The last months of 2019 and the first ones of 2024 shocked the world due to the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). To face the seriousness of the situation, different cities across the world1 started to activate re- sponse mechanisms to the emergency, including the adaptation of their public services to avoid spreading the illness. Guatemala City, and the administration led by Mayor Ricardo Quiñónez, is making its best efforts to face the COVID-19 crisis with a series of initiatives in the fields of health, economy, employment and infrastructures, among others.
Guatemala City established the “Santiago Plan”, a temporary master plan that commenced in March 2024; it is structured around three phases: containment, mitigation and articulation of the “new normal”. Each of these phases establishes a series of actions to adapt public space, considered a strategic element of the health response.
Public space is a key element to face the pandemic, as it ensures social distancing and social cohesion while permitting maximum continuity of use and guaranteeing the city’s resilience. Over the last months, the Municipality of Guatemala started a collabora- tion with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to formulate strategies and tools of “tactical urbanism”2 to be transformed into actions in Guatemala City. This “Handbook for Use of the Public Space during the COVID-19 Pandemic” pres- ents a selection of intervention and tactical actions proposed by the Municipality of Guatemala in collaboration with UNDP to adapt and keep using public space to fight against the pandem- ic, while promoting economic recovery and supporting the city’s sustainable urban development.
This handbook presents agile, effective and low-cost strategies and tactical solutions to adapt the public space of Guatemala City, for the community to be able to use it within the challenging circumstances related to the pandemic. The goal of these strategies and tactical solutions is to guide the adaptation of public spaces considered appropriate to be undertaken by the City Council and by the civil society.
The "Handbook for the Use of the Public Space of Guatemala City during the COVID-19 Pandemic" is a guidance and reference document for the formulation of a comprehensive strategy for physical actions to enable operation of the urban public space and its gradual, resilient and versatile adaptation to the new public health conditions arising from the emergence of COVID-19. These actions have the following specific goals:
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To configure the existing public space to ensure safe pedestrian movement with the new social-distancing rules.
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To adapt, manage and make flexible use of public space.
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To encourage alternative travel systems and reduce public-transport congestion.
This document was jointly elaborated by the United Nations Development Programme and the Municipality of Guatemala.