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K They tend to be hit the hardest and leave the deepest marks—yet encouragingly, they tend to use adverse events, such as pandemics, to innovate, improve, and eventually master ways of life for the betterment of its infrastructure and its densely populated citizens. Covid-19 is no different. The pandemic has made temporary changes to urban areas that could become permanent, as well as influence the way architects and planners design for the future of city living. Classical Athens is the North Star of urbanism—the city whose heritage still influences Western society. After the conquest of Persia at Salamis and Platea, Athenian rule and fortune charmed talent throughout the Mediterranean world. The city’s close quarters allowed the face-toface exchanges that highly contributed to the inventions of philosophy, drama, history, and democracy. Though this same density and connection to the outside world that makes cities significant can have staggering consequences.1 Plague hit Athens in 430 BC, when its people were crammed more closely together than customary because they were preventing attacks from a Spartan invasion. The plague killed tens of thousands and possibly led to Athens’ downfall in the Peloponnesian War and its eclipse as a great metropolis.1 Only in the previous century have cities avoided being the epicenters of diseases. “A boy born in Shakespeare’s London could expect to live six years less than a boy born in the countryside,” says
Postmodern Cities Post-Pandemic Erin Doering | Clemson University
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Edward Glaeser, a contributing editor of City Journal and professor of Economics at Harvard University.1 Water-borne diseases, like cholera and typhoid, slayed thousands until cities heavily invested in water systems. Mosquitoes transmitted yellow fever and malaria. Diseases that travel by droplet, including smallpox and influenza—and now Covid-19—are especially difficult to contain, without a vaccine.
improvement efforts In recent years, demands for cities to pay attention to health in their development have been rising. “For the resilient, sustainable cities we all want and need, urban plans need to be designed, evaluated and approved using a health lens,” says Layla McCay, director for the Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health.2 It is important to understand that not all cities are equivalently susceptible to disease. Wealthy cities like Copenhagen, with extensive green space and provisions for cycling, are known for their health benefits. On opposing sides of the spectrum are citizens living in the informal settlements of less resourced cities like Nairobi, Kenya, or Dhaka, Bangladesh. Proper sanitation or access to clean water for hygiene goes a long way to ensure a healthy environment in a densely populated area. Without them, “this is where epidemics have the most potential to start and spread,” says Elvis Garcia, an expert in
public health and a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. “In 10 years, an estimated 20% of the world’s population will live in urban environments with a limited access to appropriate water, health, and sanitation infrastructures,” he states.2 Wuhan, the Chinese city where the Covid-19 outbreak began, is the most densely populated in central China, home to 11 million people. Likewise, New York, which had the worst of the initial outbreak in the US, is home to the greatest concentration of people in the States.
temporary actions amidst the pandemic Even with large green spaces like Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn, occupants have struggled to stay far enough away from one another to limit the spread of the virus. We can understand clues of what the pandemicresilient metropolises of the future might look like in the way that urban areas are currently being repurposed. Unlike the open concept plan of modernism that encourages ambiguous gathering areas, the space needed for quarantine holds many parameters and boundaries, with taped lines and plexiglass walls segmenting the public spaces into areas of socially distanced safety. Wideopen spaces are best dodged, walls are our friends, and some stores and workplaces already have been reformatted as a way to reopen—our spatial procedures being necessarily altered. A Dutch restaurant erected a greenhouse with glass booths throughout its outdoor tables to shield diners and wait staff from each other. A German café tested out hats with pool noodles attached so that visitors would recognize not to get too close to one another. A casino in Florida installed a thick sneeze guard of plastic on its poker tables, with clearance on the bottom for players’ hands.3 Contemporary cities weren’t intended to manage life during a pandemic, and this upside-down way of living has turned them into “a disorganized array of
disconnected bedrooms and studios,” says Lydia Kallipoliti, assistant professor of architecture at The Cooper Union in New York. This plan might have made sense when cities were globally linked centers occupied with millions of citizens working, traveling, sightseeing, drinking, dancing, and hugging without a second thought. Unfortunately, that world seems a long way off now.4 Oakland went as far as shutting down 74 miles of city streets for pedestrians and cyclists. In future cities, arrangement for pedestrians may go the extra mile by building much broader sidewalks, according to the Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health’s McCay.5 Access to green space is also vital for the mental and physical health of urban dwellers during a pandemic. Marianthi Tatari, an architect at UNStudio Amsterdam, says, “20 minutes of ‘green time’ a day helps to give us a healthy and humane approach to our present situation.” In the UK, private green spaces were opened and subsequently closed amid fears they were helping spread the disease. However in Portland, instead of shutting down their parks, they shut them to traffic to make more space for people to get outdoors for fresh air.6
