This article was originally published on Common Edge.
Since the Covid-19 epidemic, most of the world’s countries, I have spent the last few months in quarantine at home, disturbed and unsure of the ramifications of all this. I will save my predictions for the long term after the African city’s pandemic (there is currently no shortage of them), however, I would make some comments on our current situation. As an African, my attitude is unique in our continent and universal for all. After all, it’s a global pandemic.
For several weeks, ghost towns have become the new norm in Africa, as the municipal government implemented strict policies of closure in reaction to the escalation of the pandemic. Today, at most, all major cities on the continent remain enclosed or are gradually leaving. As a result, there are many hypotheses about what our cities will look like in a post-Covid era. Many say there will be a significant replacement in the planning, design and operation of cities as the government seeks to adapt to the maximum disruptive effects of the pandemic. I don’t entirely agree with that view. I believe that predicting the long term of a city after a pandemic in the middle of a pandemic is, at best, problematic. I also know from history that pandemics, even the deadliest, end one day.
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We’re not new to pandemics. The Spanish flu of 1918 killed another 82,000 people in Lagos (1.5% of the local population at the time). At the end of the pandemic in 1920, he reported that only Nigeria recorded at least 500,000 deaths; International deaths have been estimated at 50 million. In 2014, several cities on the continent were affected by Ebola in 2014, but this epidemic has been effectively controlled.
At the beginning of August, there were approximately 630,000 cases of Covid-19 and more than 20,000 deaths. These figures are particularly lower than in the United States. But there is no doubt that our peoples will certainly change, perhaps unexpectedly. Rather than speculating about an even hazy future, it might be more useful to see how the pandemic has exposed and amplified long-standing urban upheavals here in Africa and the south of the world. Solving the new disorders created through COVID-19 will ultimately mean addressing the old ones as well.
Physical distances and cultural conflicts
For classical African societies, physical connection remains an essential component of our communities. Large meetings are a vital component of collective culture. Whether we name a newborn, move into a newly built space or even grieve, almost every single opportunity here presents an opportunity for a public gathering. Today, this profound human need has the first victim of confinement; even the sacred and devoted congregations of the continent’s two dominant denominations, Islam and Christianity, were saved. The existing blockade has created a social shock within our built environment, which is totally at odds with our core cultural values. It’s unprecedented. Even civil wars have not stopped things to this extent and scale.
Beyond cultural conflicts, social estrangement mandates have largely exposed miserable situations in overcrowded slums and low-income neighborhoods on the continent, where exceptionally giant populations live in densely populated settlements, sharing limited public facilities. Unfortunately, social estrangement has remained for these hyperdent communities and, as a result, will remain the epicentres of the spread of the virus.
That of casual economics
The pandemic has highlighted the need for more self-sufficient neighborhoods. In Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, several residential neighborhoods were serviced through informal decomposition shops during closures. Mom-and-pops has become the cornerstone of many communities, promoting edibles and essential family items. Some of these outlets have also become community banks, giving citizens money back opportunities for a small fee. Others provided credit to citizens who were unable to pay their expenses during the pandemic. These makeshift wood decomposition warehouses, sometimes not exceeding four square meters, have become very important centres for many communities. While lately there is a strict policy that opposes street industry and other informal activities in residential neighborhoods, closures have shown that such businesses are essential for our communities. There is some irony in this, as these puts were occasionally systematically besapped by the government guilty of the city’s progression in “peacetime.” Occasionally they were harassed, declared illegal and demolished. If there’s a lesson to learn how to make plans here, it’s this: those informal neighborhood outlets are an integral component of our urban DNA and will need to be at the center of long-term bidding. They’re a force, not a scourge.
Misplaced priorities
The pandemic has led to a wave of poorly built fitness facilities: across the continent, the government is building infectious disease clinics, molecular laboratories and isolation centers in reaction to the public fitness emergency. This is a welcome but also belated reaction, highlighting the collective failure of African states, which for years have prioritized vain projects designed through utopian star architects and new utopian ‘megacities’ at the expense of offering fundamental gadgets such as quality fitness care. their developing populations. Perhaps the pandemic will motivate a reboot, ending this near-indirect focus on primary advances and emphasizing the importance of others as the ultimate vital component of site creation.
Neighborhood park shortages
In a 2018 essay for Common Edge, I lamented the lack of play areas for young people in more African cities. Here in Abuja, the maximum neighborhoods are fully built and have very little free area available; the small parks in the network are virtually non-existent. The blockade has greatly exacerbated this problem, not only for young people, but also for crazy adults. During the confinement, after long periods of incarceration, many frustrated families simply walked the cobblestone streets until they got bored and tired and went home. Obviously, they were hungry for open areas that just didn’t exist.
It turns out that pandemics will be an inescapable component of human existence, and are likely to become more common as the effects of climate change become more pronounced. As a result, we will need to be informed of this difficult time, knowing that these occasions will not only create disastrous new realities, but will exacerbate and disseminate existing challenges. The unrest faced by Africa’s built surroundings and our cities are ancient and well documented. Many designers, planners and theorists have proposed viable solutions. I think the time has come for the government to listen.
We invite you to check ArchDaily coronavirus coverage, read our productivity tips and articles as you run from home, and observe technical recommendations for sound design in long-term projects. Do not refer to the latest recommendation and data on COVID-19 on the World Health Organization (WHO) website.
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