tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/cafes-87297/articlesCafes – The Conversation2021-04-09T13:01:36Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1546092021-04-09T13:01:36Z2021-04-09T13:01:36ZPubs are reopening but research shows contact tracing still isn’t working – here’s how to fix it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394253/original/file-20210409-17-1akn2pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C21%2C4765%2C2919&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Every customer must sign in when pubs reopen.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-people-toasting-beer-wearing-open-1937176303">View Apart/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Contact tracing is vital to supporting public safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. But rather than providing truthful information, it seems many people lie when asked to provide their contact details. Police officers in Australia, for example, have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/11/privacy-concerns-over-australian-businesses-collecting-data-for-covid-contact-tracing">complained</a> that people have been writing the names “Donald Duck” and “Mickey Mouse” on contact tracing forms. </p>
<p>Governments need to be able to fully trace citizens who have been exposed to COVID-19, and without the correct contact information, it’s impossible to do this. And it could potentially pose a serious threat to public safety when more restrictions are lifted and when the third lockdown in the UK properly comes to an end.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.102867">Our new research</a> looks at people’s experiences of contract tracing and how to improve the system to ensure everyone’s health and safety. We conducted studies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. Initially, we surveyed 240 participants and found that most of them (74%) encountered contact tracing at hospitality venues. But that only 24% of them provided correct and complete information each time. About 68% chose their reluctance to cooperate was due to their concerns about privacy.</p>
<p>Next, we interviewed participants to address their privacy concerns. And also found what would help customers to better cooperate and have more trust when their personal information is collected and stored. Lastly, we conducted another survey with 365 participants to test our ideas. </p>
<h2>Reassurance about data needed</h2>
<p>We found that one of the reasons many people ended up giving false information is because they don’t feel fully comfortable giving their personal details but they still wanted to be polite and helpful. So in giving a false name, it allows them to fulfil the request without causing any problems or making a scene. </p>
<p>We also heard from our participants that if businesses showed how their contact details would actually be stored and gave a better sense of their capability to handle contact tracing professionally, they would feel more inclined to comply with the request. This makes a lot of sense because, of course, many people are scared about data breaches and privacy invasion. So they care about the business’s ability and professionalism to manage their information. </p>
<p>Our research shows that people are more likely to share their truthful information if they have confidence in a business’s competence to manage their data. One thing that people we spoke to mentioned was for businesses to make sure that contact tracing spreadsheets are not misused (many women <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/test-trace-used-harass-women-already/">have reported</a> being harassed after handing over their contact details) and can’t be seen by other <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-14/covid-confusion-as-cafes-warned-about-privacy-dangers/12351314">customers</a>. </p>
<h2>Government backing is key</h2>
<p>It’s also clear that contact tracing should not be <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-31/covid-19-check-in-data-using-qr-codes-raises-privacy-concerns/12823432">outsourced to companies</a> with unclear privacy rules. Instead, it should be supported by governments. We found that if governments support contact tracing through strong data protection regulation and technology, people feel safe to disclose truthful information. </p>
<p>In this way then, governments can play a big role in helping to encourage people to cooperate with contact tracing at hospitality venues. And they can do this by <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/venues-required-by-law-to-record-contact-details">requiring businesses</a> to follow strong data protection policies. Governments can also enforce penalties if companies do not follow the rules.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People queuing outside a pub." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394254/original/file-20210409-17-hanevb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394254/original/file-20210409-17-hanevb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394254/original/file-20210409-17-hanevb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394254/original/file-20210409-17-hanevb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394254/original/file-20210409-17-hanevb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394254/original/file-20210409-17-hanevb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394254/original/file-20210409-17-hanevb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With pubs about to reopen again, it’s feared case numbers could begin to rise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-england-may-31-2020-traditional-1745736242">Chaz Bharj/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The process needs to be standardised</h2>
<p>Another thing that came up time and time again from our participants was the fact that businesses have different contact tracing systems – making it hard to fully trust how each method works. This is then more likely to lead to people giving false information to avoid engaging with each system.</p>
<p>This is why contact tracing needs to be a standardised process no matter which hospitality venue people visit. For example, <a href="https://www.restaurantnz.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Level-2-Guidelines-for-operating-_PublicHealthOrder_v7_.pdf">the Restaurant Association of New Zealand</a> has taken the lead in providing support for restaurants and cafes to conduct standardised contact tracing. This has helped to gain more cooperation from people as they know what to expect at each venue.</p>
<h2>Word of mouth helps</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102815">Research</a> shows that people rely on others’ words as “social proof” to guide their own behaviours. This is known as the “bandwagon effect”. And in terms of contact tracing essentially means that people will feel less sceptical about sharing their information when they’ve been told by others that contact tracing is important and safe. </p>
<p>This is why governments and businesses should launch <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/contact-tracing-comms-graphics.html#slows-spread">social media campaigns</a> to encourage people to share their positive thoughts about contact tracing. With positive word of mouth, more and more people will accept contact tracing as a new social norm. And as a result others will be more likely to follow in their footsteps and disclose truthful information.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154609/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What restaurants, bars and pubs can do to help people happily hand over their data.Donia Waseem, Lecturer in Marketing, University of BradfordJoseph Chen, Lecturer/assistant professor in Marketing, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1565912021-03-18T19:01:58Z2021-03-18T19:01:58ZIs temporary the new permanent? COVID street experiments open our eyes to creating better cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389984/original/file-20210316-21-1dnmzoc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2048%2C1370&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elissa McMillan</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past year, many of us have enjoyed outdoor dining in spaces that would otherwise have been car parks or part of the road. These spaces are one example of the temporary projects that popped up to help cities in Australia and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2020/04/22/paris-to-create-650-kilometers-of-pop-up-corona-cycleways-for-post-lockdown-travel/?sh=3936edb754d4">around the world</a> adapt to COVID. These quickly installed projects have met our changing needs for space for walking, <a href="https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/popup-covid-19-infrastructure/index.html">cycling</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-let-coronavirus-kill-our-cities-heres-how-we-can-save-urban-life-137063">public space</a> and, of course, <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-ways-our-streets-can-rescue-restaurants-bars-and-cafes-after-coronavirus-139302">dining</a> to help businesses to stay afloat. </p>
