Open Space Areas Increasingly In Demand During Pandemic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tired, saturated, bored. This was felt by most people during a year with Covid-19. Health protocols, social restrictions, and the closure of public spaces have narrowed the space for people to move around in the past year. Every activity is done from home. As social beings, we must feel bored at home for long without interacting with friends, colleagues, and relatives.

 

After one year since the first discovery of Covid-19 case in Indonesia, people's activities have begun to reactivate with the "new normal" concept. Based on JHU CSSE COVID-19 data, after reaching its peak on January 30, 2021 with 14,518 cases, Covid-19 cases continue to decline. According to the latest data on April 20, Covid-19 cases have dropped to 5,549.

 

Due to this decline, social restrictions have begun to be relaxed. Finally, the malls have reopened after a long period of time. People started their activities like usual with strict health protocols such as wearing a mask, washing hands, and keeping a distance. However, in the midst of a pandemic like this, the transmission rate of Covid-19 virus in closed and air-conditioned rooms like malls is quite high. Quoting Liputan6.com, Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta, Ahmad Riza Patria, revealed that malls are in the third out of five cluster sequences that are most vulnerable to Covid-19 transmission.

 

Therefore, to prevent the transmission of the virus, people work around this by choosing open spaces to hang out. A mall with an open concept is an option for people to simply travel and get rid of fatigue during this pandemic. Outdoor areas with adequate air circulation have lower risk transmission of the Covid-19 virus than indoor areas.

 

As a result, open-concept malls saw an increase in visitors during pandemic. This also happened at The Breeze, one of the malls with an open concept area in BSD City, Tangerang. Head of Management of The Breeze Mall, Reza (37) admitted that during the pandemic, visitors had actually increased.

 

"Quite increasing. Because now, the trend is changing. People feel more secure in an outdoor area, like The Breeze, compared to malls with an indoor concept," he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The mall has an outdoor area with lots of air circulation and trees. This concept makes people feel safer to just spend their weekend during the pandemic. Not only with the outdoors concept, health protocols are also strictly guarded and must be obeyed. Visitors must use hand sanitizer and have their temperature checked before entering the mall area. Inside the mall, visitors must also keep their distance to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 virus.

 

With the outdoor concept and strict health protocols, visitors like Herlinda (21) revealed that during pandemic, outdoor places were one of the priority choices for hanging out compared to indoor areas because of the lower rate of virus transmission.

 

"It's been a long time since I left the house because of the pandemic. I feel bored and want to find a new atmosphere. That's why I dare to go out, but I prefer to look for an outdoor one, because in an indoor area, the risk is even more dangerous, right? It looks like the outdoor one, like The Breeze is safer. There is a lot of air circulation, lots of trees. So (it just) feels safer here," she said.

 

However, being in an outdoor area does not rule out the possibility of not contracting the Covid-19 virus. Visiting public places such as outdoor malls can be a solution to relieve fatigue for a moment, but health protocols must be maintained to avoid the virus.