A question about how we prioritise imminent inner-city space
The COVID pandemic and the resulting restrictions have highlighted city dwellers’ enormous need for open public space. Apart from a few town squares, there is hardly any space to linger outdoors, especially in the immediate vicinity of one's home; balconies and gardens are an expensive rarity in the densely populated inner city.
The question arises as to how contemporary it is to obstruct valuable space directly in front of one’s door with vacant apparatus. For comparison: one square metre in Vienna's fourth district costs 16,27€ per month, one square metre of parking space in public only 1,25€; in Wieden alone for every resident there exists 2,6m2 of street parking space. A more flexible use with potential seating, mobile terraces or a barbeque area would make it possible to react to greater demand during warm seasons and to develop additional open space: in the fourth district alone, this would account for up to 87 000m2 of parking space on public streets.
With the growing aspiration to create flexible architecture that can adapt to changing needs, the spaces inbetween shouldn’t be forgotten