<p>While these temporary projects were driven by the necessity for short-term fixes, we can draw deeper lessons from these experiences. They have been, intentionally or not, a large-scale experience with experimentation in cities, and short-and long-term impacts should flow. In the short term, some of these experiments can be become permanent. In the long term, wider-scale urban experiments can become a permanent feature of how we shape cities. </p>
<p>Experiments can help us navigate change in cities. They can also make us braver by allowing us to test out ideas that might fail or that not everyone seems to like. If the past year has made us more comfortable and confident with experimenting, all the better to help our cities meet the challenges ahead.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/4-ways-our-streets-can-rescue-restaurants-bars-and-cafes-after-coronavirus-139302">4 ways our streets can rescue restaurants, bars and cafes after coronavirus</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Opening our eyes to new possibilities</h2>
<p>At their simplest, of course, experiments test things. The projects that popped up during COVID have helped meet our short-term needs (well, we hoped they would be short-term) for different ways to live and get around, like <a href="https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/traffic-and-road-use/cycling/pop-up-bike-lanes">pop-up bike lanes</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="pop-up bike lane alongside a busy road" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390289/original/file-20210318-15-383pbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390289/original/file-20210318-15-383pbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390289/original/file-20210318-15-383pbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390289/original/file-20210318-15-383pbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390289/original/file-20210318-15-383pbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390289/original/file-20210318-15-383pbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390289/original/file-20210318-15-383pbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A pop-up bike lane created along Heidelberg Road in inner Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In making these short-term changes, we tried something new and perhaps we’ve found we like the results. </p>
<p>During COVID, I meandered down Lygon Street, Carlton, full of <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-unveils-16-covid-safe-outdoor-dining-precincts-20201001-p560z2.html">new al fresco dining areas</a> making the street feel even more European. Along the Victorian coast, I sipped <a href="https://www.therip.com.au/news/lets-go-al-fresco">coffee in Skiplets</a>. It could always be this nice, I thought. </p>
<p>These projects are already sparking debate about the future use of streets and bringing the trade-offs into focus. One example is the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/outdoor-dining-under-a-cloud-as-cash-strapped-council-misses-parking-fees-20210210-p5714a.html">trade-off between parking revenue and outdoor dining</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390245/original/file-20210318-15-1hrmav9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="tables and chairs in a pop-up 'skiplet' set up in a parking space" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390245/original/file-20210318-15-1hrmav9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390245/original/file-20210318-15-1hrmav9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390245/original/file-20210318-15-1hrmav9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390245/original/file-20210318-15-1hrmav9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390245/original/file-20210318-15-1hrmav9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390245/original/file-20210318-15-1hrmav9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390245/original/file-20210318-15-1hrmav9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Skiplets were installed in parking spaces as pop-up eating places in the Victorian towns of Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Helen Rowe</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What more can we gain from ‘tactical ubanism’?</h2>
<p>Well before COVID, cities started using temporary projects to test changes. From <a href="https://vimeo.com/22886687">New York</a> to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-16/yarraville-pop-up-park-becomes-permanent-after-singing-protest/5970092">Yarraville</a>, cities used experiments to test out risky ideas and balance competing street uses. This is often referred to as <a href="http://tacticalurbanismguide.com/guides/tactical-urbanism-volume-2/">tactical urbanism</a> . </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-let-coronavirus-kill-our-cities-heres-how-we-can-save-urban-life-137063">We can't let coronavirus kill our cities. Here's how we can save urban life</a>
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<p>Benefits gleaned from these experiences show we have much to gain from more experimenting beyond COVID. City experiments get things moving and let us figure out if an idea is a good one. </p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/22886687" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">New York City has remade its streets, seeking a better balance by providing more space for walking, biking and transit services.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the aptly titled book <a href="http://www.jsadikkhan.com/streetfight-the-book.html">Street Fight</a>, former New York City transport commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan describes turning the tangled intersection at Times Square into a pedestrian plaza. It began as a temporary experiment. A lower-cost, temporary version meant getting the project on the ground right away, rather than spending years convincing everyone to build it permanently. The added advantage was collecting data during the trial to prove it actually worked. </p>
<h2>Overcoming suspicion of change</h2>
<p>Experiments help navigate change, which we don’t always like. Based on my <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/59916">own research</a>, street experiments help cities work with, not against, some people’s tendency to dislike change. </p>
<p>People’s hackles can go up in response to change. They prefer to stick with what’s familiar over something new. This is the type of status quo bias Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman discusses in <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/thinking-fast-and-slow-9780141033570">Thinking Fast and Slow</a>. </p>
<p>A temporary experiment can help disarm this response. As one of my interviewees put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>“If change is worrisome, then it’s not that big a deal if we can come back to where we are today.”</em> </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Through experimenting, people allow themselves to try it. Often they also get to see their fears aren’t realised.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-forget-the-footpath-its-vital-public-space-115151">Don't forget the footpath – it's vital public space</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="pop-up eating space with shade umbrellas and bike stand outside a cafe" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390267/original/file-20210318-13-w3772b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390267/original/file-20210318-13-w3772b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390267/original/file-20210318-13-w3772b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390267/original/file-20210318-13-w3772b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390267/original/file-20210318-13-w3772b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390267/original/file-20210318-13-w3772b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390267/original/file-20210318-13-w3772b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parking space becomes a pop-up eating area in Brunswick, an inner Melbourne suburb.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Helen Rowe</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Experiments let us tweak projects to get them right. In 2008, Copenhagen rolled out a bold <a href="https://urban-leds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/resources/case_studies/UrbanLEDS_case_story_Copenhagen_2015_Web.pdf">experiment on Nørrebrogade</a>, providing wider bike lanes and bus-only sections painted with huge red dots. Experimenting, they found, helped them have a better <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/59916">conversation with the community</a>. They were able to tweak the design in response to community feedback and evaluation.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-time-to-embrace-the-edge-spaces-that-make-our-neighbourhoods-tick-138826">A time to embrace the edge spaces that make our neighbourhoods tick</a>
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<p>Experiments also do the imagining for us. My current research (as yet unpublished) looks at ways city transport planners try to effect change. </p>
