Call for Submissions: Epidemic Urbanism Initiative Design Competition. Deadline 6 September 2021
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, like other epidemic illnesses and natural disasters that preceded it, has disproportionately affected vulnerable communities across the world including older adults, racial and ethnic minorities, and low income communities. The incidence of COVID-19, death rates due to the disease, and access to medical care were and are patterned along pre-existing social inequities and often aided by inequities in the built environments in which people live and work. Recognizing the role that everyday built environments play as both primary places of vulnerability and exposure as well as resources for health promotion and intervention, there is an urgent need to rethink architecture, urban design, and the built environment toward more critical, just, and equitable solutions in the post-pandemic age.
Undoubtedly, the cities, schools, homes, and spaces of recreation we inhabit will undergo large and small changes in the wake of the COVID-19 Design Competition 2021 pandemic, and as we anticipate the inevitable next epidemic or pandemic. What might these changes look like? Or, more to the point, what should they look like? In other words, how might we use this time of rebuilding and rethinking to envision, design, and inhabit built settings that are more just and equitable? How might we re-center health in all design practices and processes?
The design topics and questions include
- Senior housing – aging resiliently in community
- Community clinics – increasing healthcare access for underserved communities
- Neighborhood schools – building community among diverse groups
- Public park – promoting equitable access to shared, open spaces
Submit all materials to epidemicurbanism@gmail.com by September 6, 2021. More information about the competition and requirements can be found here.