{"title":"Spies, viruses and vaporetti: how the pandemic increases distances in the Venice lagoon","authors":"L. Centis","doi":"10.3828/TPR.2020.82","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/TPR.2020.82","url":null,"abstract":"Two epochal images of St Mark's Square in Venice have recently been impressed upon the collective memory of many people The first was that of a space saturated not by the oft-mistreated tourists, but by the exceptionally high tide of Nov 12, 2019 and those that followed with unusual frequency in the days after The second is that of an empty square due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions on movement that were imposed by the Italian government from the beginning of Mar 2020 The first image is linked to long-term ecological dynamics and, despite all its brutality, it has become and remains somewhat familiar The second image, however, is connected with unexpected events that caught people off guard and, with the exception of the few who remember the Spanish flu pandemic that occurred between 1918 and 1920, opened up a swathe of completely new emotional and social scenarios These scenarios are all the more disturbing as the uncertainty rate associated with the virus is high -- virologists and scientists are having to gradually learn about it as the situation unfolds in real time","PeriodicalId":103687,"journal":{"name":"Town Planning Review: Volume 92, Issue 2","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132305398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Planning for food commons in the post-COVID world","authors":"Stephen Leitheiser, L. Horlings","doi":"10.3828/TPR.2020.80","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/TPR.2020.80","url":null,"abstract":"Food security is quickly becoming a major crisis within the COVID-19 crisis While food insecurity mounts, reports from across the world have detailed the destruction of food by producers en masse: animals euthanized, liters of milk poured down the drain, crops left to rot in the field As some countries move to protectionist measures to secure their own food supply, many are warned that any impediments to global food trade could mean further catastrophe for millions of people In many ways the crisis may feel like a sledgehammer, yet the pandemic has merely laid bare the flaws of a system built on foundational vulnerabilities It has always been contradictory to construct food security on distant just-in-time supply chains, controlled centrally by just a handful of multinational corporations, and heavily influenced by the whims of financial commodity markets Already before the pandemic struck, the food systems were hanging on by a thread A look around would reveal food insecurity in the midst of food waste, obesity in the midst of hunger, heavy dependence on fossil fuels in the face of climate change and peak oil, and a growing disconnection from nature in the face of soil degradation and ecosystem destruction","PeriodicalId":103687,"journal":{"name":"Town Planning Review: Volume 92, Issue 2","volume":"117 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121847994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Planning for sociable green spaces after COVID-19","authors":"N. Dempsey, Julian Dobson","doi":"10.3828/TPR.2020.84","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3828/TPR.2020.84","url":null,"abstract":"Parks and green spaces have been thrust into the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic In a strange way, academics were initially cheered by the national calls for parks to remain open Parks and green spaces were highlighted as one of only a few destinations that people in lockdown in the UK were allowed to visit That sounded like a description of an essential service Academia and policy makers have long known about the social benefits of parks and green spaces A recent review of nearly 400 papers highlighted six ways in which they support a healthy society They enhance physical health, mental well-being and life satisfaction;create opportunities for social integration;support community engagement;highlight, and can address, inequalities;enable deeper connections with nature;and support healthy local economies For parks to remain open, fiscal as well as political support is crucial It therefore seemed that many were leaping to conclusions However, they have been watching how the unfolding events challenge how they plan and manage parks and green spaces as sociable places Here, what the pandemic has shown and what must be done to ensure that parks and green spaces remain the vibrant social places are explored","PeriodicalId":103687,"journal":{"name":"Town Planning Review: Volume 92, Issue 2","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130066117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}