COVID-19: a chance to reallocate street space to the benefit of children’s health?

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 has radically altered the way people gather, interact and even walk down the street. It has also dramatically altered the use of the public realm. In cities around the world, travel restrictions and social distancing measures practically emptied streets of traffic and increased street space used by essential workers, pedestrians and cyclists. Using examples from Europe and North America, this article discusses street allocation for traffic versus children in western contexts and whether the change opens up innovation in the way the public realm is allocated and in so doing, creates an opportunity to support children’s health and wellbeing.

KEYWORDS:

• Children
• urban wellbeing
• COVID-19

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hannah Wright

Hannah Wright is an independent urban planner and design integrator. She has a decade of experience in master planning, visioning, policy and research in an array of international contexts. Working at the interaction of research and practice to create healthy streets, neighbourhoods and cities, Hannah specialises in supporting child-friendly cities and healthy living through urban planning and design. Hannah lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is a chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and has a Masters and BA with Honours in Urban Studies from Sheffield University. Find Hannah at www.hannatheplanna.com

Mitchell Reardon

Mitchell Reardon is a community builder who specializes in urban planning, design and research. As Urban Planning, Design and Experiments Lead at Happy City, Mitchell is experienced in planning and conducting placemaking interventions, and in translating stakeholder aspirations into evidence-based policy. He is a skilled public engagement facilitator and former board member for the Vancouver Public Space Network. Mitchell has guest lectured at the University of British Columbia, the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology and other institutions, and his work has been featured in Next City, Star Metro, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio and print media. Find him on Twitter: @MitchellReardon