A Manifesto for Circular Urbanism
By: Possible Space Forum
Tags: Interaction Design, Public Space, Covid 19, Urbanism, Inclusion

During ‘lockdown #1’, our co-founder Anne in a team of urban professionals, including Nada Jamal in Canada, Mostafa Zohdy in Egypt and Aji Bima Amriza Amalsyah in Indonesia, responded to a call for ideas on Pandemic Architecture. Seat back, relax with hindsight and rewind to May 2020…

As we are faced with extraordinary challenges to our cities’ design, it may feel as though human interaction and our use of space will inevitably move towards that of a dystopian future, conceived as distant, overcrowded and isolating. Instead, we aim to conceptualise a future which is community-focused, safe and equitable. Such a reality simultaneously encourages physical distancing and social connectivity. Given that civilization has typically portrayed these two phenomena as incompatible, it isn’t surprising that public health measures during the pandemic have been difficult to implement. Thus, in light of such pandemic urbanism, our underpinning question is:

“how can we implement physical distancing without encouraging social isolation”?

In response, we suggest interventions whereby, firstly, physical distancing and social connectivity are mutually reinforcing, and secondly, the perceived line between ‘emergency settings’ and the ‘normal state’ is softened.

We have taken an observational approach to understand what facets of our built environments, at present, show potential for our aspired future. Through exploring the behaviours, nomenclature and perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic in each of our respective urban settings — Vancouver, Canada, London, UK, Bandung, Indonesia and Cairo, Egypt — we are inspired by the diversity and commonality of everyday practices. These practices, whether premised in the workplace, domestic sphere, or public space, demonstrate varying forms of sociality, and with it, physical structures which are foundational for our design interventions. As a result, the designs are intended to be holistic — in that they successfully enable physical distancing + social connectivity, and yet are simple enough to be moulded to varying geographical contexts.

We propose a new interpretation of our cities’ spatial organisation, drawing from existing urban and architectural features, but recalibrated for healthier and more sustainable use. Our tactical urban interventions fall into three conceptual categories: Distance Symbolism and Social Connectivity, which place the human-to-human experience at their forefront, while Repurposing the Ordinary focuses on enhancing the physical fabric of the city. This fabric contains underutilised spaces which can be adjusted to accommodate healthy social exchange, particularly given that urban density remains an underlying issue in all of our contexts.

❖ ‘Distance symbolism’ refers to the invisible and visible boundaries which encourage physical distancing. By using 2.5 metres as a base measurement, small distances become a symbol of proximity, shared experience and mutual respect.

❖ ‘Social connectivity’ promotes visibility, social cohesion and mutual accessibility into the living and recreational sphere, expanding our notion of community to encompass those beyond our physical proximity.

❖ ‘Repurposing the Ordinary’ seeks to unlock the mixed-use potential of shared spaces, abiding by the first two concepts. Modular in function and in form, the city adopts a circular ecosystem fit for responding to ongoing crises and pandemics.

In using regenerative, multi-purpose design to cope with change, our proposed interventions contribute to an essential wave of urban resilience. We see the current pandemic reality as offering city-makers the opportunity to be proactive and place sociality and safety at the forefront of our cities future landscapes.

Possible Space will share these interventions in this Forum in the first few months of 2021. We will reflect on how the pandemic has changed ideas about public space and interaction and explore how we can repurpose the ordinary to unlock shared spaces for all.