In my first urban lab approach, which consisted of multiple workshops and ‘walking labs’, I did an exercise asking participants to ‘time travel’ not so long in the past, back to the pandemic.
We would have a writing exercise about their memories related to mobility, neighborhood life and public space and then also a storytelling time where they shared their thoughts and reflections with other participants.
This was always a rich and interesting dimension of the workshop (and part of my approach that centered on environmental psychology) as participants shared memories of how lockdowns (or lack thereof) affected their spatial relationship to the city broadly and more specifically their neighborhood and knowledge of its amenities.
I snapped the below photo of my children running towards a playground sometime in 2020. We were living in central Sweden which, quite notoriously, didn’t have a lockdown. However, there were many restrictions at ground level and you could feel and see that something was different in the way that people used the public space of the city.
This was also the year I learned about the 15-minute city concept which I was instantly taken by because it described the lifestyle we were experiencing in this medium-sized Nordic city.
My kids pictured here were running to what was our favorite playground (an approximately 10 minute walk from our home). The playground was set on an island which also had many other amenities, including an outdoor gym & was a favorite area of mine for working out as well.
This playground and the outdoor space surrounding it was fabulous but perhaps even more importantly, it was one of SEVERAL playgrounds that were within a 15-minute walk from our apartment.
We would also sometimes venture out further to other neighborhoods to experience different areas and without fail could always find a playground nearby.
For me, this is Urban Planning 101 but having lived in many cities and towns across multiple countries it’s obvious that it is not always a priority to preserve or develop accessible, quality green space with areas of play & engagement for youth.
These spaces are so critical for daily living, well-being, mental health, physical fitness and ….joy! Of course, the benefits of this ease of access for my high energy young children was huge. At any time we could leave our apartment & have multiple, well-designed play spaces to access just a short walk away.
The pandemic exercise in my urban lab also brought forth wonderful residential narrative of people reflecting on understanding more clearly the benefits of well-planned local amenities in times of crisis.
I’m busy writing my dissertation papers and look forward to, through them, sharing more on my Warsaw-based urban lab approach and results.
I greatly look forward to designing future urban labs which will also include activities to ‘anchor’ back to memories of pandemic and lockdown for insight.
More on 15-minute city reflections here at the Pedestrian Space website: https://pedestrianspace.org/category/15-20-minute-city/
-Annika