The Covid-19 pandemic has started the global redesign of urban spaces. The target? Aim for an ideal city of the future, greener, more accessible and sustainable
There Covid-19 pandemic has had dramatic consequences on the world economy. The emptying of cities and forced isolation have brought to light a long series of issues that concern urban spaces and mobility, including the absence or lack of local services, green spaces and efficient public transport with a low environmental impact. Like any crisis, however, the Covid-19 pandemic also represents aopportunities for urban and social renewal. An example of this are the global debates and initiatives that are having the concrete objective of redesigning metropolises, optimizing spaces and aiming for a better quality of life for citizens and communities in individual neighborhoods. Let's find out what are the guidelines identified by the experts, and in which direction the world cities that have joined the global plan for a fair and sustainable recovery after Covid-19 are already moving.
The city of the future is greener, smarter and more sustainable
For several years, urban planners and architects have already been working on the design of smart and eco-sustainable cities in which technological innovation, services and infrastructures are able to meet the needs of citizens, but also to reduce waste and environmental impact as much as possible. The shortcomings and urban inefficiencies of recent months have rekindled the debate, bringing to light some primary objectives to be achieved and the best strategies to follow. In particular during the World Economic Forum 2020 a Covid Action Platform was launched, i.e. a platform which, among other things, identifies the main points of the so-called green recovery, the ecological recovery of urban spaces. The city of the future should first have more green areas which include common gardens and gardens and which are easily accessible by each citizen, possibly included in each district; according to the World Health Organization, in fact, each inhabitant should have a green area at a maximum distance of 300 meters. Similarly, one should be guaranteed greater accessibility to healthy and genuine food, possibly organic, ecological, seasonal and locally grown. In this way, in addition to the advantage of reducing waste and the emission of greenhouse gases, the short food supply chain and biodiversity would be protected, the territory would be enhanced and a healthy diet capable of strengthening the immune system would be favored. A key point, not only of the period of Covid-19 but of the climate emergency in general, then concerns mobility and need to reduce or eliminate the use of polluting cars and vehicles and, on the other hand, to invest in car and bike sharing programs and encourage the use of electric bikes and scooters. Finally, the Covid Action Platform of the World Economic Forum talks about the importance of investing in building requalification and on new housing solutions in a green key, as well as aiming for resilient urban infrastructures.
C40: 96 cities of the world towards concrete change
The most important global initiative in terms of post Covid-19 urban regeneration is the C40: at the beginning of the pandemic the mayors of 96 cities around the world, including the Italians Rome and Milan, have decided to join forces towards a sustainable economic recovery. The plan includes a list of possible initiatives for the improvement of public transport, for ecological mobility, for the creation of new green jobs, for the suspension or reduction of public financing for fossil fuels and much more. There are several cities that have announced their measures, each according to their needs and available resources; for example, Milan has designed 35 kilometers of roads to be transformed into pedestrian areas and cycle paths, New York is planning to build entire pedestrian districts and the mayor of Paris has decided to allocate 300 million euros for a network of cycle paths, many of which the existing subway lines will follow. Many of the C40's urban transformations are based on the model of 15 minutes city, a concept coined by the mayor of Paris, according to which citizens "should be able to meet their needs for shopping, work, leisure and culture in 15 minutes on foot or by bicycle".
All that remains is to wait and see in which direction the development and redesign of the post-Covid-19 urban fabric will go and what characteristics the cities of the future will have, hoping for a growing well-being of the citizen and an ever greater attention from the politics of the world towards environmental issues.
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