<p>One barrier to change planners discussed is that people often struggle to imagine how things could be different. Without this, they tend to happy to stick with the status quo. Experiments show us how streets can be different. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390264/original/file-20210318-13-8zr7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="streetside pop-up parklet with artificial grass, potted plants, tables and chairs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390264/original/file-20210318-13-8zr7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390264/original/file-20210318-13-8zr7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390264/original/file-20210318-13-8zr7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390264/original/file-20210318-13-8zr7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390264/original/file-20210318-13-8zr7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390264/original/file-20210318-13-8zr7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390264/original/file-20210318-13-8zr7lo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A pop-up parklet transforms the street in the inner Melbourne suburb of Ascot Vale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Helen Rowe</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-love-parklets-and-businesses-can-help-make-them-happen-87172">People love parklets, and businesses can help make them happen</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What stands in the way of more street experiments?</h2>
<p>My research suggests many city planners are striving to find new and better ways to explore change and help cities adapt to challenges. Many are starting to experiment with temporary projects, but it’s not always easy. </p>
<p>A number of transport planners I’ve talked with say doing temporary projects can be hard. That’s not because they are difficult to build but because the rules about what can be done on streets are set up for building things permanently. This can be a barrier to temporary experimenting. </p>
<p>However, after delivering many temporary projects during the pandemic, cities should now be well placed to embed processes that make street experiments easier. </p>
<p>Given COVID is just one of the many looming challenges facing our cities, being braver and adaptable is going to be more important that ever. Experimenting can help pave the way.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The impact of temporary projects is the focus of the <a href="https://mpavilion.org/program/">MPavilion</a> event, <a href="https://mpavilion.org/program/is-temporary-new-permanent/">Is Temporary the New Permanent?</a>, on March 22.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156591/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Rowe receives an Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend Scholarship. She undertakes projects as an independent consultant occasionally alongside her doctoral research, mainly consulting to government. She is a member of Planning Institute of Australia and on the board of three not-for-profit organisations: Loci Environment & Place and two neighbourhood house related organisations. </span></em></p>Many people prefer the status quo as they struggle to imagine the alternatives. The pandemic has been the catalyst for urban experiments that have opened our eyes to new possibilities.Helen Rowe, PhD Candidate, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1433902020-08-10T12:20:25Z2020-08-10T12:20:25ZContact tracing: why some people are giving false contact details to bars and restaurants<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351603/original/file-20200806-14-8018zf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C0%2C4523%2C3013&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/vilnius-lithuania-may-3-2020-waitresses-1722529306">Michele Ursi/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, pubs and nightclubs, the pandemic has hit hard. For many of these businesses, reopening again after the initial stages of lockdown has come with its own challenges. Not least has been that governments in many countries have instructed bars, cafes and restaurants to record people’s contact details in case they need to assist with test-and-trace efforts.</p>
<p>Contact tracing will allow governments to track outbreaks and the spread of the virus if needed. But not everyone <a href="https://osf.io/9wz3y/">is pleased about</a> the prospect of revealing their personal information to strangers.</p>
<p>There have been reports that some <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/test-trace-used-harass-women-already/">restaurant staff have</a> harassed female customers after getting their information from contact tracing. A number of restaurant goers <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-14/covid-confusion-as-cafes-warned-about-privacy-dangers/12351314">have complained</a> that their contact details can be seen by other customers. There have also been cases of <a href="https://conversation.which.co.uk/money/nhs-fake-coronavirus-contact-tracing-text-scam/">people receiving</a> scam track-and-trace text messages – all of which makes it unsurprising that <a href="https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30995879.html">some people</a> are giving out <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8289061/Experts-warn-theres-stop-people-lying-NHSs-coronavirus-tracking-app.html">false contact details</a>. </p>
<h2>Privacy problems</h2>
<p>Part of the problem is that highly publicised privacy violations – such as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-trump-campaign.html">Facebook Cambridge Analytica</a> data scandal – have severely damaged public trust. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/11/15/americans-and-privacy-concerned-confused-and-feeling-lack-of-control-over-their-personal-information/">Many people believe</a> that using people’s personal information without their permission is a widespread problem across many industries. In the US, for example, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/11/15/americans-and-privacy-concerned-confused-and-feeling-lack-of-control-over-their-personal-information/">more than half</a> of people surveyed didn’t think they could avoid their personal information being collected in their daily life.</p>
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<p>While many bars, pubs and restaurants didn’t have to worry too much about data scandals before, reports of staff using people’s personal details to try and hook up with customers is potentially highly damaging – not just for those businesses, but for the whole hospitality sector.</p>
<p>Trust is obviously a big part of the problem here. For contact tracing to work effectively – for what might be many years to come – customers need to trust that establishments will look after their data correctly.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man in restaurant behind protective screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351606/original/file-20200806-14-uh63ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351606/original/file-20200806-14-uh63ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351606/original/file-20200806-14-uh63ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351606/original/file-20200806-14-uh63ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351606/original/file-20200806-14-uh63ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351606/original/file-20200806-14-uh63ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351606/original/file-20200806-14-uh63ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Many small businesses are having to completely change the way they operate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/27042020-lyon-rhoen-alpes-auvergne-france-1722939616">ventdusud/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/256727">Research</a> shows there are two basic types of trust: cognitive trust and affective trust. Cognitive trust is based on the confidence you feel in another person’s accomplishments, skills and reliability. This type of trust is said to be from the head or based more on reasoning and knowledge. </p>
<p>Affective trust, on the other hand, arises from feelings of emotional closeness, empathy or friendship. This type of trust is said to come from the heart – or have a more emotional link.</p>
<h2>Listen to your brain</h2>
<p>With this in mind, our latest <a href="https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/projects/an-investigation-of-contact-tracing-in-hospitality-in-the-covid-1">research project</a> looks at whether cognitive or affective trust is more effective in terms of gaining consent for contact tracing.</p>
<p>Our preliminary findings reveal that cognitive trust is the key to gaining people’s trust and getting them to recognise the value of contact tracing. So if places have transparent policies around how their data will be used, professional data-collection procedures, and clear communication then customers are more willing to share information.</p>
<p>Our findings also indicate that many customers are initially reluctant to share their personal information. And if they are pressured to provide information, then they are more likely to give fake information. So our next research project will look more deeply into some of the reasons why customers are doing this. </p>
