam restaurant has added these ‘greenhouses’ to allow people to dine out and remain safe and distanced from others.
Small interventions such as the ones highlighted above will be important in the road to recovery. There is a lot of power in them because they will allow people to start to venture out into their own communities and return to somewhat regular routines which will do volumes for mental health. This will also allow for incremental movement towards being able to freely move around again. As it will take a long time to return to regular work, commuting and travel, community-level interventions will be useful.
Government-level planning is important in enforcing safe distancing laws and public health policy, while community-level planning will assist in alleviating mental health issues during this time of social isolation. Both large-scale development and local interventions need to work together in navigating a way out of this pandemic.
