11 minute read
New life in public squares in the age of COVID-19
Marie Burns is a landscape architect, urban designer and transport planner and the author of New Life in Public Squares published by RIBA in 2020
New Life in Public Squares was written during a time when cities were viewed through a very different prism. They were crowded and busy, with commuters and tourists struggling to safely occupy footways and cyclists trying to navigate road space without accident.
Cities were experiencing what seemed to be a never-ending period of growth, driven by their significance as centres for investment, commerce, employment, and tourism. As the economic influence of the city has expanded, the demand for housing has increased, driving up prices and rents, and resulting in the densification of new residential developments and increasing commuter distances.
The lit statues of ‘Conversation à Nice’ transform Place Massema at night.
© Marie Burns
During this same period, concerns about and demands to address climate change were growing. In urban areas, the effect of climate change focused on the detrimental impact of traffic causing air and noise pollution to increase. As part of this debate, initiatives were being explored to make cities more liveable and healthier, by focusing on establishing a pedestrian orientated environment, through the re-allocation of road space that restricts private vehicle movement and limits on street parking. More pedestrianised streets and public squares could be created supporting the promotion of walking, cycling and the use of public transport.
Public squares have long been important places of congregation within city centres and local neighbourhoods. Over the last four decades or so, their role has developed as being central to the regeneration of cities, enabling new urban identities to be formed, repositioning cities as places that entice large numbers of tourists and their spending power, which in turn underpins an urban economy. Squares are the focus of city events that can attract and accommodate vast crowds. This transformation of cities into appealing and pleasant places to live and work, by mitigating the impact of the private motor vehicle, has encouraged the creation of new and the revitalisation of existing squares.
Newly created Jardins de Tete Montoliu, L’Eixample District of the Cerda Grid.
Images © Marie Burns
This was the backdrop to New Life in Public Squares, which explores the design approaches taken by a selection of case studies based on five categories:
– How redesigned historic squares been able to recapture their ‘permanence of place’ by applying a contemporary design approach
– The way that creation of new squares within an urban fabric requires innovative approaches to changes in traffic or land use
– How the design of squares within new city quarters creates a sense of place, reflecting the quality of life being created in these new communities
– The use of opportunities to reconnect once inaccessible, private areas of land to their urban hinterland through the introduction of new squares that capture both the city and waterside qualities
– How making cities liveable and more pedestrian / cycle orientated can be achieved by restructuring the urban form, through new or revitalised squares which are part of a city-wide public realm vision
That ‘normal’ city experience – with its urban buzz, the constant rush of vast numbers of people, crowded public transport, bars, restaurants and theatres – now seem a distant memory. The global impact of COVID-19 has changed our lives and given us time to reflect on what matters to us.
The length and design of the timber seat around the Shakespeare Fountain within Leicester Square allows for its comfortable sharing.
© Marie Burns
The immediate effects of lockdown introduced to control the virus’ spread was that streets and public spaces became empty, skies became more blue, the air was cleaner, people had to manage to work from home and educate their children, and online shopping boomed. Life in some respects was simplified, stripped back to its essentials. The pandemic has shown the fragility of health and social care systems, including for people with mental health issues, and the disparity between communities who live with limited or no access to outdoor space in dense neighbourhoods or in high rise flats, compared to those who live in homes with private gardens.
How will the design of public spaces of the future be informed by the experience of COVID-19?
Cities have responded to previous pandemics to try to limit their future reoccurrences. During medieval times, densely overcrowded settlements that were tightly built within city walls enabled the vicious spread of the Black Death. In attempts to control the disease, streets were widened.
The cholera outbreaks of the 19th century saw the demolition of medieval areas to create wide, straight streets and new drainage infrastructure, introduced to bring better sanitation, clean water, air and light into the city. These included the boulevards and squares in Paris and the new embankment in London. Innovative approaches to mass housing, like the Cerdà Grid in Barcelona, were built to reduce living densities, while city parks, for example Victoria Park in East London and Central Park in New York, were introduced to create areas of clean air that would circulate into the city.
The effect of COVID-19 has given the opportunity to re-evaluate how we lived pre-virus, and how we want to live in the future. There is a heightened appreciation of the sense of local, of streets and public spaces, of walking and cycling, of discovering new connections and places to visit. Public spaces continue to provide cities with the same benefits as before the pandemic, but are being appreciated more and not being taken for granted. They are vital to our wellbeing, offering contact with nature, opportunities to see and interact with people (albeit socially distanced), and space to exercise or to relax in.
Home working is, for the moment, the new norm, which has greatly reduced the use of public transport. Online retail has taken away some of the need for shopping, and visiting bars and restaurants remains tentative. How cities are used and accessed has changed, which provides an opportunity to explore and perhaps accelerate transformations that will contribute to making cities more liveable and people-focused.
The south facing Ghat style steps create an attractive seating area and integrate the Regents Canal with Granary Square, London.
© Marie Burns
With fewer people commuting into city centres, more pedestrian space and designated cycle lanes can be introduced, on a permanent or pilot basis, through the reduction of road space. With more homeworking, having local facilities within walking distance will be increasingly needed. The potential permanent reduction in demand for office space may also encourage their change of use to inner-city residential living. This could lead to the creation of self-sufficient neighbourhoods based on the concept of the 15-minute city, where each local area contains all the key facilities to sustain urban living, enabling resilient and cohesive communities to thrive. This ‘ville de quart d’heure’ concept is being promoted in Paris by its mayor, Anne Hidalgo and the creation of 20-minute neighbourhoods is part of Plan Melbourne 2017-2050 .
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the virus has been most virulent within communities living in densely built housing with no or restricted access to public spaces. Going forward, the planning regulations of new developments need to ensure the appropriate scale of open spaces for the number of future residents, and that circulation, play and recreational spaces are generous and available to all.
