As part of a series of advice notices around the pandemic, the government issued last month guidance for the owners and operators of public and green spaces with information and examples of measures that may be undertaken to adapt and manage those spaces in order to help social distancing.
The report titled ‘Safer public spaces – urban centre and green spaces’ can be found here. It sets out the principles that owners and operators should take into account when identifying key issues. A decision tree helps with identification and interventions. These could include managing high footfall and restricted entry and exit points.
The guidance also suggests potential design interventions such as signage to floor markings and widening of footpaths. When considering these interventions, owners and operators should also take account communications, as well as opportunities through technology and regulatory factors.
This link to an article titled ‘Embedding social distancing into cities’ and published in Infrastructure Intelligence on 15 June discusses several topics in this domain. The author, Neil Manthorpe from Atkins, was involved in helping draft the government’s guidance. The author also spoke to Resilience First members about his work at a weekly Covid-19 call on 19 June.
Other interventions in this space by Resilience First include:
- A letter to the Minister of State for Security at the Home Office on the need to take a holistic view of security in public spaces when the threat spectrum goes well beyond the pandemic as this weekend’s attack in Reading illustrates.
- A self-assessment guide on safer spaces for small businesses. See details on our Knowledge Hub here.
For further reading, please visit our Knowledge Hub.