<p>Understandably, many people are worried about a second wave of the virus and another lockdown. This would mean rising unemployment, loss of income and disruption at an already difficult time. This is why it’s so important we get contact tracing right – and that people feel comfortable, and safe, sharing their personal information.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143390/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Contact tracing may be around for years, but it’s not going to work if privacy concerns are not addressed.Donia Waseem, Lecturer in Marketing, University of BradfordJoseph Chen, Lecturer (assistant professor) in Marketing, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1315382020-07-10T12:21:12Z2020-07-10T12:21:12ZIn changing urban neighborhoods, new food offerings can set the table for gentrification<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344352/original/file-20200626-104484-1i5ywam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4249%2C2816&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Residents of Denver's Five Points neighborhood protest in 2017 outside a coffee shop that posted a sign celebrating gentrification.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/denver-gentrification?family=editorial&groupbyevent=true&phrase=Denver,%20gentrification,&sort=best#license">Patrick Traylor/The Denver Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When new residents and businesses move into low-income neighborhoods, they often deny that they are displacing current residents. In a striking exception, a coffee shop in Denver’s rapidly changing Five Points area <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/27/us/denver-cafe-gentrification.html">posted a sign</a> in 2017 that read “ink! Coffee. Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014” on one side, and “Nothing says gentrification like being able to order a cortado” on the other side. </p>
<p>The sign struck nerves and spurred protests because it illustrated something about urban residents’ experiences of gentrification – changes that occur in moderately priced neighborhoods when more upscale residents and businesses move in.</p>
<p>Gentrification fundamentally revolves around <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Gentrification-1st-Edition/Lees-Slater-Wyly/p/book/9780415950374">who gets to – or has to – live in particular places</a>. But the economics of housing changes cannot be separated from cultural shifts. </p>
<p>When the type of food sold in an area changes, it provides a focal point for identifying gentrification. And it can lead residents to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s0034-759020180308">push back</a>. As co-editors of “<a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479834433/a-recipe-for-gentrification/">A Recipe for Gentrification: Food, Power, and Resistance in the City</a>” and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=p3jvlSAAAAAJ&hl=en">researchers</a> in <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alison_Alkon">our</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IgPUlV8AAAAJ&hl=en">own</a> right, we’ve identified many ways that food and gentrification are linked in cities across North America. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346666/original/file-20200709-34-10di05b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346666/original/file-20200709-34-10di05b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346666/original/file-20200709-34-10di05b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346666/original/file-20200709-34-10di05b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346666/original/file-20200709-34-10di05b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346666/original/file-20200709-34-10di05b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346666/original/file-20200709-34-10di05b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346666/original/file-20200709-34-10di05b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Food offerings signal gentrification in this 2014 scene in South Brooklyn, NY, formerly a low-income Latino neighborhood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/as-the-rapid-gentrification-of-williamsburg-brooklyn-news-photo/539611626?adppopup=true">Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Eateries exploit the rent gap</h2>
<p>While gentrification mainly results from large-scale developments recruited by city governments, well-intended small businesses and nonprofits can also play a role, particularly at early stages. Food businesses are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6040.2009.01269.x">among the first to change</a> in historically disinvested low-income communities and communities of color. </p>
<p>Because they operate on narrow profit margins, restaurants and cafes are especially likely to exploit the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1987.tb00171.x">rent gap</a>” – the disparity between current rent prices and perceived future earnings – that exists in these locales. They prepare neighborhoods for development, because food is a ubiquitous commodity and cultural cue. </p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=experts">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get expert takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p>
<p>In today’s food-focused popular culture, cafes like ink! Coffee and upscale grocery stores like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12299">Whole Foods</a> have become essential tools local boosters use to brand neighborhoods as hip, creative places ripe for new <a href="https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.3962">investment</a>. Even restaurateurs act as small-scale developers. They add to the <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo25879831.html">cultural capital</a> of their new neighborhoods, <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691165493/masters-of-craft">create cool new jobs</a> and drive up adjacent land values and housing costs. Whiter, wealthier and more educated customers participate in this process using social media platforms like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540515611203">Yelp</a> to craft changing tastes.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L-d59oQU5sQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In East Austin, the activist group Defend Our Hoodz protests a cafe for cat lovers built where a pinata shop was suddenly torn down in 2018. The cafe closed shortly afterward.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Seeking wealthy white buyers</h2>
<p>A similar dynamic is at play at farmers’ markets and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-018-9875-3">community gardens</a>. Realtors and other urban boosters promote these spaces to <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/gentrification-and-the-urban-garden">attract newcomers</a>.</p>
<p>For example, since the 1980s, the largely white and middle-class managers of Seattle’s network of <a href="https://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/programs-and-services/p-patch-community-gardening">community gardens</a> have ensured gardeners continued access to increasingly valuable land by convincing city officials that gardens are useful amenities to attract upscale residents. </p>
<p>Going even further, Denver’s <a href="https://liveatspark.com/">S Park</a> development, completed in 2018, is also known as Sustainability Park. Its developers built a solar community garden and capital-intensive hydroponic vertical farm as amenities for the project’s pricey condominiums and townhomes. </p>
<p>The project sits on former public housing land in a historic African American community. This location also once supported grassroots urban agriculture initiatives. Both long-term residents and urban farmers now <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/S0895-993520190000026011/full/html">struggle to maintain access to land</a> as the pace of development accelerates.</p>
<h2>Pricier hot dogs send a disturbing message</h2>
<p>Examining food reveals that gentrification is also about neighborhood culture, especially as new and old residents struggle to assert <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cico.12088">competing senses of race, ethnicity and place</a>. </p>
<p>Long-term New Orleans residents have described seeing their unique foodways commodified and <a href="https://grist.org/food/what-kalegate-taught-us-about-new-orleans-and-food/">redefined</a> as newcomers increasingly dominate local food and urban agriculture scenes. In San Diego, restaurateurs offer upscale versions of regional dishes, such as the infamous <a href="https://barriodogg.com/">Tijuana hot dog</a>, but with ingredients and price points designed to appeal to highbrow white tastes. These culinary trends signal to longstanding communities of color that their neighborhoods are no longer for them, creating a cultural disconnection and displacement that can precede their physical eviction.</p>
<p>Emphasizing the cultural dynamics of gentrification highlights its <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469651507/black-food-geographies/">racialized nature</a>. Rent gaps result from depressed property values that reflect decades of <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Color-of-Law/">racial segregation, racist redlining and urban renewal policies</a> and <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/color-credit">discriminatory mortgage lending practices</a> against people of color.</p>
