Michelle J. Landers

Cities everywhere are exploring how to close streets and repurpose them as pedestrian and cycling routes in an effort to provide open, safe space for sheltered-in-place weary residents. From Mexico City to Somerville, cities have converted streets and parking spaces to temporary car-free zones. The changes are welcome as warmer weather kicks in, but could they become a permanent legacy of this pandemic? 

Health concerns have a knack for altering how cities operate. Philadelphia began city-wide garbage collection because of a Yellow Fever outbreak. The Back Bay Fens, part of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace, was designed to help flush sewage from the Muddy River to open water. The Fens created a string of parks through Boston and Brookline which provided a shady respite for residents of the Fenway and Back Bay – improving the use of open space and quality of their neighborhoods. 

New York City’s Times Square went car–free over 10 years ago and, while people generally assumed businesses would be hurt by the loss of vehicular traffic, retail rents tripled in the area over the years. Walkability increases quality of life, something cities need now more than ever as people consider fleeing to the suburbs to access a yard or garden. 

Cities that embrace creative placemaking can reimagine how their residents interact with the built environment. Creative placemaking is a tool urban developers use to incorporate art, culture and a sense of place into the built environment. This concept can be taken to the streets with murals, outdoor seating for restaurants and cafes, recreation or simply a place to get some fresh air. Having these kinds of public spaces in Boston’s central business district – like the Greenway, Post Office Square and Downtown Crossing – will be an important amenity for office workers looking to take a break from their Plexiglas-encased, socially-distanced workstations.  

Long-Term Benefits  

Today, we have a once–in–a–lifetime opportunity to rethink our public spaces. Cities and towns can repurpose their spaces to adapt to a socially-distanced world for the short-term, while also examining how such changes could provide long-term benefits. Streets that are closed to vehicular traffic and can converted to parks or parklets. Restaurants can take advantage of outdoor spaces to seat diners and shops can expand beyond the front door. Roads with pedestrians instead of cars have a different feel – quieter, cleaner and more active.  

Walkability also makes cities and their residents healthier. A study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine found that people who live in neighborhoods within walking distance of shops and retail establishments have a 35 percent lower risk of obesity.  

As summer approaches, cities must also consider the necessity of creating safe and shaded outdoor space for those without air conditioning at home. As ULI reported in a recent study called “Living with Heat,” nine of the 10 warmest years in history have occurred since 2005 – with the last five years recording the hottest temperatures – but our built environment was not created to handle of summers that will get continually hotter as the planet warms. Neighborhoods with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings and other surfaces that absorb heat can feel 50 degrees hotter than the surrounding air temperature. Replacing asphalt with greenery can help cool those heat islands which, like COVID-19, causes harm to residents with preexisting conditions like asthma and obesity. 

Some changes to the built environment will be temporary to accommodate for the pandemic, but others can be incorporated into future planning. Figuring out how it ultimately looks should start now. 

Michelle J. Landers is the executive director of ULI Boston/New England.