1.4.2. Flexible design

While not new concepts, flexibility and adaptability have become increasingly relevant during the pandemic

Cities should identify multipurpose and flexible buildings that can contribute to strengthening their health resilience in the face of future crises, including the possibility of further waves of COVID-19 While lockdown measures have varied from one region, city or neighbourhood to another, generally residents have had to restrict their movement and stay within their homes. While this may have been feasible for a large number of people, housing design may not enable residents to adapt their daily routines to be done from home because of limited living space. Particularly in megacities such as Hong Kong, Bangkok and Jakarta, the pressure on land is immense and has led architects over the years to develop smaller floor plans for each household. The difficulties of working and studying in these spaces, let alone maintaining a degree of social distancing, are especially pronounced in regions where multigenerational households are commonplace. In India, for instance, four in 10 households are home to extended families, creating challenges for older members who may themselves be shielding but are still vulnerable through contact with younger family members who could be asymptomatic carriers of the virus.96

An intersectoral housing approach therefore has the potential to deliver a range of social, economic and environmental benefits that particularly help low-income and vulnerable groups.97 Improving housing conditions by providing adequate living space and thermal comfort not only supports positive health outcomes, but also contributes to educational and economic achievements by reducing days off school and work. Furthermore, enhanced thermal insulation and energy-efficient building designs can improve indoor temperatures while reducing energy expenditure and thereby global carbon emissions.

Healthy housing is associated with factors inside and outside the home. Restrictions on movement have also had impacts on public spaces and green areas with many people resorting to their own outdoor spaces, through the use of balconies, terraces and courtyards — spaces that for many people have been their sole opportunity to exercise and enjoy fresh air for weeks or months of lockdown. Measures to incorporate some form of outdoor space have been shown to improve physical and mental health, and have become even more urgent in the wake of COVID-19. Given that the reliance on homes to accommodate more daily activities could be the “new normal” for some time, rethinking the ways housing design can be improved to incorporate outside space should remain a priority.

1.4.2. Flexible design

While not new concepts, flexibility and adaptability have become increasingly relevant during the pandemic. Large multipurpose halls, arenas, civic buildings and convention centres have been used historically for emergency response, particularly in storms. Similarly, in response to COVID-19, many cities and countries have had to repurpose single-use buildings to support emergency measures, with stadiums and schools transformed into isolation facilities to overcome shortages in hospitals. In São Paulo, Brazil, where the capacity of existing health facilities did not meet potential demands under the health crisis, a stadium was transformed into an open-air hospital. In Vienna, a large exhibition hall was transformed into a temporary hospital. In Santiago, Chile, the Espacio Riesco was reconfigured as an emergency hospital.

As countries and cities emerge from the worst phase of the pandemic, civic buildings are also likely to remain open as office spaces to those who cannot work from home. Moving forward, cities should identify multi-purpose and flexible buildings that can contribute to strengthening their health resilience in the face of future crises, including the possibility of further waves of COVID-19. Building regulations can be enforced to ensure that emergency buildings are adequately distributed across cities and accessible by vulnerable populations.98