<p>Gentrification not only pushes communities of color out of their neighborhoods, but shifts the character of an area until it feels like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087410393472">a place for more affluent white people</a>. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6040.2009.01269.x">changing foodscape</a> is key to this process, even when people of color are still present.</p>
<p>Access to culturally relevant foods diminishes as businesses that once catered to longstanding communities close, or new businesses <a href="https://www.bitchmedia.org/post/foodgentrification-and-culinary-rebranding-of-traditional-foods">co-opt traditional foods</a> to attract newcomers. Food becomes both a marker of to whom the neighborhood now belongs, while also ironically acknowledging to whom it used to belong.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346668/original/file-20200709-46-rrm96o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346668/original/file-20200709-46-rrm96o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346668/original/file-20200709-46-rrm96o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346668/original/file-20200709-46-rrm96o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346668/original/file-20200709-46-rrm96o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346668/original/file-20200709-46-rrm96o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346668/original/file-20200709-46-rrm96o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346668/original/file-20200709-46-rrm96o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Members of the Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network march against gentrification, racism and police violence outside a Whole Foods Market.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protesters-picketing-at-whole-foods-market-members-of-the-news-photo/1170119274?adppopup=true">Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Activists resist change with food</h2>
<p>Communities can also use food to resist physical and cultural displacement. As one example, <a href="http://csuinc.org/">Community Services Unlimited</a>, a nonprofit that <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520287457/more-than-just-food">emerged out of the Black Panther Party</a>, is constructing a grocery store and wellness center in South Los Angeles. This facility will increase access to healthy food and jobs and assert the Black community’s continued presence in the face of displacement pressures. </p>
<p>In Chicago’s Humboldt Park, Puerto Rican activists work to preserve local food businesses in order to maintain their claim to the neighborhood. They also have developed an <a href="https://prcc-chgo.org/category/health/urban-agriculture-initiative/">urban agriculture initiative</a> to promote food security and cultural resilience. </p>
<p>Cities can back activists with new <a href="https://www.cunyurbanfoodpolicy.org/news/2018/3/27/feeding-or-starving-gentrification-the-role-of-food-policy">food policies</a>. Political leaders can support cooperative food businesses, mandate community benefits agreements for new food retail, encourage agricultural land trusts, prevent paving of urban farms and invest in local food business improvements for long-term residents. </p>
<p>Preventing displacement will also require new and creative <a href="https://nlihc.org/resource/gentrification-and-neighborhood-revitalization-whats-difference">housing</a> policies at local and state levels, such as inclusionary housing and zoning requirements, housing trust funds and real estate transfer taxes that fund affordable housing. </p>
<p>Although food is a flashpoint for gentrification, cities can use it strategically to bring gentrifiers and long-term residents together around a fertile movement for equitable and inclusive cities where diverse communities can thrive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131538/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hip food offerings can signal that a neighborhood is gentrifying – especially when they repackage traditional foods for wealthy white eaters.Joshua Sbicca, Associate Professor of Sociology, Colorado State UniversityAlison Alkon, Associate Professor of Sociology and Food Studies, University of the PacificYuki Kato, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Georgetown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1401552020-06-11T20:06:12Z2020-06-11T20:06:12ZWhy the pleasure and meaning of mingling in bars can’t be matched by a table for 2<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340923/original/file-20200610-34688-vq2p1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C131%2C4112%2C2940&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sociologist Marcus Anthony Hunter found that for Black patrons of a Black nightclub, the ‘nightly round’ mitigated the impacts of spatial and social isolation. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unslpash/Tobias Nii Kwatei Quartey)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As bars begin to <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/03/happy-days-return-paris-france-cafes-bars-restaurants-finally/">reopen across the world</a> <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/here-s-what-different-provinces-territories-are-planning-for-covid-19-reopenings-1.5601572">after coronavirus closures</a>, the question of how we will socialize within them remains perplexing. The traditional bar is a complex social space and serves so many functions.</p>
<p>Twenty years ago, a group of French anthropologists <a href="https://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=9704">studied the behaviour of young people in a bar called Café Oz</a>, located in the <a href="https://en.parisinfo.com/transport/118359/Quartier-des-Halles">Halles district</a> of Paris. </p>
<p>Café Oz had an Australian theme, as its name might suggest, but this was not its main appeal. The bar’s popularity among young people had more to do with the kinds of social encounters that were possible within its walls.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.pavillon-arsenal.com/fr/edition-e-boutique/collections/19-x-30/9214-paris-la-nuit.html">the traditional Parisian café or bistro</a> kept customers confined to a single table (which the server had probably chosen for them), Café Oz — like British-style pubs — was designed to encourage customers to walk around. The “cash-and-carry” system, foreign to traditional French drinking establishments, required that customers go to the bar to fetch their own drinks. </p>
<p>This encouraged people to hang around the bar, joining in conversations already underway or to sit down with strangers at the long tables installed for that precise purpose. Customers could pursue new connections as they wanted and avoid others.</p>
<p>To the young people interviewed by the anthropologists, these arrangements made possible a freedom that <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/world-paris-caf%C3%A9">the age-old rituals of French drinking culture</a> discouraged.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340722/original/file-20200609-21208-wrntam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340722/original/file-20200609-21208-wrntam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340722/original/file-20200609-21208-wrntam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340722/original/file-20200609-21208-wrntam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340722/original/file-20200609-21208-wrntam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340722/original/file-20200609-21208-wrntam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340722/original/file-20200609-21208-wrntam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman cleans the terrace of a restaurant in Paris, June 1, 2020. France is reopening its restaurants, bars and cafés as the country eases most restrictions amid the coronavirus crisis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Student mobility, tourism</h2>
<p>Café Oz was a space for meeting strangers, its risks reduced by the fact that one usually arrived with friends. An evening out was a long series of short-term exchanges with the friends one came with and the new acquaintances one made. Those interviewed for the study noted, in particular, their pleasure at meeting people of identities and backgrounds other than their own.</p>
<p>Café Oz is now the brand of a chain of bars, scattered across Paris, whose various <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CafeOzChatelet/">Facebook pages</a> either carry frozen announcements of events in early March or advise <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CAFJpsMod8B/">patrons to have patience</a> in the face of the ongoing quarantine. </p>
<p>Café Oz’s hazy present-day identity combines features of the Anglo-Irish pub, the American sports bar, the casual restaurant and the dance club. Like so many of its competitors, Café Oz now belongs to an international model for drinking places, one whose popularity has followed the enormous growth of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/671752">student mobility</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2018.1449010">and night-life tourism</a> over the past decade. </p>
<p>With multiple functions and broad appeal, these spaces sell the possibility of casual, short-term sociability.</p>
<h2>Post-confinement future</h2>
<p>There are two principles that guide the future of bars post-lockdown.
