Will the COVID-19 outbreak propel the demand for active spaces or scare the public away?

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ABSTRACT

Physical activity came into the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic as governments encouraged citizens to stay active for their wellbeing, shut indoor sports clubs and gyms, and put strict limitations on exercise in densely populated areas. Could the ‘safety’ of exercising outdoors result in a boom in the demand for active urban spaces? Or will people become too afraid to exercise in crowded public spaces all together? We are yet to see where we will fall from the knife’s edge. Cities and physical activity providers that develop innovative solutions could help us land on the positive side and move forward.

KEYWORDS:

• Physical activity
• exercise and health
• cities and urban planning

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

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Rachel Payne

Rachel Payne, PhD in Communications specialising in sports journalism, is the Communications Manager at the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA), a Danish-based umbrella organisation for grassroots sport and physical activity promoters. ISCA’s mission is to ‘empower organisations worldwide to enable citizens to enjoy their human right to move’. As part of this aim, it provides non-profit organisations with opportunities to work on projects that focus on engaging civil society in physical activity and sports clubs, delivering bottom-up advocacy and diplomacy efforts, and building public-private partnerships to work on refugee inclusion and active urban space (MOVEment Spaces) initiatives. It also coordinates activation events through the NowWeMOVE campaign.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-payne-b9a43a28/