COVID-19 and the Built Environment: A Turning Point by Center for Hydro-generated Urbanism

Covid-19 and the Built Environment -A Turning Point-

Source: Celia Mendoza / VOA

Authors Blanchard Fagan - blanchardf97@ufl.edu Chapter 1 - Cultural Impact of COVID-19

Kaci Seitzinger - kseitzinger@ufl.edu Chapter 2 - Grounding Social Vulnerability with COVID-19 Chapter 6 - Architectural Proposals Responding to COVID-19

Daniel Farji - dfarji16@ufl.edu Chapter 3 - COVID-19 and Urbanism

Erin Keating - ekeating@ufl.edu Chapter 4 - COVID-19 and Inequitable Housing

Daniela Gomez - danielagomez@ufl.edu Chapter 5 - COVID-19 and Public Spaces

Professor: Martha Kohen - mkohen@ufl.edu Class: ARC6911- Crisis, Vulnerability, and Design Graduate Research

Topic Correlations

Introduction Within the framework of a Graduate Seminar course at the School of Architecture, University of Florida, Students and Professor engaged in a research itinerary that explored the different aspects of incidence between the Pandemic and its physical interphases. The initial goal is to analyze available and recurring data from multiple official sources, public, governmental at different levels as well as from NGOs, press and academia, to establish meaningful correlations, capable of identifying and suggesting planning outcomes, policies and design strategies to address the mitigation of the perceived long term incidence of this and similar occurrences. We associate social vulnerabilities and urban risks with four main interconnected factors: ● ● ● ●

Climate Change (and associated sea level rise, floods, draughts and heat waves, high winds) Pandemic incidence and health conditions Critical Economic and environmental conditions Racial inequities

Racial inequities have led to economic vulnerabilities and environmental degradation, to the effect of the localization of settlements in vulnerable areas, easily targeted by Climate change conditions. Other factors intervene in this formulation, but the data is not currently as systematically assembled, to be able to establish the correlations between them. It is a hypothesis of this research that the current collection of the COVID 19 incidence data, can act as a marker of the other three conditions, even if not an exclusive marker. Our challenge is to try to establish links and connections between the risk factors and the Built environment conditions and derive strategic directions for recommendations on design. The scales of the analysis will encompass the range of situations, from the urban level (public space, transportation, work, education, consumption and assembly), to the neighborhood level (densities, health services and infrastructure, collective assets) to the building level (inequitable housing, overcrowding, collective living). The preliminary conclusions of this double convergence approach will identify the occurrence of hotspots for primary focus in addressing the Pandemic mitigation and generate associations between the components that can better limit its incidence. These associations will directly inform design decisions at all levels of the spectrum, from urban to building scalar span.The selection of the chosen categories is understood as a web of interrelated interactions, that connect, reinforce the incidence, as well as mirror the mitigation possibilities. -Martha Kohen

Culture

2 Social Vulnerability 3 Housing 4 Urbanism 5 Public Spaces 6 Proposals 7

Conclusions

Culture Presented by: Blanchard Fagan

Culture: Social Practices Culture: Social Practices

SOURCE: THE LANCET

Culture: Social Practices

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Place of Worship Museums Concerts Sports

Source:Sam Carp

Culture: Social Practices

Source: Los Angeles Times

Culture: Values & Beliefs ●

Individualistic Culture ○ ○ ○ ○

●

Self-Sufficiency Autonomy Independence Individual Pursuits

Collectivistic Culture ○ ○ ○ ○

Selflessness/Community First Support of Others Best for Society Common Goals

Source: CDC

Culture: Rural vs Urban Context ●

Urban Context ○ ○ ○ ○

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Density vs Overcrowding Access to healthcare amenities Public Transit Vulnerable populations

Rural Context ○ ○ ○ ○

Suburban sprawl Less healthcare facilities Vulnerable populations Overcrowded facilities

Source: Journal of Rural Health

Culture: Rural vs Urban Context -

Rural areas stand out in a county-level assessment of major risk factors for COVID-19. The vulnerabilities measured include the population's density, age and health status, and presence of nursing and elder care facilities, meatpacking plants and group facilities such as prisons.

The gray areas indicate little to no vulnerabilities of the specific factors measured and the dark red areas indicate the highest vulnerability based on those factors.

Source: Journal of Rural Health

Culture: Rural vs Urban Context

COVID cases in rural, non-metro areas have steadily increased over the last few months and now are observed to have the most cases while they are the most at-risk In some communities, the resumption of small-town activities, such as school, church and sports events, has led to more infections.

Culture: Policy -

Six measures to reduce community COVID spread through social distancing practices such as isolating ill people, tracing contacts, quarantine of exposed persons, school dismissals or closures, changes in the workplace, and avoiding crowds and restricting movement.

Source: CDC / The Economist

Culture: Policy -

Policies such as mask mandates have been linked to a decline of infection rates

Source: Health Affairs

Social Vulnerability Presented by: Kaci Seitzinger

Social Vulnerability: Case Study of NYC ●

Those living in poorer neighborhoods are at elevated risk, as in the case of New York City.

Source: Map prepared by the NYC Department of Health

Social Vulnerability: Demographics of COVID-19 by Income in NYC

Source: Time

Social Vulnerability: Demographics of the wealthiest zip code in NYC

Source: Time

Source: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Social Vulnerability: Demographics of the wealthiest zip code in NYC