The coronavirus will create civic trauma if we don’t protect public spaces | Opinion

The coronavirus pandemic is a crisis unlike anything we have witnessed in recent history. It has imposed necessary new norms through social distancing and isolation and further reliance upon digital communication. While critical right now, these behavioral changes can create unparalleled long-term civic trauma if we allow them to define our mindset once the pandemic subsides. Government, nonprofit, and philanthropic leaders must develop post-crisis plans now to bring our community bonds back together once the virus subsides. An essential ingredient in that recipe will be vibrant and accessible public spaces.

Over the past five years, I have had the privilege of serving as Reading Terminal Market’s general manager. I have seen the power of a place like the market that cuts through nearly all of our social barriers — race, income, geography, language, religion, etc. — to create an increasingly rare measure of civil interaction. Though these engagements are often fleeting, they still provide a measure of civic glue: a binding agent that can allow us to see past superficial differences and understand that we have more in common than we might otherwise believe, or at the very least, have fates that are tied together. Public spaces offer some of the only forums where this is even possible anymore.

During this crisis, while we must utilize public spaces with respect to social distancing requirements, public spaces have offered essential access to food, the fresh outdoors, and a few moments of solace that are otherwise difficult to find. But the throngs crowding city parks, creating challenges for city officials, show the need for carefully distanced public interactions.

Over the past month, I have witnessed a good portion of the market temporarily transform into an e-commerce fulfillment center, creating new kinds of connections both within the market and across the Philadelphia region. People previously employed at different merchant stores opted to continue working in the market’s e-commerce ramp-up and unwittingly jumped into a shared experience as essential workers. They ensure that folks still have a way to access essential provisions. Simultaneously, our butcher, cheesemonger, and produce counters still see customers coming in, seeking a product they need and an experience they crave.

The social unwind from the COVID-19 crisis will be slow, tedious, and require intentional work. By the end of March, 91% of participants in a national poll indicated discomfort in attending a crowded party, according to the Pew Research Center. Two-thirds said they would feel uncomfortable voting in person.

The virus has created an understandable fear, which may instigate social distancing even when experts determine it is no longer necessary. Fear of crowds may not dissipate easily. As many of 85% of Pennsylvanians, and about three-quarters of Americans, recognize social distancing as necessary. That’s good for fighting the coronavirus. But it raises important questions about how we will approach public spaces and gatherings when the worst is over. The impact on routine socialization could be extraordinary. When it is safe, vibrant public spaces can provide the necessary opportunity for healthy social norms to resume.

There will also be an economic need for low- or no-cost public amenities. The nation’s unemployment rate is primed to reach levels unseen since the Great Depression. Communities will need free, or at least affordable, sources of engagement. Ironically, many of our city’s parks now rely on infrastructure built during the Great Depression through economic stimulus programs. Nearly 100 years later, these assets will serve as important tools toward bridging the economic gaps that COVID-19 has expanded.

The list of institutions and organizations that will need resources in the crisis’ wake will be long. There will likely not be enough to satisfy everyone in full. Public spaces such as parks, libraries, and other important institutions that help weave that civic fabric should take priority on that list. We must not only address the virus’s insidious attack on society with an antidote. We must also ready a cure to the attack on public life the virus has forced. Public spaces will offer one start.

Anuj Gupta is a public space fellow with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and former general manager of Reading Terminal Market.