Introduction
The pandemic itself, its rippling repercussions, and the measures to control its spread, have dramatically altered our ways of life and how we behave in public space. The production of public space, which, in our understanding is the result of social practices of people in combination, and response to, regulations and cultural norms, is undergoing major transformation. By now, we can see that these new regulations for how to physically distance in space lay bare, in fact exacerbate, already existing urban inequalities and social differences. In addition, we have experienced local waves of global social uprisings and witnessed local manifestations of resistance to safety measures themselves, all of which have important implications for what a ‘new normal’ might be. Planning for what constitutes public space, where its location should be, and how it ought to be managed and maintained have become a central part in what many now call a ‘new normal’.
Scholars have already begun to write about how the pandemic might modify our relationships with and use of public spaces in the long term. Much has been said about the potential impacts of new rules, restrictions, and forms of surveillance (Kitchin, 2020; Low and Maguire, 2020), about the potential long-term impacts of social responses to COVID-19 (Low and Smart, 2020), and about how we might enhance urban design, update best practices in planning and improve access to public spaces (Akers, 2020; Honey-Rosés et al, 2020). Now, as we write this chapter in fall 2020, many cities are entering the second wave of closing down businesses and curtailing possibilities of social interaction in public space, planners are experimenting with changes to the urban built environment, while concerns are being raised about the creeping privatization of public space heralded by the appearance of private patios and the expansion of restaurants and private businesses into city streets (Murray, 2020; Schindler, 2020). Meanwhile, scholars writing in the Global South have pointed out that the social distancing of northern cities has largely been unachievable in southern ones and have urged a focus on collective life as a way of understanding the pandemic's wide-ranging impacts (Bhan et al, 2020).
We see this as an important time to revisit what constitutes public space, and to explore the complexity of negotiations and practices currently involved in the production of space.