对话 | 全球疫情下：社交距离与未来城市空间

本期嘉宾 | Steffen Lehmann 教授

一次公共卫生危机可以在城市和建筑上留下印记。历史表明，流行病可以从根本上改变我们迁移和工作的习惯，以及对城市的看法。在19世纪全球霍乱和肺结核爆发后，流行病重塑了我们的城市，致使一些地方引入新的城市系统：如1850年，作为毁灭性霍乱大流行导致的直接结果，欧洲城市引进了现代的饮用水供应和污水处理系统。这些都与公共空间直接相关。

总的来说，我认为所有的城市规划决策都应该坚定地以实现公共健康和人民福祉为基础。如果一个城市不能让我们感受到幸福，并保持健康，那它就不是我们想要居住的地方。

几个世纪以来，社会互动的需求一直在塑造着我们的公共空间。人们在发问：COVID-19大流行对我们的公共空间，比如著名的拉斯维加斯大道，会有什么持久的影响？在2020年的健康危机期间，世界各地的人们都在家中进行自我隔离，避免与他人接触。目前还不清楚这场大流行究竟将如何改变城市生活，会对城市及其公共空间产生何种影响。但我们可以做出一些后疫情时代关于城市的预测。我预计人们会更倾向于拥有一个花园（或屋顶花园)，当需要长期呆在家里时，人们可以把时间花在户外花园里，这会让生活变得简单许多。

首先，我认为城市普遍缺乏领导能力和专业知识，特别是在地方政府层面，人们过于关注短期任期。城市更新和绿色城市的设计解决方案和技术层出不穷，并且通常有足够的可用资金。但是，由于缺乏领导力，向可持续城市时代的过渡仍然进展缓慢。

建筑师一直以来都是社会的领导者，在危机中发挥领导作用，并为我们的未来树立积极的愿景。一些建筑师已经开始制定后疫情时期的设计原则，设想工作场所、移动性和公共空间的设计将如何改变。大流行后，我们未来的住宅很可能会容纳家庭办公室和特定的家庭办公区域，而开放式办公室布局似乎已经过时了。在移动性方面，混合使用、步行友好的紧凑型社区具有明显的优势，因为这不需要通勤时在地铁车厢或公交车里与他人近距离接触。如今，自行车的使用在世界各地的城市中也正逐渐复兴。

关于人口密度和移动性，一个明显的问题是：我们的建成环境（城市、街道、广场和景观）将如何转变，以适应大流行期间人们对社交的渴望及社交距离的保持之间的相互冲突？城市规划需要处理好致密化（推动城市变得更加集中，这对改善环境可持续性至关重要）与分散化（这是目前遏制感染传播的主要手段之一）之间的冲突。

然而，去致密化并不能解决公共卫生方面的挑战。我们高度依赖汽车才能到达的郊区已经产生了大量的其他问题。总的来说，高密度对我们的健康来说无害，因为它使步行友好城市、活跃的公共空间网络和繁华的商业走廊成为可能，从而促进健康，使社区更具韧性，并使我们能够遏制气候排放。在所有关于高密度所带来的健康风险讨论中，必须记住，城市密度为健康、韧性和非正式活动提供了空间，而这些是我们的社会不可或缺的。我们现在需要重建对公共空间和密度的信任，并重新思考公共空间的类型及其作为共享价值空间的作用。我有很多钟爱的公共空间。举几个新近创建的空间作为例子：

英国伦敦国王十字车站——粮仓广场

丹麦哥本哈根——凯伦·布利森广场

美国旧金山——联邦大厦广场

日本纳苏——石垣水上花园

我近期出版的关于城市更新的书是在气候变化时代下改造英国城市的一个大胆宣言。本书旨在就改造城市的复杂过程为规划师、建筑师和决策者提供指导。它是21世纪城市原则的宣言，聚焦于“好的场所”的特征以及可持续城市主义策略。它激发读者思考我们如何才能最好地将城市中被遗弃、废弃和破旧的部分改造回人们想要生活、工作和娱乐的地方。该书还构建了一种可重复使用的体系结构，将复杂的城市科学以及城市和建筑设计艺术转化并结合在一起，成为助力城市更新的实用指南。

