RETHINKING PUBLIC SPACE IN TIMES OF COVID-19: POP-UP INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ACTIVE MOBILITY IN BERLIN

Kurzfassung

In many cities worldwide, the covid-19 pandemic leads to a transformation of public space: To enable physical distancing and reduce the risk of infection, it is necessary to create more space for pedestrians and cyclists. Therefore, Berlin started to implement pop-up bike lanes and temporary play streets to give more public space to residents and children. Within our research project EXPERI we are analysing the on-going transformation of public space to understand the mechanisms of change and learn how cities can be made more resilient. In June 2020, about 22km of bike lanes have been implemented in 4 out of 12 districts of Berlin by using simple means, like delineators and yellow stripes. The pop-up lanes are concentrated in the inner city in districts with high cycling shares like Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (28%, 11km), but also Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf with a cycling share of 17% implemented about 7km of pop-up bike lanes. A recent survey shows that the majority of the users emphasizes security as a main advantage of the new infrastructure, both in terms of traffic risks and the risk of infection with the coronavirus (IASS, 2020). Moreover, there are a number of temporary play streets that allow children and pedestrians on Sundays to use the streets. The idea is to create more public space in a decentralized way. Almost 300 volunteers support the project and ensure the designation of currently 19 play streets. The experience of the first Sundays is very positive and shows that the civil society is actively involved in designing the streets and making them suitable for children. The results show that the quick process of implementation provides various benefits for rethinking and redistributing urban space. The temporary and iterative approach of implementation and the involvement of the population enable long-term changes of the urban space towards active mobility.