1.3.2. Compact, mixed-use development

The role of accessible public space is even more evident in marginalized areas characterized by informality, overcrowding and a lack of access to services. In contexts where urban livelihoods depend on the informal economy, public spaces often serve as market areas. Shutting down these areas can have devastating effects on urban dwellers who support themselves on a day-by-day basis. As a result, many vendors have had to quickly adapt in the face of new restrictions. In Kisumu, Kenya, for example, after the popular Kibuye market was closed during lockdown, traders built a makeshift alternative to sell their goods.87

Instead of only framing public spaces and the economic and social activities that take place in them as a public health risk, city authorities can use these central gathering points to raise health awareness, set-up handwashing stations and distribute emergency and necessary medical supplies, among other functions. In Beirut, Lebanon, for example, UN-Habitat developed communal handwashing stations in four urban neighbourhoods to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, benefitting some 30,000 people including vulnerable residents, refugees and migrants.88 Public and green spaces also offer room for urban agriculture, which can help bridge food shortages and provide access to fresh produce.

Yet these benefits are only possible if public spaces are distributed equally across neighbourhoods. In many cities, inequitable public space distribution leaves areas with households from lower socio-economic backgrounds worse off and exacerbates existing patterns of exclusion. A recent analysis of 610 cities across 95 countries found that only 47 per cent of the population studied lived within 400 metres walking distance of open public spaces.89 In an attempt to rectify such spatial inequalities, Vancouver has developed a citywide master plan for parks and recreational areas that aims to address the legacy of discrimination and injustice by prioritizing social inclusion in its design.90

1.3.2. Compact, mixed-use development

The initially temporary changes in how urban dwellers interact with their urban environment at the neighbourhood level, particularly regarding public spaces and mobility, have led to the rethinking of how neighbourhoods should be planned to build back better. Concretely, the idea of the “15-minute neighbourhood” — characterized by compactness and the ability to meet daily needs such as shopping, health care, socializing and education within walking distance from home — is gaining growing support, with the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, proposing to radically reshape the city around this concept to reduce stress and pollution levels.

Initial evidence suggests that centralized city layouts may lead to increased COVID-19 infection rates, while decentralized layouts can contribute to reducing its spread by allowing for targeted movement restrictions that build on and promote community resilience.91 These trends suggest that compact, mixed-use neighbourhoods are beneficial for both citywide resilience by containing the spread of the pandemic, as well as for personal safety by allowing urban dwellers to meet their needs locally and thereby reducing their interactions and exposure to the virus.

Furthermore, targeted movement restrictions are most easily implementable if affected communities can meet their needs locally, despite being disconnected from the larger city. However, where these conditions are not met, neighbourhood or cluster-based lockdowns can disproportionally affect already vulnerable persons and communities by potentially preventing them from meeting their needs and earning their living. An increase in food prices, linked to movement restrictions, for example, might make lower socio-economic groups more vulnerable to malnutrition. Nor are the effects of lockdowns only felt locally. After Kenyan authorities imposed a 15-day lockdown in the neighbourhood of Eastleigh in Nairobi, for example, around 220,000 people were unable to enter or leave the mixed commercial and