POST COVID – 19 PANDEMIC AND ITS EFFECT ON EFFECTIVE SPACE RE – ALLOCATION IN PLANNING

Abstract

Before the outbreak of the COVID -19 Pandemic, space allocation for different land uses in planning have been in line with stipulated standard, which allowed easy accessibility within and among the public spaces in our cities. However, the recent outbreak of the COVID – 19 Pandemic has placed restrictions on the use of public spaces and also introduced the issue of physical distancing. These recent restrictions have become major policy measures to reduce and curtail the spread and likely transmission of the COVID – 19 virus and more importantly, to protect the health of the general public. The public spaces are now experiencing low patronage as a result of the “stay at home” and “lockdown restrictions’’. This paper assessed the post COVID-19 Pandemic and its effect on effective space reallocation in planning. The COVID-19 Pandemic will fundamentally and perhaps permanently change the stipulated standards used in the allocation of space for various land uses which will eventually alter the city designs in our various countries. There is therefore the need to assess these changes in order to inform the planners, the architects and landscape designers on recent urban planning design and space allocation in a post COVID-19 world.