Material and digital dimensions of urban public spaces through the lens of social distancing

Abstract

The role of public spaces in the city has been traditionally linked to their material dimensions. But experience of public spaces has been also increasingly digital in recent decades, with spatialities of urban dwellers being mediated by smart technology. The relation between material and digital dimensions of public space has been changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The social distancing measures severely limited the accessibility and openness of public spaces. Digital technologies can serve as a substitute for the lost possibilities of physical contact. In this study we aim at exploring this possibility and its impacts. We are also interested in using this opportunity to ask questions about the role of space and place, either material, digitally augmented or virtual in the lives of urban dwellers. Our in-depth interviews exposed a situation where it is the lack of access to material public space that is greatly contributing to the creation of social deficits identified in our interview - sensual flattening, otherless world, spatially not-rooted communication, being out of role. These deficits can serve as indicators of the role of the material dimension of public space in social interactions and as a guide to the creation of good quality public spaces.