COVID impact on usage of public spaces in Brasilia, Brazil

Abstract

COVID 19 has proved to be a challenging time worldwide. For the last three years, academics have researched its impacts through different lenses and perspectives in many significant fields. In the urban academic realm, there has been a growing debate on the potential change in behavior towards public space usage during the pandemic. After compulsory confinent, public spaces became under the mainstream debate of the importance of public spaces for livelihood in times of crisis. Still, assessing its impacts on public space is still not widely done, neither quantitatively nor qualitatively. This research brings Brasilia as a study case to understand whether the pandemic has affected the usage of the iconic abundance of green spaces of the capital city on the first 18 months, before the introduction of vaccination. Brasilia as a garden-city, a concept brought by the modern urban design movement, has always faced criticism for its hygienist design and the ample provision of green spaces. The garden-city features was put to a test after COVID 19 through the analysis of five different types of public spaces using surveys and interviews with local residents of Plano Piloto (n=147). The results show that during the pandemic the usage of local neighborhood parks within walking distance has indeed increased. People tend to use these spaces for exercising but most importantly to socialize with friends and family.