Planning more equitable public spaces that are responsive to community needs could help cities recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report released Wednesday by the nonprofit Knight Foundation and urban research and design consulting firm Gehl.

When public spaces and their programming are community-led, the report said projects could have a "ripple effect" on the rest of the city, as it can help in areas like workforce development and youth engagement and contribute to broader community development and resiliency.

The role of parks and other public spaces in cities have become increasingly important during the pandemic, as people seek ways to stay active in a socially distant way. Many cities have responded to that trend by closing certain streets to vehicle traffic, including in parks. And while it remains to be seen whether that street closure trend will stick, some spaces like New York's Central Park had already committed to car-free areas before the pandemic.

The Knight Foundation said lessons learned during the pandemic could help cities rebound and make their communities more resilient. That "ripple effect" from community-led design of public spaces, for instance, can help cities address issues like public safety, which the report notes took place in Centennial Park in Philadelphia.

"Public spaces that were community-led… during COVID-19, they were able to be nimble, they were able to respond to the needs within their community and be able to do things that were responsive to the moment in time," she said. "Whether that meant innovative programming for socially distancing, we saw various examples of that. I think moving forward, there's a tremendous opportunity for us to lean into this moment in time."

Community-driven public space design can also foster higher rates of attachment and trust among communities of color, according to the report. For example, 79% of Black respondents near the neighborhood parks studied said the space was "special to me" compared to 70% of all respondents. However, challenges remain to fostering trust and inclusion among communities of color, particularly for Black residents, due to "legacies of disinvestment and distrust," the report writes.

Read the full article about community-led design of public spaces by Chris Teale at Smart Cities Dive.