The elimination of work commutes, the increased efficiency of telemedicine and distance learning, the accessibility of online shopping, and the cultural connection of online entertainment could all alter our long-term societal norms. These efforts are short-term for now, but as the requirement for social distancing lasts, we may see more spaces become pedestrian-friendly. Remote communication could cause major change to cities and suburbs. This, in turn, will dramatically cut traffic, sprawl, and pollution. The pandemic’s influence in the largest, and densest metropolitan areas
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opportunity for designers The time to reevaluate our built world is now, not after the next catastrophe. What if we more effectively commissioned modular building tools, not just to face disasters, but also to create less costly, more quickly assembled structures in general– from pop-up shops to affordable housing? What if we widened our sense of what a building could be and turned abandoned malls into schools, or vacant offices into transitional housing for the homeless? What if we harnessed telecommuting as not just a way to social distance, but a way to help employees achieve work-life balance—spending more time with family,
Yes, this is to better address pandemic response, but also to help tackle urgent issues like climate change, terrorism, migration, social disconnection, inequality, community disintegration, housing shortages, traffic, pollution, sprawl and over-development—not to mention the problems we haven’t anticipated. Our architectural and urban planning systems, developed in an extremely different time, are long overdue to address many of these complex, modern issues. In architecture, there is always the enticement to seek an unwavering solution—the perfect design that will solve a problem persistently—beyond the reach of human shortcomings. Such was the faded dream of the Bauhaus: a universally complete space for all people, recurrent around the world, executed from a privileged position upon those with presumably worse taste. The forcing of our hand in a post-pandemic society questions our consistent habit of responding to unforeseen shifts, and optimistically, will result in a new age of proactive design.
or exercising, or doing any number of things that would make them healthier? It’s clear that Covid-19 will have—and is already having—an overwhelming effect on today’s built world. It is shaking loose concepts of what is “normal” in a field still employing many of the same practices it did a century ago, and it is pushing forward emergent practices–from prefabrication to telecommuting. How this will play out in the urban realm is an open question. Some cities—particularly those in dismal financial strains—may abandon public space in favor of other urgencies. One could reason that we will eventually dedicate more resources to help strengthen our frayed community connections, be it through parks, plazas, promenades, community centers or streets turned over to pedestrians. Perhaps some streets could remain that way? We’re not going to scrap how we’ve been building architecture and cities. But as our world changes faster and becomes more interconnected, we need to embrace a new tool kit of possibilities that are more flexible, holistic, and responsive.
References 1.
Glaeser, Edward L. “Cities and Pandemics Have a Long History.” RealClearPolicy, CityJournal, 20 Apr. 2020, www.realclearpolicy.com/2020/04/20/cities_and_ pandemics_have_a_long_history_489518.html
2.
Constable, Harriet. “How Do You Build a City for a Pandemic?” BBC Future, BBC, 26 Apr.2020, www.bbc. com/future/article/20200424-how-do-you-build-a-cityfor-a-pandemic
3.
Chayka, Kyle, et al. “How the Coronavirus Will Reshape Architecture.”The New Yorker, 17 June 2020,www. newyorker.com/culture/dept-of-design/how-thecoronavirus-will-reshape-architecture
4.
Dhaneswara, Aryo, and Rovianne Santiago. “Urbiopods.”Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, 20 June 2020,www.iaacblog.com/programs/ urbiopods/
5.
Wamsley, Laurel. “New York City Is Latest To Close Some Streets To Cars, Making More Space For People.” NPR, NPR, 4 May 2020, www.npr.org/sections/coronaviruslive-updates/2020/05/04/850357743/new-york-city-islatest-to-close-some-streets-to-cars
6.
Marinaki, Tina, and Elpida Roidou. “Pandemic Architecture International Ideas Competition.” Archisearch , 27 May 2020, www.archisearch.gr/ architecture/marianthi-tatari-unstudio-jury-pandemicarchitecture-international-ideas-competition/
Athens The earliest recorded pandemic occurred during the Peloponnesian War. The disease, suspected to have been typhoid fever, weakened the Athenians and was a large factor in their defeat by the Spartans.
430 B.C.
Constantinople Plague (the Black Death) struck and ended Emperor Justinian’s attempt to rebuild the glory of Rome.
541 A.D.
Europe The bubonic plague spread throughout Europe rapidly. Hospitals became much cleaner, and commissioned architectural projects were no longer easily affordable, resulting in austere and costeffective structures.
1347 A.D.
Philadelphia A yellow fever outbreak killed about 10% of what was then the U.S. capital’s population.
1793 A.D.
New York City When contaminated water brought waves of cholera sweeping through the U.S. in the 1850’s, New York City birthed the twin agencies of public health and urban planning to make and enforce regulations.
1832 A.D.
graphic: Erin Doering
raises inquiries about the sustainability of so-called megacities already struggling with scant affordable housing, growing economic inequality, and aging infrastructure. The future is still unclear, but perhaps we will see a shift in regional balance toward less densified communities.