A small investigation on the effects of applying market rules in public spaces and architectures in everyday life and during a pandemic crisis

Until the Pandemic, public spaces saw two contrasting trends. The first trend focused on maximising commercial spaces, especially in railway stations and airports, where areas for people to move and rest were minimised. Older stations, designed after the Spanish Flu with ample space for air circulation, were deemed wasteful and ripe for redevelopment in recent years. The second trend aimed to curb the expansion of outdoor areas for pubs, restaurants, and other food-related activities, particularly in major tourist cities. This expansion cluttered public spaces with tables, umbrellas, and temporary structures, obstructing access and views of historic sites. Municipalities implemented rules to limit these expansions until the pandemic in 2020 drastically reduced tourism and public transportation use. The resulting economic crisis relaxed restrictions, allowing eateries to expand into public spaces with little regard for urban quality. This raises questions about the long-term health of public spaces, the role of market forces in shaping them, and whether older principles of environmental hygiene should be revisited. The proposed contribution will examine the current state in Italian cities' public spaces through imaging techniques applied in a post-pandemic context.