Open public spaces as a commodity for healthy neighborhoods: From new needs and pressures to innovative proposals

The Covid-19 crisis showed how open spaces at neighborhood scale are commodities that impact in the quality of the everyday-life of citizens. The green and open spaces system is critical factor for a healthy urban area and this provision depends on the amount of space but also on its quality. After a synthetic reading of current debate about the design of public spaces, the chapter discusses the current practices in the design/re-design of public spaces starting from research that compares two case studies: Milan and Copenhagen. In the discussion authors focus on several lessons learned from the different policies developed by both municipalities. Discussing the results, the study proposes a set of recommendations that can support the work of the urban designers and the conclusions open a perspective on the role of this type of intervention in the construction of the future city.