Lockdown Urbanism: Global reflections on Covid at work, rest and play

Collected personal experiences form the basis of this commentary, critically contrasting global urban contexts and COVID-19 restrictions. Case studies in China, England, Northern Ireland, India and the USA, are a lens, used to examine significant changes in spatial reach and the lockdown reconfiguration of public and domestic space. This extends early lockdown observations undertaken in Lockdown urbanism: COVID-19 lifestyles and liveable futures opportunities in Wuhan and Manchester (1).

Focusing on latency, the capacity to fit new occupation patterns and uses into existing places, the role of architecture and urbanism is considered. This identifies applicable physical and digital environment design lessons, in a variety of scales and media that support flexible, creative and resilient patterns of future liveability. With massive externally induced change, what stays, what shifts, what disappears? How are patterns of use and movement, both daily and longer term, affected and changed?

Through considering spatial adaptability and resilience in comparative contexts, design-based questions identify possible thematic responses addressing resilient liveable future urbanism. This reflects on the similarities and differences between global lockdown experiences, and the concept of mental as well as physical lockdown.