Nuria List

  Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences | Bachelor European Studies

"Observations on Interventions on Public Space During Covid 19 A comparative analysis of Cork, Ireland, and Aachen, Germany"

Nuria's elevator pitch
You would think the Covid 19 pandemic has impacted public space rather negatively, wouldn’t you? Restrictions on the use of public space ranging from lockdowns to limitations on group sizes have been common reactions by policymakers. This thesis takes a closer look at different policies on public space implemented in Europe and has compared interventions in Cork, Ireland, and Aachen, Germany.

Counterintuitively, Covid 19 was found to have turned into a window of opportunity as public space was attributed renewed importance. Consequently, middle-sized city administrations became more experimental and creative in the creation and management of public space, applying different forms of urban design.