ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many factors of everyday life, including how people engage with and use streets and sidewalks. Lockdowns and the temporary closure of workplaces, schools, shopping centres, gyms, and playgrounds saw people turn to local streets for exercise and to engage in safe, physically distanced walking and cycling. In this chapter, we discuss the critical role of streets and sidewalks in the public realm, and how they are being purposefully redesigned to be more remarkable. Many citizen-led initiatives transform streets and sidewalks into playable spaces, with people drawing in chalk fun games such as hopscotch, exercise activities, rainbows, and trivia questions. From street pianos to parklets and interactive art and science installations, sad sidewalks can engage, delight, and connect people, as we see through San Francisco's Living Innovation Zones. The intentional design of streets can also nudge sustainability, with the purposeful inclusion of urban greenery, parklets and ‘green’ parking spaces that offer sustainable solutions for drainage. Designing streets for active transportation can also benefit public health, urban congestion, and the overall liveability of our cities, with this chapter describing a vision for remarkable streets and sidewalks that are interconnected, interesting, inclusive, exciting, and inviting, encouraging people to linger and connect.
