COVID-19 and City Space: Impact and Perspectives
Olivera Lekić Glavan, Nenad Nikolić, Branislav Folić, Biljana Vitošević, Aleksandra Mitrović, Saja Kosanović
Abstract
The pandemic of the COVID-19 disease has radically changed human lifestyle and the usage of living space, especially in cities. With the prolongation of the crisis, the effects of COVID-19 on urban spaces are becoming more noticeable, but the definite changes that can inform approaches to future development, planning, and use of urban space have not yet been determined, as evidenced by the research carried out in this study. The research revealed that there exists the consensus in terms of several new guidelines whose application in design can simultaneously increase the resilience of urban environment to future pandemics and improve the overall quality of city life. These presented guidelines show that we may expect in the future a greater integration of nature-based solutions at various scales of the city, i.e., better ventilated, and naturally lit, more spacious, mixed-use, and flexible buildings surrounded by enlarged, multiplied, and multifunctional open spaces that safely receive the users who are carrying out those activities that were moved from the inner to the outer space.