Platforms for re-localization. Communities and places in the post-pandemic hybrid spaces

Abstract

Beside addressing the emergency, design practice and research could focus on how COVID19 is influencing existing trends in order to strategically plan for a post-pandemic phase where the “new normality” means living in ecological and socio-economic crises. This article focuses on what the pandemic crisis teaches us on the issue of local communities and related digital technologies. How can we design for and with the new kind of communities emerging because of COVID-19? The background of this research is the experimentation and research at the intersection of two themes (as they were before the COVID-19 crisis): the construction of communities related to the place where they are located (community of place), and the design of enabling platforms of re-localizing processes (place-making infrastructure). The article draws an overview of the changes that the pandemic has brought to communities, the emerging hybrid communities of the new normality (i.e., communities before, during and after COVID-19). Finally, it proposes 10 design guidelines for the development of resilient, fair and open platforms supporting and assessing the new emerging hybrid communities and their distributed activities (i.e., platforms for communities after COVID-19).

Nurturing urban innovation and knowledge in the ongoing COVID-19 world

“…Here, the study focuses on the second half of the lived reality during the pandemic: That lived reality was constituted not only by how people thought about and responded to the pandemic and the lockdowns, but also how these responses were constrained or framed by the living environments of our cities and communities. City and state governments modified (or allowed businesses to modify) physical configuration of spaces for altered usage; parks and outdoor areas were closed or opened as the pandemic waxed and waned ( Manzini et al 2021 ). And citizens themselves created new ways of engaging themselves and new ways of interacting as communities; e.g., residents in Italy and indeed around the world sang from their balconies ( Taylor, 2020 ).…”

Reconsidering the role of place in health and welfare services: lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and Canada

“…The increased use of street spaces and local pocket parks during the pandemic—as classrooms and gyms moved outdoors and cafes offered hampers for picnics—provides just one indicator of how the relationality of local outdoor spaces can be enhanced. Innovative responses to bridging virtual/place binaries will also be needed, such as recent work envisioning digital technologies as platforms for “re-localization” and “re-placing” in newly formed hybrid communities, rather than as primarily supporting trends toward social isolation, disengagement, and displacement (Manzini and Menichinelli 2021 , p. 351).…”

Materials for SDGs: A Synergy Towards Sustainable Development

“…The latter in particular, which are part of the world that we experience every day, have triggered a virtuous cycle that actively involves both consumers and designers (Sanders, 2006). Thanks to digitalisation and globalisation, there is a growing awareness in society, which is now constantly searching for products that meet the new needs of sustainability (Manzini & Menichinelli, 2021). The designer is therefore called upon to respond to these new challenges (van der Bijl-Brouwer & Malcolm, 2020).…”