Lessons from the Lockdown: Foregrounding Non-privileged Perspectives into the (Post-)COVID City Debate

Abstract

This chapter draws spatial lessons from the lockdown experience for the post-COVID-19-city. It argues that it is predominantly a ‘white’ middleclass perspective that is prevailing, while the pandemic affected the urban population in very different ways, hitting vulnerable groups most heavily. How can the spatial needs of these vulnerable groups be taken into consideration? Although some changes like car-free streets and more walkable cities undoubtedly will result in more healthy and liveable cities, they also reconfirm a gentrification agenda that in all likelihood will not improve live for all urban dwellers equally.

Street Experiments and COVID‐19: Challenges, Responses and Systemic Change

“…The research questions themselves should also be questioned: is it really relevant to focus on a subject –street experiments – which tends to only focus on affluent population groups, while ignoring the population groups that need most support during the pandemic, without questioning how this specific issue could be solved? When undertaking research on this issue, one should be aware that perspectives are too often from a white, middle‐class point of view (Beeckmans & Oosterlynck 2021).…”

“…2020) – they might have an even greater need for accessible and qualitative open spaces. Critics note that pandemic‐induced street interventions often target white, middle‐class population groups, and in this way overlook the urgent needs of the most vulnerable (Beeckmans & Oosterlynck 2021).…”

“…They are thus at risk of being excluded from active travel modes. Beeckmans and Oosterlynck (2021) point out that the pushing back of cars can also be an attempt by the gentrifying class to appropriate public space. In other words, mobility related interventions are never ‘just interventions in the circulation of vehicles […], but always also an attempt to redistribute space’ (Beeckmans & Oosterlynck 2021, p. 41).…”

“…Beeckmans and Oosterlynck (2021) point out that the pushing back of cars can also be an attempt by the gentrifying class to appropriate public space. In other words, mobility related interventions are never ‘just interventions in the circulation of vehicles […], but always also an attempt to redistribute space’ (Beeckmans & Oosterlynck 2021, p. 41). This therefore also raises questions about equity issues, the same issues to which street experiments try to respond in the first place.…”

“…Even though the discussion on equity, public participation and democratic procedure in relation to tactical urban experiments has already been begun by researchers, even before the pandemic (for example Caprotti & Cowley 2017; Evans et al . 2021; Scholl & de Kraker 2021; Sharp & Raven 2021), an increasing number of scholars are lifting their voice for more awareness on these issues in the (post‐) COVID‐19 city (Beeckmans & Oosterlynck 2021; Flynn & Thorpe 2021; Schmidt & Zhang 2022).…”