Green Infrastructure in the Time of Social Distancing: Urban Policy and the Tactical Pandemic Urbanism

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic generated a number of changes in the functioning of urban areas all over the world and had a visible impact on the use of green infrastructure, including city parks. The study discusses and compares operation and use of two such parks located in Wellington, New Zealand and Warsaw, Poland by adopting "pandemic urban ethnography", an approach that includes autoethnography, interviews with users, non-participant observation, and analysis of social media content. As indicated by the findings of the study, the importance of less rigidly designed, multifunctional spaces that give their users freedom of "tactical" adjustments, significantly grows during times of lockdown and "social distancing". During such a crisis, the management and everyday use of urban parks are highly related to urban policies. The article provides insight into how those policies impact the functional values of green infrastructure confronting it with user-generated adaptations and the landscape design itself. The global health emergency showed how access to green areas becomes a crucial determinant on environmental justice while proving the significance of "tactical pandemic urbanism" as both a design and management method.

Urban Nature: Does Green Infrastructure Relate to the Cultural and Creative Vitality of European Cities?

“…Many of the COVID-19 related social and cultural adjustments made by cities such as London, New York, Auckland, or Warsaw have been related to green infrastructure; for instance, streets in proximity to parks were closed to motor vehicles, parking lots were converted into parklets or pocket parks, and motor vehicles lanes were reallocated to pedestrians and bicyclists. These findings support the research by Herman and Drozda [6] on the importance of multifunctional spaces, especially the role of local green areas as nodes and centres of importance for the local community. Artists have also responded to social distancing measures; for example, StoDistante ('I'm keeping my distance' in Italian), completed in May 2020, an installation in Vicchio, near Florence, created by local architects Caret Studio, "addresses Tuscany's current social-distancing regulations" [7].…”

The Impact of COVID-19 on Horticulture: Critical Issues and Opportunities Derived from an Unexpected Occurrence

“…An acceleration of the transformation of the urban environment has also been observed during the pandemic. As was reported in several case studies, the use of green infrastructures significantly increased in 2020 [98][99][100]. As a result of the closure of cinemas, restaurants, gyms, libraries, cultural centers etc., people have shifted their recreational activities to parks, yards, and urban forests, in part with the aim of relaxing.…”

“…The aforementioned reaction has contributed to increasing citizens' resilience. Moreover, this has led to tactical urbanism actions, including the extension of sidewalks, the planning of new bike lanes and the creation of new public spaces to facilitate social distancing [100]. Furthermore, some countries, including New Zealand, are planning on allocating funding to transform tactical urbanism into official government policy [100].…”

Pandemic resilient cities: Possibilities of repairing Polish towns and cities during COVID-19 pandemic

“…1-10; Geng et al, 2020 , pp. 553-567; Herman and Drozda, 2021 ; Hobday and Cason, 2009 ; Klein, 2020 ; Pouso et al, 2021 , pp. 2-10; Slater, 2020 ; Ugolini et al, 2020 ).…”