The pandemic will change the face of cities, remodelling them in ways that will make urban life more sustainable.
Mayors from all over the world have put the launch of “15 Minute cities” at the heart of their recovery plans. The main idea? City dwellers should have everything they need (work, bars, restaurants, shops, schools, healthcare & leisure) within a 15-minute trip — on foot or bike — from home.
Lockdowns gave working from home proof of concept, challenging the notion that cities need to be divided into separate areas for working and living, And many city dwellers experienced life with fewer cars and more bikes on streets. Now, the genie is out of the bottle. This year, we will see pop-up bicycle lanes and other temporary infrastructure changes implemented to improve city life amid the pandemic become permanent, as formerly niche ideas like “Barcelona’s Superblocks” go mainstream.
“What I expect is that a new work philosophy will merge with ideas of smart cities. Companies will have smaller workspaces to meet all over the city, closer to people’s homes,” says Frederik Anseel, professor of management at the University of New South Wales. This will turn the traditional idea of the city — one where smaller communities form around one, central hub — on its head.
“Big cities like Paris, London and Sydney could become vast urban areas made up of several smaller communities, each with their own centre,” asserts Anseel. “And since there will be less concentration in one central area, property prices will have to adjust accordingly.”
The balance of exposure into the cities versus suburbia remains to be seen in the coming years for many retail businesses and brands however research does imply that during the pandemic consumers have felt much more comfortable within their community rather than visiting the larger metropolitan cities.
Real estate will also be more readily available in suburbia with attractive terms compared to that of the larger cities, so councils really do have their work cut out to ensure the destination cities popular for shopping and hospitality don’t slip into a coma.
