The Post Covid City
The lecture
The lecture looked at what has changed during covid so far and how it may affect Cities and infrastructure.
The Big Issues
The ethics of big shops
Let me start by saying that Chain shopping stores are the reason I don’t really shop in the high street.
What do they actually offer? An unoriginal item, made in a factory by some poor craftsman. Who learnt a trade. Only to be undercut by the very people they now have to work for. That’s if you’re lucky. The item may have also come from some exploited child worker. Who should be getting an education and playing with their friends. Not wasting their time making brand named trainers for the West. You just don’t know.
Also ware did the materials come from. Is the rainforest been further plundered for the chare that I am sitting on?
Most highstreets lack truly independent stores. They lack character, knowledge and experience. So why should I waist my time? I can get all the above, online and cheaper.
Large rich companies trashed our high street. They did it long ago. When they made it impossible for small businesses to thrive. It’s a shame to lose a community hub, for so many reasons. However I feel that the only reason it is on the news, at the moment, is because rich people are losing money.
I want Coffee
One of the current governments big issues has been ensuring that cities or The City (London). Dose not lose its overpriced coffee shops. Run by people who can afford to live in or around London.
I would like my own overpriced coffee. If people with money to spend on daily café trips stay local, they may reduce the spread of covid and put money into local cafes. Thus insuring that cafes, in the area that they live, stay open and maybe even thrive. More jobs. Less unemployment. Less people wasting their lives in a job they hate. Community spaces continue. 80 year old Doris, has a place to go every day. The new mum, with the baby blues, can get toughs tips from Doris, that she desperately needs. Many more beautiful and needed interactions can occur.
So I’m sorry Borris. I want my own local cafes to do well and I just don’t care that you may struggle to keep yours.
What else?
Well there is also the trains.
In a pre-covid world public transport worked like this: You occupy a space for longer then necessary, with a bunch of other people. Some of them are nice and normal. Others lack an understanding of personal space (any other smelly breathed men wanna read my Facebook?). Believe they are the only important person on the carriage (i.e. not realizing that this is, not, a quite carriage and people need to phone mum about their dead Grandma, as it was a bit impossible during their 12hr shift.). Or are just in need of help (You watch as some unknowing person sits down next to an incontinent, alcoholic, who is about to tell unknowing their life story and try to steel things out of their bag.) There is no one from the public transport companies or government available to reduce these regular occurrences. Even the guards weigh up the situation before deciding weather to help or not (and no one is going to judge them for that).
To add to matters, you pay a large portion of your wages, to endure all of the above. Last year (after finally getting my license) I proved to myself, that it is actually cheaper, to buy a small car and commute. Which defies the whole point of public transport.
My point? Yet again I just don’t care, that some public transport manager is about to lose their bonus. Yes, we may lose ‘talent’, but ultimately we may gain someone who has actually traveled on UK public transport before.
Incase anyone is worried, the transport companies see their staff as commodities. If they can cut jobs or wages, they would have pre-covid, hence all the strikes. It’s not going to affect the average Joe as much as big companies would like you to believe.
Childcare and Education: Did they miss out?
Some children missed out on a lot; socializing, mental stimulation, expression, achievement. They also may have gained something in that initial lock down, which they would have never of had otherwise. Time.
My favorite memory from lock down was seeing a, burly looking, man chatting to (what I assume was) his tiny daughter. They walked along the street in the middle of the day. It was sunny. She had that excitable half skip that only children have. The man was smiling away, nodding and listening. I don’t think they would have ever had that moment, if it wasn’t for lock down. She would have been at school and he had the air of someone who worked quite hard.
People struggled to care for their children through the day. I suspect that teachers will have been given a lot more respect. People are going to learn the value of education through this experience, the hard way. There are things that young people will never get back. Their values will be so different from their predecessors. However, the time, the memories and the random things they have learnt from significant adults, are going to be priceless.
Mental Health
The mental health crisis has been building slowly, a long time before Corona existed. The NHS has been struggling with a lack of funds and the mental health services are not giving people the treatment they need.
“The basic annual salary for an MP from 1 April 2019 is £79,468. MPs also receive expenses to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London or their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.” (1) “ The likes of Yvette Cooper or Jeremy Hunt – who chair select committees – earn an additional £16,422 each year on top of their standard salary.”(5)
According to total jobs UK Mental health rolls pay between £18,579 and £37,500, a year (2). This looks at a range of different positions. Essentially, the public could get 2 highly responsible mental health workers for 1MP. Plus another Care assistant/HCA for less then, ex-health minister, Hunt’s extra pay.
To further expand on this; MPs have had 8 substantial pay rises over the last 10 years (5), while NHS and Other public service wages have seen a lot of freezes.
If you talk to anyone who has provided mental health care and they will tell you about the time they were attacked. An ex-college of mine suffered with PTSD after repeatedly being assaulted. The final straw was a Radio to the head.
On top of that there are the long (not always paid) hours and chronic short staffing (6), seen across all public health care providers.
Why would anyone work in mental healthcare? Especially when the danger pay is non-exsistant and people up top are continually siphoning off tax payers money in a variety of ways.
The tunamy was coming. Covid just sped it up. It pushed health care to the front of everyone’s minds. All we can hope is that MPs start to open their eyes and concentrate on funding healthcare correctly.
Moving Forward
I believe the world was changing anyway. Just at a slower rate. It would not have been so hard and fast if corona had not arrived.
Ecologically we are running out of time and that short lock down gave us some time. As humans we got to see the pay off for looking after our environment. More birds and Deer in our streets. Truly the best news stories we have had in a long time.
More and more people want to change how they live. Spend more time with loved ones. Change the way they work.
What do I think post covid citys will look like?
2020 seems like the sort of event that creates crutial cultural changes.
I think there will eventuly be more pop up shops and independent markets.
More shops like Robins Nest Emporium will open. Nathan Alexander and his team renovate old buildings. To create small, shop, spaces inside and rent them at a reasonable price to independent traders. The space can be as small as a shelf or a 4-2meter screened off section. All items are purchased at a single till. There is also a café to sit and soak up the ambiance. Essentially, a department store, with a real depth of character.
Blended working seems to be popular. Many media sources are talking about how home workers have not been as inefficient as bosses believed they would be. Though there is need for some work socializing, many people have experienced the benefits of working from home and now want change. Turner works wrote a blog post based on their post covid office predictions. They spoke about inner city hubs for small businesses, individuals and large companies to use. Rather then renting an office or workspace full time. I like to hope that local cafes, meeting halls and other small businesses/organizations will get a slice of that pie. Many Cafes currently provide Wi-Fi and PowerPoints for computer users. Maybe the future will see them providing studio tables and quite booths for conference calls.
As for the public amenities I feel that this will be a wake-up call. All we can hope is that the government consults people and analyses the issues fully.
Bibliography
1. UK Parliament. Pay and expenses for MPs [Internet]. UK: UK Parliament; [cited date (29/12/2020)]. Available from:https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/pay-mps/
2. Total jobs. What is the average salary for Mental Health jobs? [Internet]. UK: Total Jobs; [cited date (29/12/2020)]. Available from:https://www.totaljobs.com/salary-checker/average-mental-health-salary
4. https://fullfact.org/online/mp-pay-rise-uk-new-zealand/
7. https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18601325.robins-nest-opens-former-natwest-bank-southampton/
8. https://robins-nest-emporium-fareham.business.site/
9. https://turner.works/thoughts/post/re-workplace/
https://www.inc.com/lisa-abeyta/why-fathers-should-listen-to-their-daughters.html
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