《城市更新》(Palgrave Macmillan, 2019)

受欧洲紧凑城市模式的类型学和价值所启发，我在此书中介绍了三个城市概念。在过去的25年中，我提出了三个对我的工作至关重要的城市理念，它们为我所有的城市设计和咨询工作提供了一个清晰的框架，本书中进行了详细说明：

•短距离城市

•绿色城市主义原则                     

•无高层建筑的高密度

这些理念提供的解决方案将使我们的城市变得紧凑、适宜步行、功能混合并且再次充满活力。具体来说，本书以英国13个城市为例提出了城市更新的十项策略。我认为，在当前背景下，这些策略的相关度、战略性思考和适应潜力变得更加重要：例如，“公共空间是美好城市的催化剂”、“为紧凑、混合及步行友好城市创建公共空间网络”、“着眼长远并充分利用现有资源”等，这些都是经得住时间考验的策略，对我们始终至关重要。

对于我们许多人来说，这是一个非常具有挑战性的时期，包括我所在的UNLV建筑学院（详见：www.unlv.edu/architecture）。为保证学生、教职员工和社区的健康和安全，我们早在2020年3月就作出了一项决定，即针对所有课程和项目都实行在线教学，以避免校园内的人群聚集。我们所有的教学活动已转换为在线授课模式。

但我也相信，我们可以将这段时间视作个人成长和丰富学习的机会。很重要的一点是，我们要激励年轻的毕业生，并向他们传达我们这个行业积极的未来，让他们知道，他们可以用自己的方式为美国建筑的未来和城市化进程做出贡献。大流行病情况发展得如此之快，我们必须充分掌握现状局势及其后果。

 新的视角和观点可能对学校，教职员工和学生来说是一次巨大的变革。不仅仅体现在远程办公，适应线上教学环境等层面。就像在大萧条和第二次世界大战期间一样，COVID-19大流行（连同气候变化危机）正在改变我们日常对未来经济、全球化、旅行、工作场所和公共空间的设想。

A public health crisis can leave its mark on cities and architecture. History shows that pandemics can radically alter the way we think about, move around and work in cities. For example, following the global cholera and tuberculosis outbreaks in the nineteenth century, pandemics have reshaped our cities, and some of these consequences included the introduction of new urban systems; for instance, in 1850, European cities introduced modern drinking supply and sewerage systems as a direct result from the devastating cholera pandemic. This is particularly relevant for public space. 

Generally, I think that all urban planning decisions should be firmly based on criteria for public health and well-being. If the city doesn’t make us happy and keep us healthy, it’s not a place we want to live. 

For centuries, the promise of social interaction has always shaped our public spaces. People are now asking: What will be the lasting impact from the COVID-19 pandemic on our public space, such as the famous Las Vegas Strip? During the 2020 health crisis, people everywhere have self-isolated, stayed at home and avoided contact with others. It is still unclear how exactly this pandemic will alter urban life and what exactly will be the impact from this crisis on cities and their public spaces. But we can speculate and make some urban predictions of this post-COVID-19 future.I expect that having a garden will become again more popular, because when there is a stay-home order, life is simply so much easier if you can spend time outdoor in a garden. This could also be roof gardens. 

Will this public health crisis shape new forms of homes and offices? What will be the impacts on work-life pattern and mobility in cities? 

Architects have always been leaders in society, leading during crisis and developing a positive vision of our future. Some architects have already started to develop post-coronavirus design principles, envisaging how the design of workplaces, mobility and public spaces will change. Post-pandemic, it is likely that our future homes will accommodate home offices and specific working-from-home areas, while the open-plan office layout seems to be passé. In terms of mobility, walkable compact neighbourhoods that are mixed use have clearly an advantage, as these do not require to travel closely with others in a subway carriage or in a bus. There is now also a revival of the bicycle in cities around the world. 

Do you think de-densification will gain popularity in future policy-making? Could you share some examples in the North American context, or in Europe or Australia?

An obvious question is in regard to density and mobility: How might our built environments—our cities, streets, squares and landscapes–transform to accommodate our conflicting desire for connection and mandate to social-distance during a pandemic?  Urban planners will face the apparent tension between densification – the push towards cities becoming more concentrated, which is seen as essential to improving environmental sustainability – and disaggregation, the separating out of populations, which is one of the key tools being used to hold back infection transmission. 

