Sitting in the relative sanctuary of my home while exterior to this, in the public space the world whirls to the surface the toxins enacted by broken systems.
If the personal is political then what do my actions and choices contribute? I am a symbol and what is the message?
This afternoon I did a yoga class with one other participant, a korean woman. her name is Kitty. today’s instructor is Nhi, a Vietnamese woman who speaks softly words like, ‘Chillax your shoulders, Chillax your belly’. Although next door the apartment was in full renovation mode I thought this a good sign, a sign of renewal, of people investing in a post-covid future. As the drilling sounds threatened to bust the small room we’d created we somehow meditated and breathed away the noise. During Savasana Nhi gently massaged my scalp digging into the pressure points and pulled my head so i felt more long into my neck and elongated. Being touched like this after months of physical distancing was a yearning realised. i understand how animals feel when you scratch their itch.
How Covid 19 Will Change Cities
‘Operating out of his studio in the Perth CBD, urban designer Peter Ciemitis is one worker still supporting retailers in the city centre, grabbing lunch at cafes down the street and provisions from the deli below his office. He’s seen the change firsthand.
“Walking around, it is clear that the CBD has become an estranged place,” he says. “Its mood has dampened; it is no longer convivial and lively. There are few people on the street, and it feels that there is an undercurrent of social anxiety.”
He thinks about the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-20, which prompted Australia’s suburban “garden city” movement. “We saw better building codes for ventilation, room sizes and crowding,” he says. “We are still enjoying most of these legacies today.”’
‘He envisions wider footpaths through removal of parking strips, and new developments set further back from the street. While this would allow for better social distancing, it would also create more opportunity for socialisation.
Ciemitis sees more space for public art in our post-coronavirus cities, too. “Perhaps we might see pop-up exhibitions helping to reactivate ‘ghost retail’ spaces where more shopping has gone online,” he says.
He says that any attempts to bring people back into cities will need to strike a balance, offering space for people to be comfortable while still allowing for “compact living that makes viable, sustainable walkable cities”.’