A place, in the urban context at least, is its buildings, the spaces around them and the hustle and bustle of people making their way betwixt and between them.

The only place that many people have known for a while though is home. On the one hand we have got to know our local environs more, but, on the other, and as we creep tentatively back into towns and cities, how will we find urban places now? The buildings are less densely populated and might soon need to be used for different things. The spaces have more demands upon them from restaurateurs, cyclists, pedestrians and urban dwellers coming out for air. There is less hustle and less bustle.

How permanent might these changes be and how might the certainty and confidence with which new places have been created be affected as a result. How will the pandemic change the nature of place?

Sam Stafford discusses these themes in this episode with Ruairidh Jackson (Founding Director at Start Advisory), Sue Manley (Director at Placemarque) and Katie Wray (Assistant Director at Deloitte).

Katie and Placemarque are on Twitter at @kluw and @placemarque, and Start Advisory is on Instagram at @start_advisory.

Some accompanying reading.

'Coronavirus: we’re in a real-time laboratory of a more sustainable urban future' by Paul Chatterton.

https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-were-in-a-real-time-laboratory-of-a-more-sustainable-urban-future-135712

'The city and the virus' by Max Nathan.

https://medium.com/@maxnathan/the-city-and-the-virus-db8f4a68e404

‘We can’t go back to normal’: how will coronavirus change the world?' by Peter C Baker.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/31/how-will-the-world-emerge-from-the-coronavirus-crisis

Some accompanying listening.

Places And Spaces by Donald Byrd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unbgblfgsQI