scholarly journals Using ICT Devices in the Urban Public Spaces of Colombo: Virtual Socializing and Social Distancing During the Covid-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Kavisha Charukshi De Silva ◽  
Ajitha Ilangaratne ◽  
Jeewanthi Senadheera
Keyword(s):  
Public Spaces ◽  
Social Distancing

Kafka and the COVID-19 epidemic: Why the Sirens’ silence is more deadly than their song

Leadership ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-330
Author(s):  
Yiannis Gabriel
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Inner Strength ◽  
The Individual

Seeking to examine the implications of social distancing, isolation and the silencing of public spaces brought about by the COVID-19 epidemic, I offer an interpretation of Kafka’s short story ‘The Silence of the Sirens’ contrasting it to the Homeric original. In Homer’s story, Odysseus resists the temptation of the Sirens’ deadly song by having himself tied to the mast of his ship, while his oarsmen, ears blocked with beeswax, sail quickly by. By contrast, in Kafka’s telling of the story, the Sirens fall silent. A solitary Odysseus, indifferent to them, sails by peacefully, his ears blocked, his ‘great eyes’ staring in the distance. Homer’s story has long been seen as a warning against the seductions of Siren voices like those of opportunist demagogues. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus himself offers a complex archetype of heroic leadership, navigating adroitly and prudently the dangers of stormy seas. Kafka’s character, by contrast, proposes a different archetype, one akin to the Stoics’ homo viator, the individual who sails through life’s adversities by accepting them and turning them into a source of inner strength and wisdom. In this way, Kafka offers two things: first, an insightful explanation of why silence and isolation can be deadly when they leaving us alone with our darkest fears and fantasies, and second, an archetype of hope that is attuned to our times on how to cope with pain and anxiety.

scholarly journals Effects and Challenges of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Beach Economy: The Case of the Tents Business in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2020 ◽  
pp. 263-286
Author(s):  
Julia Valentin Laurindo Santos ◽  
João Vitor Prudente ◽  
Letícia Parente-Ribeiro ◽  
Flavia Lins-de-Barros
Keyword(s):  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Period 2 ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
Traditional Sector ◽  
The City

In 2020, the rapid spread of Covid-19, a disease caused by a highly contagious virus, led many governments to adopt measures of social distancing, including the suspension of activities considered non-essential and the closure of public spaces. In Brazil, a country that is distinguished by sun, sea and sand tourism (3s), the effects were immediate in the months of March, April, May and June: closed beaches and the suspension of all economic activities linked to it. This article seeks to understand the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on a traditional sector of the beach economy in Rio de Janeiro, the “tent business”. For that, we analyzed: 1) the organization of this sector in the pre-pandemic period; 2) the legal measures adopted to contain the spread of the new coronavirus and which affected the uses of beaches; 3) the effects of the pandemic on the daily lives of beach workers 4) the challenges for the resumption of activities in the post-pandemic period. The data used in this research are the result of surveys and fieldwork carried out in the period before the pandemic and the application, during quarantine, of semi-structured interviews, via social networks, with owners and employees of tents on the beaches of the city’s waterfront. For this study, the normative measures that affected the beaches of the city of Rio de Janeiro during the pandemic were also analyzed. As main results, we highlight, first, the importance of the “tent business” in the economic circuits associated with Rio beaches, as well as the role that tents play as poles of concentration of bathers in the sand strip. Regarding governmental measures of social distance, we noticed that the beaches were one of the areas affected for the longest time by the suspension of activities and that, until the total reopening occurred in October, the activities associated with the solarium, such as the “tent business”, were those that presented a more uncertain horizon of recovery. The impacts on the daily lives of the owners of the tents and their employees were enormous, with the vertiginous decrease of their incomes and the difficulties of finding alternative occupations. These effects were partially offset by the adoption of assistance measures by governments and the creation of support networks involving beachgoers, both Brazilian and foreigner, as a result of a relationship built over the years with stallholders and other beach workers. Finally, from a comparative exercise with other situations in the world, we highlight the challenges that are already being faced for the adoption of new ways of ordering the uses of beaches in the post-pandemic world. Keywords: Coastal management, social distancing, beach workers, beachfront, solarium.

scholarly journals Transformation of the Private/Public Divide in the Times of Covid-19: How Economydriven Policies Are Reshaping the Concept of Social/Physical Distancing in Serbia

