Rethinking and Re-defining the Role of Open Spaces for Sustainable Residential Communities in the Post-Pandemic Context

COVID-19 has changed and is continuously changing the way people live. With much of the world’s population being constantly subjected to varied forms of lockdowns, we are concerned with how this, and further associated events arising from the pandemic, will change the way cities, communities, and homes are being planned and designed. It is apparent how people are spending an excessive amount of time indoors due to lockdowns. Homes have become a “multi-functional hub” that, apart from the regular home functions, caters to work and school activities previously conducted in separate buildings or locations away from the home. Around the globe, while being restricted within the physical confines of the house, there remains a need to access our outdoor environment in fulfillment of physical, psychological, and social human needs through safe and appropriately designed open (semi-open) spaces within the immediate residential community.