Public space
The recovery needs to also consider our communities' mental health and equitable access to public space
Background
Some of the key preventative measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic include physical distancing, restriction of movement, restriction of access to public spaces and enhanced hygiene protocols to name but a few.
Whilst these measures are implemented in the interest of public health, limitation of access to public space has unintended consequences in the mental health and wellbeing of youth, children and the elderly. During the pandemic, the main functions of public space were linked to leisure, children’s development, relaxation and livelihood support.
During this session, members from local and regional governments and other stakeholders discuss the effects of the pandemic on the mental health of our populations, as well as the importance of public space in the recovery and our relationship to green and public space in the aftermath.
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Challenges
- The pandemic has shown the importance of mental health, which is starting to be understood by policymakers as a core issue. It is critical to include it in all aspects of policymaking and should be clearly reflected in the public space.
- The climate emergency, gender equality and public transport are areas concerned with the transformation of the cities and this transformation should integrate mental health as part of their agendas to build a coherent response.
- Need to adopt a context-specific approach between, but also inside the communities in order to tackle inequalities.
- To transform the public space into a hub for socialization, local governments need to enhance basic services and facilitate access to green spaces.
- Mental health is an indicator for urban inequality. In poor and packed neighborhoods suicide and other indicators have increase exponentially, and it is important to attend the needs of youth and elderly with social care, to address the root of the problems.
Learn more about the challenges being faced by cities and regions
Responses
- Allowing communities to understand the links between access to public space and mental health is creating greater awareness and responsibility towards this issue.
- People’s engagement towards remedies to mental health disorders allows citizens to commit to concrete objectives. So, common activities which promote both empathy and dialogue are helping to overcome the painful emotions brought by the pandemic.
- Collaboration and interconnection between both public access and mental health and the action of citizens and institutions have been demonstrated to be effective globally.
- Cities like La Paz, in Bolivia, has provided particular attention to services to prevent mental health issues among citizenship.
Learn more about other responses and initiatives in terms of Migration:
Towards the Pact
- Participants highlighted public spaces as generators of livelihoods in cities, as spaces to ensure healthy cities beyond the pandemic.
- Learning activities and cross-actions concerning the re-invention of cities should focus on mental health if they want to ensure the inclusion of every citizen in the process.
- Creating new networks is key to making communication immediate, practical and consistent.
For further information on the topic of Public Service Delivery and its impact on cities and regions, please refer to the related resources included below.
- UCLG’s Live Learning Experience page
- Metropolis’ Cities for Global Health initiative
Frontliners
