Original broadcast date: July 23, 2021. How can we create public places that feel welcoming and safe for everyone? This hour, TED speakers examine our physical and digital spaces—how they run, who they serve, and how to make them better. Guests include community organizer Shari Davis, researcher Eli Pariser, Wikipedia Library founder Jake Orlowitz, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, and artist Matthew Mazzotta.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

After painting the walls of a 100-year-old school building, and a hospital, Namitha B Ramaiah and Siddharth Kaul are looking to up the interest quotient of public spaces in Bengaluru

Cambridge, MA. : National Bureau of Economic Research, 2023

In Chennai, Bangalore, and Delhi that offer access to free transport, there is a visible change in the public space. The pink slip is not a cure-all for the deep-rooted patriarchy, but they are important steps towards reshaping urban spaces into more inclusive environments

When public transport is inadequate or absent, it can heighten risks of violence and restrict access

Spontaneous by nature, desire paths are the most optimal way to get from point A to B as decided by pedestrians, not planners.

As waitlists for care facilities grow longer and more people with dementia are choosing to live within their own communities, urban planning and design will play an increasingly important role in helping them live safe, comfortable and independent lives.

Notably, there are questions that he has raised which are not different from what Indians are already asking and discussing about between themselves.

If you gotta go, you should have a clean private environmentally friendly place to go.

Business models reliant on maximum footfall are at odds with social distancing, leaving space for local shops and mutual aid

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

With most local shops shuttered and online sales booming, it’s easy to imagine that coronavirus will deal a mortal blow to the high street. The images of empty public spaces that have come to define this crisis could be a warning of what life will be like after the lockdown, when people will fear crowds and social distancing will continue, either through self-policing or government directive.

The decline of public life is one of the biggest casualties of Covid-19. Zoom, Amazon and Netflix are unlikely to replace our human craving for it. Public discourse has shrunk to encompass the virus, while our daily lives have retreated into the private domestic sphere. Streets and public places, high streets in particular, are the physical setting for public life, and the impact of the virus is that life lived outside – socialising, shopping, working – has been almost entirely curtailed.

Social preferences, economic realities and government policy will shape the future of the high street

Related: 'It's really shocking': UK cities refusing to reveal extent of pseudo-public space

A series of photographs taken in recent days from Libya to Singapore show deserted streets after governments across the world shut down borders to contain the deadly coronavirus.

Gavin Newsom, the governor of Calif., is expected to announce the further restrictions on today, according to a memo after the public thronged to beaches over the weekend.

An innovative new approach to Mumbai's open spaces is an extensive mapping survey. The same approach can be used in other cities too. Darryl D'Monte reports.

Walljasper, Jay

Rotch Library - HT185.R48 2019

Online Resource