What happens next?

It is Easter 2020, week 3 of Lockdown.  No one knows what happens next.  Telling the story of your City or town is important, because these are strange times, which we will not see again.  There maybe another COVID19 outbreak.  No one knows for sure.  The next pandemic may look very different to the current breakout.  The response is likely to be different and informed by what’s happening now.  Can we do more to bring people together and share what brought us together?   Maybe from this mosaic of voices we can begin to look at, what might be, the next steps for businesses and local economies.

More important than ever that we keep talking, sharing insights, consider the impossible for the City, the town, the villages where we live and work.

Do the new planners and architects for the City need to consider social distancing.   How will people move around the City?   How to provide jobs and new industries if we wish to spend less time – is there a need to tag people.   

Practical Steps

What are the practical steps needed to bring back confidence.   At the time of writing we are in the midst of social distancing and a lockdown.  This means shops, restaurants, cafes are all closed to stop the spread of Coronavirus.  In the Autumn of 2020 we will have the the benefit to reflect upon lessons learned.   We will know more about whether the second wave of Coronavirus is still a risk.  

What will work be like again – will remote working be the norm?  Are we all wearing masks whenever we go out, are temperature checks on the door before entering premises? Are deep cleans being done every week?  How much automation taken over or is human involvement even more important.

As we write the prediction is for a massive drop in economic output.  What will that mean for the real economy?  Will there be lasting job losses on the high street?  How will it shape the City Centre.  Will technology adoption be faster – will it force the issue on data.  Will it bring more innovation, in terms of waste reductions, cost reductions and a differently engaged City Centre.   What happens next is impossible to predict, but we can start to ask these questions and begin to think about a better future.