Functions of public space and virtual space – post-pandemic scenario
Functions of public space and virtual space – post-pandemic scenario

Author(s): Dorota Mantey
Subject(s): Geography, Regional studies
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: pandemic; physical public space; virtual space; Internet; social function of space
Summary/Abstract: The best opportunity to anticipate which social functions of public space will still be fulfilled in physical space, and which can be successfully redirected to virtual space, is a sudden crisis situation, which forces people to reevaluate their needs, change their current behavior, and reflect on the nature of the publicness of space that they share with others. Two months of restrictions associated with COVID-19 in Poland inspired the author to attempt to verify the functions of contemporary physical and virtual public space, and to identify the directions of changes that both types of space are likely to follow in the future. The purpose of the chapter is to indicate the functions that – according to the respondents’ declarations – will permanently lose their significance in physical public space and the functions that will permanently gain importance in virtual public space. The above-mentioned functions and their changes have been analyzed in big cities, small towns, suburbs and rural villages in metropolitan areas of three Polish cities: Warsaw, Gdańsk and Wrocław. The research has shown that social function still remains the essence of public space. During lockdown, meeting friends in a physical space accessible to everyone was the most lacking activity as declared by residents of all types of settlement units. Along with meeting friends in public space, people were the least willing to permanently limit the use of local green and recreational areas (especially city dwellers). The pandemic has opened new possibilities of using the Internet, mainly as a space for working, learning and improving qualifications as well as indulging own passions. These activities, however, can, but do not necessarily impose social interactions.

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