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-135
Author(s):  
Ivana Stepanović
Keyword(s):  
Public Spaces ◽  
Physical Distance ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
The Times ◽  
Over Time

The evolution of social/physical distancing narratives throughout the COVID19 pandemic has left the concept itself ambiguous and vague while cutting through the borderlines between private and public. In the case of Serbia, economy-driven policies have shifted the focus from isolation, solitude and remote work during the first and the only lockdown towards the idea of physical distance in public spaces and work environments. This paper aims to analyse how social distancing narratives in Serbia were construed over time through governmental policies as well as companies’ regulations, and how they redefined the concept of privacy during the pandemic.

Investigation of spatial configuration management on social distancing of recreational clubhouse for COVID-19 in Penang, Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Adibah Binti Abdul Nasir ◽  
Ahmad Sanusi Hassan ◽  
Fatemeh Khozaei ◽  
Muhammad Hafeez Bin Abdul Nasir
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Spatial Configuration ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Spatial Arrangement ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Impact

PurposeSince the appearance of COVID-19 social distancing and staying home have been recommended repeatedly by the governments for disease prevention. As the challenge continues to remain the current study seeks to examine the factors affecting social distancing through space planning and management. More specifically the current study aims to examine the appropriateness of the spatial organization and space configuration of a clubhouse with a linear plan layout in the mitigation of the spread of infections due to serious pandemic COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachFor an enhanced understanding of the impact of spatial arrangements of public spaces plan on the effective implementation of social distancing this study has used the space syntax analysis method. The MPSP clubhouse building in Penang, Malaysia was selected as the case study. The level of permeability and wayfinding were determined in the building plan and were illustrated using photoshop software to depict the interrelation between the indoor spaces and building circulation. Graphs of the depth of space were used to analyze the level of permeability and wayfinding to illustrate the possibility of social distancing in the plan.FindingsThe result of the study shows the significant role of proper plan layout design on social distancing. While clear and direct wayfinding can positively be associated with more effective social distancing, the inefficient design of user access, inappropriate locations of multiple entry and exit and indefinite directions of users' inside buildings can impose slight limitations. The average level of permeability might suggest ineffective spatial arrangement, ignoring the needs of spatial segregation. The study further found that the linear plan layouts with proper zoning and effective management strategies can be considered a proper layout to facilitate social distancing and the spread of COVID-19.Originality/valueThe current study is unique in terms of examination of the spatial configuration of linear public spaces plan layout for possible temporary adaptability to curb disease spread during the unexpected advent of a pandemic. Based on researchers' best of knowledge it is the first time that the impact of recreational space design on social distancing has been examined. The study also originally sheds light on the fact that the commonly used guideline for the social distancing of 1–2 m between 2 persons, in reality, is practically inadequate given the nature of the sports activities.

Technological responses to COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-19
Author(s):  
Keith Kirkpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Public Spaces ◽  
Social Distancing

Companies are finding new ways to enforce social distancing, clean public spaces, and provide substitutes for human workers.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on parenting

Diogenes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Polina Hristova ◽  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Transport ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
At Home

Social distancing measures forced all citizens to stay at home and to work as far away as possible, and public spaces (eg schools, offices, public transport, theaters) were closed and public gatherings banned. These measures of social distancing (the so-called ‚lockdawn‘) have led to drastic changes in everyday social life; separate areas of life, such as family, school, and work, suddenly coincided, and families were faced with an unforeseen increase in hours spent together under one roof.

scholarly journals Prototype Social Distancing Reminder Using HC-SR04 Sensor At The Payment Counter Via A Smartphone

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferry Wahyu Perdana ◽  
Shazana Dhiya Ayuni ◽  
Arief Wisaksono ◽  
Syamsudduha Syahrorini
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Reading Accuracy ◽  
Corona Virus ◽  
New Type

Starting from the beginning of March 2019 and even until the end of 2020, the Indonesian people are experienced prolonged suffering due to the emergence of a new type of infectious disease called Corona Virus 2019. Social Distancing is a program that aims to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 disease as early as possible. In this research, the method used is the observation technique and literature study for the implementation of the HC-SR04 sensor as one of the distance sensors used for distance reminders implemented in public spaces using IoT as a monitoring system. The results obtained are the reading accuracy of the HC-SR04 sensor is quite accurate to 100% accuracy and when the HC-SR04 sensor detects less than 8cm (1meter real distance) then the DF Player will sound, the LCD will display a display “Jaga Jarak Anda! ", And there will be a notification"Peringatan: Kondisikan Jarak" on a smartphone that has the Blynk application installed.

