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A New Normal? Not Yet…
My efforts to document city change over the past several years can suggest this pandemic season does not look much different than what came before. These images are a lesson learned. Any “new normal” must go deeper than dining outside in public space (visible above in 2008 in Italy), more bike lanes, public art, or other band-aids that mask the challenges of a longer view.
Last week, my friend Tim Williams (currently Cities Leader for Arup Australasia) asked on LinkedIn, “who decided ‘the new normal?’ Was I out of the room when the vote was taken?” My answer is we all are deciding as we go as part of a collective emergence from lockdown. We all get to be post-COVID philosophers, and we should not squander the opportunity to think broadly about what comes next for an interconnected world.
Tim is one such very affable philosopher, with a distinguished career in the United Kingdom before a good run as Chief Executive of the Committee for Sydney. He asks tough and thoughtful questions about transport and housing (wisely mixed with stories of his native Wales). I tout Tim as a breath of fresh air in a time of dogma, where trends already underway have been accelerated by the shocking pause to what was customary just two months ago.