The first is that to accommodate social distancing, <a href="https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/05/23/late-night-extensions-to-bar-and-restaurant-terraces-coming-to-city-in-spains-costa-blanca-south/">alcohol consumption outside of the home will be stretched out across time and space.</a> </p>
<p>Drinking hours will be extended forwards and backwards, and the spaces for drinking will spill out onto streets, squares and parks. Crowds of drinkers will be thinned out, over longer periods of time and more widely dispersed in space.</p>
<p>The second principle dictates that the mobility of customers be reduced. Drinkers will be confined to their tables, and the size of groups drinking together will be limited and enforced. Gimmicky innovations like <a href="https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2020/05/contactless-tableside-ordering-service-to-launch-in-uk/">remote ordering devices</a> and plexiglass separators are being hailed for their capacity to further reduce the chances of interpersonal contact.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340724/original/file-20200609-21191-1xhfrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340724/original/file-20200609-21191-1xhfrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340724/original/file-20200609-21191-1xhfrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340724/original/file-20200609-21191-1xhfrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340724/original/file-20200609-21191-1xhfrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340724/original/file-20200609-21191-1xhfrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340724/original/file-20200609-21191-1xhfrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Patrons sit between plexiglass barriers on the patio of a restaurant and bar in Vancouver on May 31, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Vertical drinking’</h2>
<p>Even as we accept these measures, we cannot help but wonder how the social function of bars will change. In the 1970s, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13562570801969473">vertical drinking</a>” — consuming alcohol while standing up and moving around, as in Café Oz — was embraced by British bars as a lively alternative to the dull immobility of the traditional pub, where customers sat in groups faced inwards.</p>
<p>Standing up and moving around seemed to encourage higher levels of drinking and to instill a more sociable atmosphere. Its <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmKjBHRze_k">detractors</a> saw vertical drinking as leading to boorish behaviour, more frequent sexual harassment and the death of meaningful conversation.</p>
<h2>Expressiveness spread</h2>
<p>A bar in which customers move around is a space that is constantly being redefined. In his <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo3632650.html">history of New York nightlife</a>,
historian Lewis A. Erenberg describes the ways in which, as restaurants added dance floors at the beginning of the past century, people went out to bars and eating establishments to look at each other rather than at professional performers engaged to entertain them. </p>
<p>“Expressiveness,” he suggests, “spread to the audience as well.” Getting up, moving around, looking at strangers and mingling with others — these made going to a nighttime drinking place a sociable, entertaining experience. </p>
<h2>The ‘nightly round’</h2>
<p>Sociology professor Marcus Anthony Hunter <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6040.2010.01320.x">studied what he calls “the nightly round,” in urban Black nightlife</a>. He found there were restorative effects of nightlife movements and interactions in a Black nightclub for Black patrons for whom the daytime is often marked by the violence of exclusion and oppression. Heterosexual, as well as lesbian and gay patrons (who patronized the bar, respectively, for a Saturday “straight night” and a Friday “gay night”) used their movements around a bar “to mediate racial segregation [and] sexual segregation.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340935/original/file-20200610-34710-7jyf4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340935/original/file-20200610-34710-7jyf4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340935/original/file-20200610-34710-7jyf4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340935/original/file-20200610-34710-7jyf4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340935/original/file-20200610-34710-7jyf4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340935/original/file-20200610-34710-7jyf4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340935/original/file-20200610-34710-7jyf4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hunter found that Black patrons were exploring socio-economic opportunities while circulating in a Black nightclub.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hunter found their “rounds” were ways of shoring up social capital — one’s place within community — and a way of exploring socio-economic opportunities (and for the lesbian and gay patrons, developing social support). In Hunter’s words, such contacts mitigate “the effects of social and spatial isolation.”</p>
<p>In her extraordinary 1944 novel <a href="https://www.hmhco.com/shop/books/The-Street/9780358187547"><em>The Street</em></a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/14/the-street-the-1940s-african-american-thriller-that-became-a-huge-bestseller">about life in Harlem</a>, Ann Petry wrote that, for its Black clientele, a certain neighbourhood bar served as “a social club and a meeting place,” its talk and laughter replacing “the haunting silences of rented rooms and little apartments.”</p>
<h2>Celebration or lament?</h2>
<p>As the spatial-temporal limits on social drinking are extended, there will be much to celebrate in the coming months. </p>
<p>But if the price of this extension is that patrons are immobilized at assigned tables in small groups — and if these groups nervously eye each other rather than revelling in the spectacle of mingling strangers — bars will have lost some of their most important functions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Straw receives funding from McGill University under the James McGill Professor program. . </span></em></p>If bars are forced to restrict people’s movement in our post-coronavirus pandemic world, they will lose some of their most important social functions.William Straw, Professor of Urban Media Studies, Department of Art History and Communications Studies, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1393022020-05-28T20:03:23Z2020-05-28T20:03:23Z4 ways our streets can rescue restaurants, bars and cafes after coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337926/original/file-20200527-20245-1k18lfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C54%2C5844%2C3935&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-australia-june-9-2019-auction-1433525984">Nils Versemann/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Australia re-opens, the bars, cafes and restaurants that give life to our streets face a tough ask: stay open and stay afloat with just a fraction of the customers. </p>
<p>From June 1 in Victoria, for example, the limit will be <a href="https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/restaurants-and-cafes-covid19">20 patrons</a>, with 1.5 metres between tables or four square metres per patron. If that goes well, it’ll be 50 patrons from June 22 – if they can be seated the required distance apart. Many smaller businesses won’t be able to do that.</p>
<p>With the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whatll-happen-when-the-moneys-snatched-back-our-looming-coronavirus-support-cliff-138527">Jobkeeper package due to expire</a> in September, the next couple of months is a critical window for traders to find new ways to seat patrons. Fortunately, street space can help a lot with this. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-let-coronavirus-kill-our-cities-heres-how-we-can-save-urban-life-137063">We can't let coronavirus kill our cities. Here's how we can save urban life</a>
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<hr>
