In ‘Balance is the new normal – The effects of Covid-19 on future built-environment thinking,’ Prof. Pomeroy investigated challenges faced by the built environment, and how the complexity added by Covid-19 necessitates globally resilient prompts for future built-environment thinking. Online lecture was presented on 27 August 2020 as a part of a ‘Knowledge is GREAT’ Lecture series in partnership with British Council.

Balance is the New Normal

In this lecture, Prof. Pomeroy discussed how Covid-19 has transformed the way in which we use space to live, work, play or learn and has necessitated an evolution in the way we perceive, educate and potentially (re)design our cities, buildings and landscapes. Whilst the immediate natural inclination is for an increase in spatial proportions to allow for social distancing, the city has, for centuries, evolved into its increasingly high-density guise as the product of Man’s need for convergence – regardless of the economic, political, religious and/or cultural motivation. Such migratory patterns to cities have yielded the urban habitats that we inhabit today, and whilst Covid-19 continues to be a disruptive influence on those patterns, our responses should be as equally socio-culturally weighted as they are spatial.