The infographic not only identifies interventions that support Covid-19 mitigation strategies but also explains that many of the changes can be made permanent and contribute to a long-term health vision.

Examples of interventions include adjusting traffic light timing to favour pedestrians and cyclists, expanding public open spaces, and concentrating freight traffic on main roads and at night to improve traffic safety.

These tactical urbanism interventions as an expansion of short-term Covid-19 mitigation strategies are detailed in an article published in Current Environmental Health Reports.

The pandemic has drastically altered the way individuals interact with other people and their environment, but some public health guidelines meant to protect people conflict with the way public spaces and transport in urban areas are built. For example, how are you supposed to stay the recommended distance apart from other people when the standard width of a sidewalk or pavement is too narrow? What do you do when you want to cross a road intersection that requires pressing a button to activate the pedestrian signal, when this involves touching a surface?

Drive, bike or walk? The illusion of choice

Dr David Rojas, an epidemiologist in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences at Colorado State University, works with policymakers to improve urban design to make cities more inclusive and sustainable, resulting in better health outcomes for people.

In the case of Covid-19, he noticed that when urban areas were not optimised to accommodate mitigation strategies, it put some people in the awkward position of compromising certain public health guidelines to make a necessary trip to their place of work, school or worship. And the fear of coming in contact with Covid-19 and the inability to travel safely outside the home prompted other people to stay inside.

“The decisions we make are dictated by the options we have,” Rojas says. “How we decide to move, for example, like whether we take a car or walk to work.”

Choosing to travel by car may result in a shorter commute, but it can also mean less daily physical activity compared with riding a bicycle or walking. Likewise, taking a bicycle on the road may get help to exercise the body’s muscles, but riding alongside vehicles every day increases exposure to air pollution from car exhaust.

“Some people don’t have the time or opportunity to consider other options,” Rojas explains. “They have to take their kids to school and get to work within a short period of time, but public transportation is too slow or there aren’t any bus stations nearby.”

The options available differ for everyone depending on a range of contributing factors, and any number of sustained detriments impact health, causing long-term issues such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes, among others, comments Rojas. Even an increase of vehicles on the road raises the risk of traffic accidents, in turn putting pressure on the healthcare system that is responsible for treating resulting injuries.

When Covid-19 hit in 2020, cities quickly adapted their mobility patterns and use of space. This shift, says Rojas, created a suitable environment to highlight opportunities for improvement in urban design with everyone in mind, geared towards improving health outcomes not only during a pandemic but all the time.

“We need to think about how people experience public spaces differently,” Rojas says. “If we have better sidewalks, better connectivity, larger parks that are better designed for everyone, it will be good for chronic diseases, cancer, and many other relevant health outcomes.”

With a projected two-thirds of the human population living in cities by 2050, Rojas asserts that urban designers should plan ahead in the interest of public health. And responses to the Covid-19 pandemic could provide a push in the right direction.

“We can do two things,” he concludes, “make the same mistake of ‘copy and paste’ regulations or make a change. We can work with policymakers to not only impact how our cities are designed now but also to implement better designs for cities created in the future.”