As many of us hunker down in our homes in response to these extraordinary times we might take a moment to ponder a new found understanding of what it really means to have a sense of security and to feel safe.
As a social animal we all have an innate desire to connect, to communicate with each other and to feel part of a greater whole. We want to be useful. Whether at home with our families, in social gatherings with friends or in workplaces with our colleagues we all want to belong to small intimate herds which provide us with our sense of identity and emotional security.
But the current pandemic works against these desires. Our sense of connection and belonging has been brought into question. In public places our preconceived notions of gathering in streets activated by a flurry of pedestrians and retail activity, our cafes, restaurants, hotels and cultural spaces buzzing with vitality, our squares and plazas energised by people lingering, gathering and laughing and our public transport systems heavily patronised by bustling commuters have all combined to make us reassess the concept of the safe city in times of crisis.
The general rule of creating safe, attractive, well maintained public spaces where people attract people has been upended. Our daily routines of accessing and interacting with public spaces have been abruptly terminated. So-called “eyes on the street” have been replaced by a suspicion of strangers walking about in strange masks any one of whom could be carrying the dreaded virus. We look at one another differently and our intrinsic desire to gather together in small herds can be punished with a $1,000 fine. As the British Nobel Laureate Bertrand Russell once declared “Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.”
Our social relations have been transformed. We meet our friends, families and colleagues from a distance. We speak to one another from the other side of doors and windows and fences. We worry about the loneliness and isolation of our elderly friends and relatives. We telephone and connect with them on-line not knowing when we will see them in person again. Not all of us have the same amount of time to wait until then.
Where our increasingly rare chance social encounters do take place our instinctive urge to touch, to hug, to kiss and to shake hands has been reduced to a range of clumsy exchanges from awkward head nods, poorly choreographed elbow prods and nervous laughter.
Messages around moving safely about public spaces have been mixed as Governments struggle to strike the right balance between a business as usual approach supporting commuters to continue to catch public transport and keeping schools open while urging people to stay at home. Information on how best to maintain our social and mental health has taken a back seat as authorities contend with industries in tatters, rising unemployment and keeping some semblance of the economy in motion.
Our lives have been turned upside down as the key attributes that have characterised modern cities have been exposed. Increasing concentrations of mixed-use developments where people live, work and enjoy themselves in close convenient proximity and who ride close together in rapid and efficient public transport systems have in turn created the ideal conditions for the spread of the pandemic or as Professor Edward Holmes at the University of Sydney has suggested “an accident waiting to happen and it happened.” Moreover New York Governor Andrew Cuomo whose state sits at the epicentre of the outbreak in the United States asserted last week “Our closeness makes us vulnerable, that spatial closeness makes us vulnerable.” As we look toward a more positive future he also reminded us perhaps more tellingly that “It is true that your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength. And our closeness is what makes us who we are.”
The pandemic has given rise to many new terms words entering our language as we grapple with our new-found knowledge relating to “lockdowns,” “social distancing,” “self-isolation” and “unprecedented times” in meeting our shared objective of “flattening the curve.” Indeed notions of “social distancing” and “self-isolation” can play out very differently from country to country and arguably exposes humanity to the poignant inequalities which exist in these peculiar times.
People in many developed societies living in comfortable homes with spare rooms, single occupied bedrooms and modern amenities for example will likely be far better off than those living in overcrowded households or in slums and informal settlements. Where some residents may have already contracted the virus they may simply have nowhere else to go to practice either self-distancing or self- isolation. What’s more working from home can function well for people who work in offices and who are fortunate enough to have access to the internet, apps and software but for many people particularly women, faced between taking their wares to the local market and back each day to provide a meal on the family table that night, social distancing is merely a pipedream.
For many of us social distancing and self-isolation are privileges only a few of us can afford.
Moreover working parents with a cushion of wealth may be able to juggle the new demands of caring for their children far easier than single parents who are predominantly women particularly where grandparents can no longer provide support duties. Evidence suggests that women already spend more time doing unpaid work and are also underrepresented in most labour markets across the globe a fact any responses to the global pandemic ought to consider. Government rescue packages aimed at supporting its citizens through the crisis should also commit to measures acknowledging that women and girls whether they be grandmothers, wives, mothers and daughters in homes or working in the medical profession in hospitals such as nursing are more likely to be caregivers putting them at far greater risk in tending to often elderly relatives or patients.
Inside private homes people affected by the virus already under stress through businesses collapsing, jobs lost, incomes disappearing and feeling genuinely fearful about where the next meal will come from may report increased rates of domestic violence. A perceived lack of control can result in irrational behaviour leading to threats, violence and intimidation as the effects of the lockdown result in victims being trapped inside their places of residence with their abusers.
Working at home is not an attractive option for all of us.
We should also be mindful that deserted streets and trains and buses picking up and delivering handfuls of people riding in near empty carriages and other social distancing measures may make women and young girls more vulnerable to violence, harassment and intimidation in public places. Such times remind us of the continued need for the development of legislative and policy frameworks which allow us to better understand, prevent and respond to the safety concerns of women and girls in our cities.
Meanwhile still out on the streets people without a home plead for support as the passing trade on which they rely on for perhaps a partially full belly diminishes to a trickle. Others congregate in small groups for both companionship and protection oblivious to a world subdued in a self-induced coma. While Governments in many Western countries have been quick to respond to the needs of those who are suddenly without a job or an income and in finding hotel rooms for quarantining returning travellers, there are no Centrelink payments or free accommodation for people without homes in the absence of identity papers, tax file numbers and access to on-line services even if they are arguably more at risk than anyone else.
We can only shudder to think at the prospects of the many hundreds of thousands of people sleeping rough in the populous cities of the developing world.
From the mire heartwarming stories have emerged of communities rallying together, connecting and supporting one another in a multitude of delightful ways. People gifting reserves of the new currency of toilet paper rolls, supporting local businesses, placing freshly made food and treats on neighbours’ doorsteps and volunteers shopping and delivering meals to people isolated in their homes are just some of the many examples where the very best side of human nature has been revealed. The pandemic gives all of us the opportunity to establish, develop and strengthen the relationships essential to creating and sustaining safe communities and right now we need each other more than ever.
No mention of the pandemic should also fail to acknowledge and heartily salute the many health professionals, Police, cleaners, teachers, child care workers, carers, emergency workers, pharmacists, supermarket workers, truck drivers and many others working round the clock to provide essential goods and services. Such times remind us that it is often these indispensable and unsung workers who toil for many hours in often chaotic and distressing conditions that are the most poorly paid and who struggle to afford to live in our cities. Let us hope that out of this pandemic they receive more than just the mandatory nod of appreciation from our leaders.
For many people life after the pandemic will never be the same again. How we emerge from this crisis will say a lot about who we are. One of the less dignifying features of human evolution has undoubtedly been our increased desire for more. Whether it be more money, more material possessions or simply more to eat and drink the pandemic has sadly illustrated some of the uglier sides of human nature at a time of crisis. We have had to live through a challenging time when we have become isolated from each other. At the same time the many inspiring stories of sacrifice, dedication and collaboration give us pause for renewed hope and considered reflection. If we can take one lesson from this crisis when our enforced period of hibernation comes to an end let us hope that we see more mobilisation in our communities and centres of power and more examples of kindness, patience, compassion and doing good to shape a safer, more just and inclusive society.