<p>Here are four proven ways to quickly reconfigure street space. We might even find them nice enough to keep. Have your say in the poll at the end of this article.</p>
<h2>Footpath trade</h2>
<p>Footpath dining already gives many iconic streets their character. Even two or three tables outside a small bar in the evenings can give life to a street.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337866/original/file-20200527-141291-2vzdal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337866/original/file-20200527-141291-2vzdal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337866/original/file-20200527-141291-2vzdal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337866/original/file-20200527-141291-2vzdal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337866/original/file-20200527-141291-2vzdal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337866/original/file-20200527-141291-2vzdal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337866/original/file-20200527-141291-2vzdal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337866/original/file-20200527-141291-2vzdal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chairs on the footpath are part of the experience of dining out in Crossley Street, Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/14446029331/in/photolist-8xLNes-sxhj1q-3Bv5m-3BuV6-b3osgF-o1xFee-3UJB6o-5nU31w-HzjaH4-3BuMK-aJ7r9-rKCgXU-4z3amC">Alpha/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Putting out tables sounds simple, but the permit process is the real hurdle. It can take weeks or months of waiting and uncertainty while a small team assesses <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/business/permits-and-approvals/hospitality-businesses/Pages/outdoor-cafe-permits.aspx">a long list of details</a>.</p>
<p>Councils could employ more assessors to fast-track the process, but there is another option. In the post-COVID environment, it may be time to trust traders and embrace more of the informality we see in <a href="https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/worlds-best-cities-for-street-food">cities with great street food</a>. Councils could trial a system where dining is permitted by default in front of each establishment, subject to a few simple rules.</p>
<p>Traders must understand that their permits depend on not blocking thoroughfare. Disability access in particular must be maintained. </p>
<p>However, many footpaths are wide and quiet enough that dining tables could be up and working well in a matter of days.</p>
<h2>Parklets</h2>
<p>One roadside parking space in front of a café or bar might mean one or two customers – assuming they come to that business. A car park can instead become a “parklet” with space for six to eight people, while looking a lot more inviting. Put two or three parking spaces together and you’ve got a miniature dining area or a parklet.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/parking-isnt-as-important-for-restaurants-as-the-owners-think-it-is-74750">Parking isn't as important for restaurants as the owners think it is</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The parklet idea came out of San Francisco. Examples from there show how diverse and successful these can be. From <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfplanning/7658385712/">weirdly sculptural</a> to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BIVmUTsjx4O/?utm_source=ig_embed">classically European</a> to <a href="https://groundplaysf.org/projects/museum-of-craft-and-design-parklet/#tab1">high-end and polished</a>, they all add character to the places where they spring up.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337863/original/file-20200527-141291-fwn60o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337863/original/file-20200527-141291-fwn60o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337863/original/file-20200527-141291-fwn60o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337863/original/file-20200527-141291-fwn60o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337863/original/file-20200527-141291-fwn60o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337863/original/file-20200527-141291-fwn60o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337863/original/file-20200527-141291-fwn60o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337863/original/file-20200527-141291-fwn60o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Noriega Street Parklet outside a bakery in San Francisco.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfplanning/8457445876/">Photo: Matarozzi Pelsinger Builders & Wells Campbell photography/San Francisco Planning Department/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Melbourne, Moreland Council has one long-term parklet <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.7664466,144.948792,3a,75y,41.48h,80.3t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOTmRT3TuGVh2sr3lvNzP5Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192">in Brunswick</a>. Its simple, neat design fits plenty of patrons and includes a bit of greenery. <a href="https://theconversation.com/people-love-parklets-and-businesses-can-help-make-them-happen-87172">Perth</a> and <a href="https://www.cityofadelaide.com.au/business/permits-licences/parklets/">Adelaide</a> have examples too, but the potential seems to be mostly untapped in Australian cities. </p>
<p>And the benefits are significant. A recent <a href="https://www.perth.wa.gov.au/news-and-updates/all-news/hampden-road-parklet-trial-a-great-success">parklet study</a> in Perth found a 20-35% increase in local footfall, and 89% community support.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-love-parklets-and-businesses-can-help-make-them-happen-87172">People love parklets, and businesses can help make them happen</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337512/original/file-20200526-106828-kcrrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337512/original/file-20200526-106828-kcrrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337512/original/file-20200526-106828-kcrrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337512/original/file-20200526-106828-kcrrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337512/original/file-20200526-106828-kcrrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337512/original/file-20200526-106828-kcrrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337512/original/file-20200526-106828-kcrrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grandview Hotel Parklet in Brunswick.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Streetview</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Again, a bit of sanctioned informality may be the best way to get parklets working quickly. Each trader could be allowed to use, say, one or two parking spaces outside their business if some simple criteria are met. </p>
<p>If we decide the approach is worth keeping, San Francisco shows how to go from pop-ups to something bigger and better. The city’s first parklet was a roll of astroturf, a park bench and a tree in a pot. It <a href="https://gehlpeople.com/projects/parklets/">lasted just two hours</a>. Now there are <a href="https://sf.curbed.com/maps/mapping-all-51-awesome-san-francisco-public-parklets">over 50</a> parklets, a <a href="https://groundplaysf.org/wp-content/uploads/Parklet_Manual_UPDATE-November-2019.pdf">“how to” manual</a>, a <a href="https://groundplaysf.org/wp-content/uploads/Parklet-O-Matic-2018_upload.pdf">clear application process</a> and <a href="https://groundplaysf.org/wp-content/parklet-impact-study/">case studies</a> of the benefits.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337513/original/file-20200526-106848-m5w9b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337513/original/file-20200526-106848-m5w9b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337513/original/file-20200526-106848-m5w9b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337513/original/file-20200526-106848-m5w9b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337513/original/file-20200526-106848-m5w9b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337513/original/file-20200526-106848-m5w9b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337513/original/file-20200526-106848-m5w9b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337513/original/file-20200526-106848-m5w9b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This parklet popped up for a day on Park(ing) Day 2009 in San Francisco.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhilton/3933593835">Tom Hilton/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-day-for-turning-parking-spaces-into-pop-up-parks-65164">A day for turning parking spaces into pop-up parks</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Road closures</h2>