Central to these plans is the promotion of improved health and wellbeing within communities. Both existing and future neighbourhoods need to have public realm masterplans that establish a hierarchy of squares and parks, that are well connected by pedestrian and cycle routes, and that offer a range of facilities which reflect the needs within the city or neighbourhood, fostering community cohesion. The development of these masterplans should be undertaken by multidisciplinary teams, including health professionals, within an enabling environment of project management and funding, so that design opportunities are maximised and supported.
Moveable seating within Täby Torg makes for an inviting and relaxed environment.
© Marie Burns
Although there has been much focus and action on improving the amount of pedestrian space and extending the provision of cycle lanes, the potential impact on the design of public squares has been less discussed, and can be informed by a range of design approaches taken from the case studies in the book. What is undisputable is the need for public squares that are easily accessible and well-integrated with their immediate hinterland, as part of a legible network of (mainly) pedestrian streets, as well as cycle routes and public transport.
The Miroir Ombière, the focal point of the Vieux Port in Marseilles, reflecting the flower market.
© Marie Burns
The success of the newly redesigned Place de la République in Paris has been based on a wider neighbourhood vision of reconnecting communities and reclaiming pedestrian space back from vehicles. While in Bordeaux, the reconfiguring of the city’s public realm as part of the introduction of a tramway and its regeneration initiatives has resulted in a pedestrian city core and the extension of the city to its riverside, through the creation of the Miroir d’eau. The successful masterplanning of both French projects and that of Praço do Comércio in Lisbon, with reference to COVID-19, is providing alternative pedestrian routes to the squares to avoid overcrowding and calling attention to the open quality that the squares offer.
The ephemeral mist of Bordeaux’s Miroir d’Eau.
© Marie Burns
Most squares do have this characteristic of openness, and in part that distinguishes them from parks and gardens, which tend to be enclosed and have defined pathways. This enables social distancing to be achieved, creating a sense of comfort within an outdoor environment.
Where squares are enclosed, the widths of their entrances should be generous and inviting to allow the unhesitating passing of pedestrians. At Leicester Square in London, the new gateways are wide to accommodate the numbers of visitors, but also to bring the gardens and terraces together as one space. The chevron form of the pathways into the central gardens reinforces the spatial quality of the gateways.
As part of the reconfiguration of the road spaces to create public squares, the example of Times Square in New York demonstrates the use of pilot schemes to test the impact of road closures prior to proposals being made permanent. Whereas in Barcelona, with its continued emphasis on public realm improvement, the introduction of the supergrid within the Cerdà Grid aims to reduce vehicular movement, in tandem with initiatives that change inappropriate land uses to enable community squares to be created that are accessible to everybody.
Within Aker Brygge – Tjuvholmen a variety of routes give choice to the popular destinations of the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, the Tjuvholmen Skulpturpark and the beach.
Images © Marie Burns
The mostly car-free city quarters of Aker Brygge and Tjuvholmen in Oslo have been built around a series of public spaces with different characters which are accessible from several pedestrian routes. This approach gives choice both of destination and means of getting there, which helps dispersal of pedestrians and can reduce the potential of overcrowding.
COVID-19 has highlighted the need for squares to be adaptable so that, if required, social distancing can be introduced. Squares are generally flexible, having been designed to accommodate events both of a citywide appeal and for local communities. For example, Granary Square in London could hold events, with social distance in place, such as outdoor films. The ghat-style steps that link the square to the Regent’s Canal not only create an amphitheatre for the purpose of events, they are an informal seating opportunity. Informal elements for seating or play should be included within designs, as during a COVID-19 period they can provide additional places to rest or play that, when not in use, do not look empty nor do they need to be taped off.
The extensive white ribbon around Leicester Square, London, is an informal seating element that enables people to sit at a social distance.
© Marie Burns
In Leicester Square, the sinuous granite white ribbon that wraps around the gardens allows for socially distanced seating, while the circular timber seat within the garden is generous in length so that it can be comfortably ‘shared’. Formal seating provision could take the form of moveable seats, as used in Täby Torg, Sweden, so that people can choose where to locate themselves, or the seating can be removed completely if that is necessary as part of a COVID-19 response, or to create additional space for circulation or events.
Vibrancy with or around squares has long been a key characteristic of their success and attraction to their use. In a post COVID-19 era, squares become showcases and part of the message that cities are still open for business and safe to visit. They are community spaces that are there to support and provide confidence to local people that life continues, as in Marseille’s Vieux Port with its market stalls. Al fresco areas and food kiosks bring activity into a square, where they can be accommodated within the social distancing safeguards. The importance of appropriate lighting within squares should not be overlooked, as it contributes to and extends their attraction while providing a sense of safety.
The curation or management of squares is vital, and lessons must be learnt from the impact of the virus. Appropriate funding needs to be allocated to ensure that staffing levels and maintenance regimes are retained and strengthened going forward, particularly as public expenditure will inevitably come under pressure because of the economic impacts of COVID-19.
In Nice the Place Massema’s striking black and white paving.
© Marie Burns
Squares are the signatures of a city. Their designs need to capture the spirit of the place and its people, and bring excitement and joy. They should be uplifting and memorable – who has visited Place Massema in Nice, and not been impressed by its striking black and white paving, only to revisit at night to be transfixed by the illuminated statues of the “Conversation à Nice” and the reflection of the white paving; or been entranced by the mist sprays of the Miroir d’Eau in Bordeaux. That is what design opportunities for public squares should achieve. They should move us, while addressing sustainability issues and creating a more accessible healthy and equitable quality of life for all as we move into a post COVID-19 world.
