Lasting for over a year, the COVID pandemic has considerably changed the way we work. It has given a new meaning to “physical distance” and forced us to confront questions we can no longer ignore. It has crystallized the dormant social inequities we had known for years and yet somehow neglected. In response practitioners and educators have begun mobilizing themselves to confront questions and issues that lie in the pandemic’s wake. Their activities vary, from the micro architecture of the hand-held devices to the macro of global communities. They employ methods, from rapid prototyping, guerilla gardening to real time geolocational data analysis. They work in new patterns of collaboration, from medical professionals, policy makers to social activists.

With a much anticipated “new normal” in sight, the 2021-22 Hyde Lecture series draws from their insights to explore what planners and designers can offer solutions in the Post-Pandemic Future.