Evaluation and Improvements Of Epidemic Prevention And Control: A Case Study In Haikou And Harbin Cities

Abstract

In today’s COVID-19 era, cities, where residents do not maintain proper social distancing in public spaces, are more vulnerable to the outbreak. In order to investigate social distancing and the symbiotic relationship between urban public spaces and the factors of the spread of the epidemic, this paper selects Haikou and Harbin cities to analyze their current situation of external residential and commercial street public areas through questionnaires, discusses their commonalities and differences in the process of epidemic prevention and control, and proposes design interventions. Results show that Haikou people prefer to go out collectively through public transport, do not pay attention to maintaining social distance, and most people do not have good epidemic prevention habits. The enthusiastic Harbin residents tend to chat with the shop assistants and don't have the habit of keeping a social distance and wearing masks. Facing COIVD-19, their commonalities in poor epidemic prevention mainly reflect three aspects: the streets of both belong to the more closed and narrow streets of the old city, the residents are warm and cheerful, as well as the protective facilities are inadequate. In addition, there are significant differences in climate, cultural practices and architectural styles between the two cities, leading to poor epidemic prevention. Haikou is located in the tropics, and the annual average temperature is five times that of Harbin, a high-latitude city. Moreover, the urban culture of Haikou is a mixture of southern China and Southeast Asia, while Harbin is a mixture of Russian and northern Chinese cultural practices. In contrast to Haikou's arcade architectural style, Harbin combines traditional northern Chinese blocks with the European Baroque system. Considering their commonalities and differences, it is suggested to adopt flexible modular design in public spaces, widen the sidewalks, increase isolation points, and set up the greening belt to isolate the gathering crowd.