ARCHITECTURE

The pandemic has altered how we design everything from workplaces and educational buildings to sports facilities and airports. HOK’s Lynn Carlton, a regional leader of planning, explains why COVID-19 might also transform our Kansas City streetscapes.

Will COVID-19 Forever Change Our Streetscapes?

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the need for strong design leadership to inform the public spaces that we occupy and enjoy. Planners have long thought of our role in defining the built environment as one that allows us to respond to the most pressing issues of the day, from climate change and social justice reform to economic disparities and public health.

While the COVID-19 impact on built spaces has been discussed in detail, it is our responsibility as planners and landscape architects to consider how this public health crisis and its lingering effects will impact open space, our streets, and the public realm.

WHAT WILL BE THE NEW NORMAL?

When collaborating with clients and considering in the context of district design, the streetscape becomes an integral part of the solution for virtually every public-facing building. In communities where we have large public open spaces that act as community gathering spaces – like the Power & Light District here in Kansas City – we need to plan for flexibility and encourage clients to reconsider the allocation of pedestrian versus vehicular space.

We can do so by creating flexible, satellite storefronts, limiting access points to consolidated common areas, redefining pedestrian and vehicular circulation paths to minimize interactions and maximize space, and reallocating existing street infrastructure to be dedicated social, retail, and dining space.

Even with vaccine distribution underway, public sentiment and concerns about safety will linger, making it increasingly important that retailers, restaurants, and public gathering spaces make adjustments for the foreseeable future. Vehicular access plays an important role in how we plan and implement changes in the

Parkway Plaza | 4850 W. 135th Street Leawood, KS 66224 | 913.491.4111 800.735.5112 | mazzarese.com

While no one knows exactly when the COVID-19 pandemic will end or when widespread vaccination will be completed, it has inspired us to reimagine our streets as more pedestrian-friendly, active, and vibrant components of the cities where we live.

midst – and wake of – COVID-19. Our streets provide the greatest opportunity to reclaim outdoor space. By limiting vehicular access to one-way traffic or removing vehicular access through the middle of a district all together, parking and drive lanes can be converted into pedestrian zones that allow for additional circulation and expanded popup retail and dining. This approach must be implemented with caution in more sparsely developed areas, as some of the success of retail hinges on visibility from driveby or pedestrian traffic and parking convenience that is inherently available in destination developments.

These strategies will be most effective when implemented in districts that have a critical mass of business activity, diverse land uses, high visibility, and a mix of vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle access. In addition to the practical benefits, these strategies create placemaking opportunities for a city while supporting respite zones, pop-up public art, wellness opportunities, and more. And the best part of these proposed changes for cities? They are temporary improvements that can evolve as the needs of the community, and response to the virus, evolve.

While no one knows exactly when the COVID-19 pandemic will end or when widespread vaccination will be completed, it has inspired us to reimagine our streets as more pedestrian-friendly, active, and vibrant components of the cities where we live.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Lynn Carlton is a regional leader of planning at HOK and the current chair of the Kansas City Downtown Council. Over her two-decade career, she has led a variety of planning, design and landscape projects with a focus on downtown corridors, mixed-use developments, urban districts, waterfront locations, civic campuses and regional sustainability initiatives. Zachary O’Keefe is a landscape architect at HOK. He has dedicated his career to providing inventive, creative and sustainable solutions for commercial and residential projects.

4050 INDIAN CREEK PKWY | OVERLAND PARK, KS 66207 913-313-1207 | EYESTYLEOPTICS.COM