However, de-densification will not resolve the public health challenges. Our car-dependent suburbs have just created a large number of other problems. In general, density is not bad for our health, as it enables walkable cities, an active public space network and bustling commercial corridors, which fosters health, makes communities more resilient and allows us to curb climate emissions. In all the discussion about the health risks of density, it is important to remember that urban density provides for health, resilience and space for informal activities that are integral to our society. We will now need to rebuild trust in public space and density, and to rethink the types of public space and their role as spaces of shared values. There are so many good public spaces that I love. Just to name a few, good examples for such recently created spaces are: Maitland Riverlink in New South Wales, Australia; Granary Square at Kings Cross in London, UK; Karen Blixens Plads Square in Copenhagen, Denmark; the plaza at the San Franciso Federal Building in the US; and Ishigami’s Biotop Water Garden in Nasu, Japan. All these are very different and I like them for various reasons.  

In times of social distancing, it’s important to remember that architecture is a discipline that can bring people together. The public space of the future will need to better balance the contradicting requirements between communal and individual: how can we provide opportunities to congregate and celebrate together and, at the same time, to provide space for individual reflection and enjoyment? Once the pandemic is over and life goes back to a “new normal”, we will be able to enjoy again our public spaces for gathering and shared outdoor activities. 

In your book of ‘Urban Regeneration’ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), you have proposed ten strategies for urban regeneration. Could you please comment on their relevance and adaptation under the current context and new changes? 

My recent book on urban regeneration is a bold manifesto for transforming UK Cities in the age of climate change. The book offers guidance to planners, architects and decision makers on the complex process of how to transform cities. It is a 21st-century manifesto of urban principles, focusing on the characteristics of a ‘good place’ and the strategies of sustainable urbanism. It asks readers to consider how we can best transform the derelict, abandoned and run-down parts of our cities back into places where people want to live, work and play. The book also frames an architecture of re-use that translates and combines the complex science of cities and the art of urban and architectural design into actionable and practical guidance on how to regenerate cities. 

Fascinated by the typology and value of the compact European city model, I introduce three urban concepts. Over the last twenty five years, I have developed three key urban concepts that are essential for my work, as these provide a clear framework for all my urban design and advisory roles, and these are further detailed in the book:

The concepts provide solutions that will make our cities compact, walkable, mixed-use and vibrant again. In detail, the book presents a ten-point strategy for urban regeneration exemplified with 13 cases of UK cities. I believe that under the current context, the relevance, strategic thinking and adapation potential of these ten points has become even more important: for instance, strategies such as ‘Public space as a catalyst for a better city’, or ‘A public space network for a compact, mixed-use and walkable city’, or ‘Thinking long-term and making the most of what we have’ – these are all timeless valid strategies that will always be relevant for us. 

Could this crisis, despite the severe challenges it brings, also become a good opportunity to inspire and communicate a positive future of our profession? 

This has been a very challenging time for many of us, including for the School of Architecture at UNLV in Las Vegas. Promoting the health and safety of our students, faculty and community, we made the early decision in March 2020 to enact online teaching for all courses and programs, to avoid the gathering of people on campus. All our teaching and learning activities have been transitioned to online delivery mode (more information on the UNLV School of Architecture can be found here: www.unlv.edu/architecture ).

However, I also believe that we can turn this into a time for personal growth and rich learning. It is important to inspire and communicate a positive future of our profession to our young graduates, and show that there is a meaningful place for them to contribute in their own way to the future of America's architecture and its urbanization process. The pandemic scenario has unfolded so rapidly that we still have to fully grasp the reality of the situation and its consequences. 

New perspectives and outlooks may well be transformative for the school, its faculty and students. It is much more than working remotely and adapting to the online teaching and learning environment. Like during the Great Depression and World War II, the COVID-19 pandemic (along with the climate change crisis) has altered how we think about the future economy, globalization, travel, tourism, the workplace and public space in the everyday situation.

http://city-leadership.com/assets/pdf/lab.pdf

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