In preparations for an emergency issue of the Journal of Public Space that will address challenges which the pandemic poses to urban life, Darko invited a group of colleagues, experts on public space whose work and ideas he respects to an online discussion "Urban Questions in the Times of Coronavirus". The tasks were to reflect upon and present their key observations, to formulate positions related to the crisis and thoughts about future, and to suggest questions which need to be taken on board and addressed over the weeks, months, and years to come.
On 1 May 2020 co+re partners Darko Radović (Keio University, co+re) and Davisi Boontharm (Meiji University, co+re) chaired two round tables, with rich exchanges of ideas between urban experts from four continents and across seven time zones - Antonella Bruzesse (Politecnico di Milano), Stephen Cairns, (ETH Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore) Alenka Fikfak, (University of Ljubljana), Pieter Klomp (City of Amsterdam), Beatriz Maturana Cossio (Universidad de Chile), Ana Medina (Universidad des las Américas), Eiji Oguma (Keio University, Tokyo) David Sim (Gehl, Copenhagen), Sidh Sintusingha (University of Melbourne) and Saline Verhoeven, s-coop, Amsterdam, to which Kengo Kuma (KKAA, University of Tokyo) has also provided his thought provoking written contribution.
That was a very promising launch of the project which will occupy much of the attention in co+labo, co+re and projects conducted by associated individuals and institutions.
UPDATE: The paper is published here.