To make a 9.45 dental appointment in Pirie St I drove to the city during commute time and parked the car in Sir Lewis Cohen Drive around 8am. I then walked through the parklands to Gouger Street. I walked in and around the city for the next hour: along Post Office Lane, down King William St., along Rundle Mall, then back to Pirie St. There were more people on the street and I had an impression that the CBD in a post-Covid Adelaide was slowly starting to come back to life.

After the dental appointment I continued to walk the city for another couple of hours before making my way back to the car to drive home to Encounter Bay.

I drifted towards the Adelaide Arcade looking for somewhere to have a mug of coffee and an almond croissant. I remembered Ciao from the old days when I lived in the city. They charged me over $20 — double the price that I’d pay in the Adelaide Central Market. I was shocked by the inflated prices, even if it was good coffee.

I then wandered to Pultney St, then in and around the Rundle St East area. Though there were more people on the street many of the restaurants were closed, even though it was lunch time. Presumably, many people are still working from home as a lot of the office buildings looked sparsely populated. The clothes shops were largely empty, presumably due to the shift in online shopping that emerged during lockdowns. The associated impact on the jobs and incomes of some of the lowest paid in society has been profound. The urban renaissance of the second decade of 21st century has been snuffed out by an airborne Covid pandemic..

The push for a “return to normal” appears to be mostly proposed by CBD businesses keen to get their old customers back. However, there is probably no going back to the old pre-Covid office life with its five days a week commute to and from the CBD and the suburbs.. The social scarring (ie., the fears that residents of large cities acquired during this pandemic, the most pronounced of which is ‘enochlophobia’, or fear of crowds) will ease and the city will provide spaces for humans to interact, to feel they are alive, to mingle, laugh and love. Spaces for face-to-face interaction are important as these enable people to come together, to collaborate and to build relationships.

However, many restaurants, stores and cultural facilities will not survive the increased costs of doing business combined with reduced customer demand as people increasingly choose to use food delivery and home entertainment services. Will the city might increasingly become cultural and civic gathering places, rather than shopping destinations or office hubs.

As the city resets and re-energises the old practices can be called into question. The experience of the pandemic had lowered people’s tolerance for the old world of work. More than likely a hybrid model will emerge: several days in the office and a few days working from home. The more affluent residents are taking advantage of remote working capabilities and moving to smaller towns and countryside settlements offering cheaper property and a higher quality of life. If proximity to the job is no longer a significant factor in deciding where to life , then the appeal of the suburbs decreases, What then happens to the traditional suburban commuter belts?

Aussie (P. Drews) Cnr Gawler Place and Pirie St

The history of the city is clear: they survive, adapting to and overcoming the challenges of disease, conflict and economic change. So how can the city reinvent itself? Will the city become a cultural and civic gathering place, rather than a shopping destination or office hub? What will be the post-Covid changes to urban built form, real estate, design and streetscapes?

An early morning walk

History

The past repeats