scholarly journals Density and Danger: Social Distancing as Racialised Population Management

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Caroline Hodge
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Contraceptive Use ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Population Management ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Viral Spread

A ubiquitous facet of collective social life in the age of COVID-19, social distancing(that is, the set of practices that aims to reduce the number of people in public spaces and maximise the distance between them) works to suppress viral spread by de-densifying public spaces; it redistributes people who are vectors for the virusby pushing them into their own domestic spaces. While the scale of these manoeuvres is in some ways unprecedented, the toll that the virus and its primary means of mitigation—social distancing—extracts along racial lines is at once unequal and deeply familiar. In this Position Piece, I examine social distancing as de-densification within a larger history of family planning and racialised population management in the context of ongoing fieldwork on the material and affective implications of contraceptive use in the American Midwest. In probing the grammar of social distancing—its distinctions between ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ workers, services, and spaces and the ways in which such distinctions unequally distribute the labour of de-densification and its impacts on family planning—I elucidate how COVID-19 managements do not simply reveal existing racial disparities, but make them anew at a time when the fabrics of social reproduction are increasingly under strain. The dynamics of social distancing can thus be understood as continuous with ongoing attempts at racialised population management. Such an understanding opens a space for political action foreclosed by a narrow view of social distancing as crisis response.

Monitoring Social Distancing Using Artificial Intelligence for Fighting COVID-19 Virus Spread

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 48-63
Author(s):  
Hashem Alyami ◽  
Wael Alosaimi ◽  
Moez Krichen ◽  
Roobaea Alroobaea
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Virus Spread ◽  
Person Detection ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Backbone Network ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities

To restrict COVID-19, individuals must remain two meters away from one another in public since public health authorities find this a healthy distance. In this way, the incidence of “social distancing” keeps pace with COVID-19 spread. For this purpose, the proposed solution consists of the development of a tool based on AI technologies which takes as input videos (in real time) from streets and public spaces and gives as output the places where social distancing is not respected. Detected persons who are not respecting social distancing are surrounded with red rectangles and those who respect social distancing with green rectangles. The solution has been tested for the case of videos from the two Holy Mosques in Saudi Arabia: Makkah and Madinah. As a novel contribution compared to existent approaches in the literature, the solution allows the detection of the age, class, and sex of persons not respecting social distancing. Person detection is performed using the Faster RCNN with ResNet-50 as it is the backbone network that is pre-trained with the open source COCO dataset. The obtained results are satisfactory and may be improved by considering more sophisticated cameras, material, and techniques.

COVID-19 and “the trinity of boredom” in public spaces: urban form, social distancing and digital transformation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisham Abusaada ◽  
Abeer Elshater
Keyword(s):  
Urban Form ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Widespread Application ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Urban Planning And Design ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Trinity

PurposeOver the coming decades, the widespread application of social distancing creates challenges for the urban planning and design profession. This article aims to address the phenomenon of boredom in public places, its main influences that generate change in repetition, monotony and everyday lifestyle, whether positive, negative or both – depending on the binding and governing rules of urban shape variations and daily lifestyles.Design/methodology/approachThis viewpoint relied on literary narration to discuss the phenomenon of boredom vis-à-vis urban design and placemaking solutions in the face of social distancing. It builds its orientation by analyzing the works of nine scholars and five of their relevant theories.FindingsEvidence from previous studies helped develop three-pillar guidelines that can produce better results for post-pandemic development in the face of boredom. These pillars include recommendations for the trinity of heterogeneity for metamorphosis in urban form, changes in public life and digital transformation in a time of uncertainty on how to confront (un)seen boredom in public spaces. Practitioners should develop new insights into the relationship between people and place by reviewing existing paradigms in urban studies to avoid repetition, monotony and change in everyday life after a pandemic.Originality/valueThe added value here is in underlining boredom as one of the consequences of social distancing and lockdown applications building on the phenomenon's theorizers. The key contribution of this work is the three-pillar recommendation for confronting the boredom in public spaces that happens because of social distancing and lockdown.

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