Preface

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us in many ways as a society – in Denmark and in the rest of the world – to organise ourselves differently and to change our behaviour. In a very short time, the virus has mobilised governments, altered markets, and, not least, changed people’s everyday lives.

The pandemic has led to major shifts in both everyday routines and the physical environment, including new boundaries between work and leisure, social distancing, and new hygiene routines.

But the pandemic has also given rise to novel solutions in response to the immediacy and intensity of its impacts. Some of these solutions are temporary measures, while others have potential, beyond the pandemic, to contribute to increased quality of life in the buildings where we spend so much of our time.

These are examples from which we can learn, and which may help society to emerge from the pandemic more resilient than before when it comes to the physical environment, which affects so much of our everyday lives.

The purpose of this compendium has been to collect and highlight examples, in cities and buildings, of responses to the needs arising from COVID-19 – both in Denmark and internationally. These examples may inspire and contribute to the discussion on how we can add value to pandemic preparedness in the built environment through a ‘Build Back Better’ approach. And, while novel today, these examples may someday become a natural part of everyday, post-pandemic life.

This compendium is part of an effort to collect knowledge in connection with Realdania’s initiative “RESPOND – the framework for the new everyday life”. The initiative focuses on how COVID-19 affects our behaviour and our physical environment. It aims both to gather knowledge and examples from the pandemic and to inspire and initiate completely new solutions for more resilient construction. With this publication, we are also pleased to contribute to the UIA “Year of Design for Health”.

We look forward to continuing the work of mapping the changes that COVID-19 brings to our everyday lives in cities and buildings – and not least to supporting the innovative solutions that can contribute in the future to raising the quality of life for all in the built environment.

Happy reading!

Jesper Nygård CEO, Realdania