Living and working in the (post-pandemic) city
a research agenda
Constance Uyttebrouck (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)
Pascal De Decker (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)
Caroline Newton (TU Delft - Spatial Planning and Strategy)
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Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Work from home (WFH) received much public attention. Imposing such a measure was feasible in the context of labour markets’ flexibilisation, which has reshaped urban live-work relationships. However, the pandemic’s effects on those relationships have rarely been explored in housing and planning studies. This paper draws a research agenda based on a literature review of the changes in urban live-work relationships, which were accelerated and legitimised under COVID-19. The latter is considered an exogenous shock contingent upon several other shocks, embedded in structural crises and accelerating ongoing trends. The literature confirms the acceleration of hybrid work for those able to do so, which has fuelled debates on home usage and legitimated planning discourses based on urban proximity, densification and mixed use. Hence, we encourage critical research on (i) the conceptualisations of WFH and COVID-19, (ii) housing policy responses to accumulated uncertainties and regulations for quality and resilient housing, and (iii) the critical analysis of WFH-oriented planning.
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