<p>Roads are wide open spaces. Put bollards at the ends of a street that doesn’t need full vehicle access, carry out tables and chairs, and you’ve got a huge new seating area. It has been done and works well.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337869/original/file-20200527-141307-jrw646.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337869/original/file-20200527-141307-jrw646.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337869/original/file-20200527-141307-jrw646.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337869/original/file-20200527-141307-jrw646.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337869/original/file-20200527-141307-jrw646.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337869/original/file-20200527-141307-jrw646.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337869/original/file-20200527-141307-jrw646.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337869/original/file-20200527-141307-jrw646.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Meyers Place (above and below right), Melbourne, is closed to through traffic and open for pedestrians and dining.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/36767246200/in/photolist-eCLnmn-dcaLKi-Y216W5-L9Vje5-Y1ZKkW-Y1ZLtN-Ykpanq-UnxexJ-xga8V4/">Alpha/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337872/original/file-20200527-141303-qox50j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337872/original/file-20200527-141303-qox50j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337872/original/file-20200527-141303-qox50j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337872/original/file-20200527-141303-qox50j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337872/original/file-20200527-141303-qox50j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337872/original/file-20200527-141303-qox50j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337872/original/file-20200527-141303-qox50j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337872/original/file-20200527-141303-qox50j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Before full closure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/20518589881/in/photolist-eCLnmn-dcaLKi-Y216W5-L9Vje5-Y1ZKkW-Y1ZLtN-Ykpanq-UnxexJ-xga8V4/">Aplha/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, closing a street permanently is quite a process. I worked with the community to pedestrianise a Melbourne laneway called <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/green-your-laneway-case-study-meyers-place.pdf">Meyers Place</a>. Negotiating the legalities took about 18 months. Emergency, bin collection and disability access requirements had to be met. </p>
<p>The restaurants can now put tables on the former road space, surrounded by trees and murals under a <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/community/greening-the-city/urban-forest-fund/funded-projects/Pages/meyers-place.aspx">green wall</a>. The thing is, we started out by closing the street for just two weeks. Businesses rolled out temporary tables and chairs, astroturf and potted plants. The lane went beserk with activity; we went from tentative support to heavy pressure for a permanent pedestrian space.</p>
<p>We took our inspiration from a much larger closure in Ballarat Street, Yarraville. It was also temporary and got removed, but was <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-16/yarraville-pop-up-park-becomes-permanent-after-singing-protest/5970092">brought back permanently with funding from traders</a> and overwhelming community support.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337515/original/file-20200526-106866-1upcl90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337515/original/file-20200526-106866-1upcl90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337515/original/file-20200526-106866-1upcl90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337515/original/file-20200526-106866-1upcl90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337515/original/file-20200526-106866-1upcl90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337515/original/file-20200526-106866-1upcl90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337515/original/file-20200526-106866-1upcl90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337515/original/file-20200526-106866-1upcl90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ballarat Street, Yarraville, was transformed with strong community support.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shareable.net/sharing-cities-why-ownership-governance-and-the-commons-matter-more-than-ever/">Darren Sharp/Shareable</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Parking lot conversions</h2>
<p>Outside our inner suburbs, the areas dedicated to parking get bigger. But Copenhagen offers an example of how big an opportunity a large car park can be.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337517/original/file-20200526-106862-1ns92u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337517/original/file-20200526-106862-1ns92u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337517/original/file-20200526-106862-1ns92u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337517/original/file-20200526-106862-1ns92u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337517/original/file-20200526-106862-1ns92u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337517/original/file-20200526-106862-1ns92u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337517/original/file-20200526-106862-1ns92u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337517/original/file-20200526-106862-1ns92u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kødbyen in Vesterbro, Copenhagen, has become a hub for fine dining, galleries and nightlife.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/14234836548/in/album-72157645151442172/">thewavingcat/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the city’s former meatpacking district, you can find anything from high-end seafood to a craft beer pub that pumps heavy metal and barbecue smoke. The central car park serves as a giant dining area – when the weather’s good, chairs and benches come out and hundreds of locals turn up. This is super-simple stuff, mostly involving folding chairs and benches, plus lots of people. It’s adaptable, fun and very popular.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/freeing-up-the-huge-areas-set-aside-for-parking-can-transform-our-cities-85331">Freeing up the huge areas set aside for parking can transform our cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The concept seems to work too in Melbourne too. “Welcome to Thornbury”, a popular hub for food trucks and outdoor dining, used to be a car factory. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337883/original/file-20200527-141316-1y905ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337883/original/file-20200527-141316-1y905ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337883/original/file-20200527-141316-1y905ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337883/original/file-20200527-141316-1y905ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337883/original/file-20200527-141316-1y905ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337883/original/file-20200527-141316-1y905ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337883/original/file-20200527-141316-1y905ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337883/original/file-20200527-141316-1y905ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Welcome to Thornbury’, the former site of a car factory, is now a drive-in food truck park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://welcometothornbury.com/">Welcome to Thornbury</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>We can start right now (and probably should)</h2>
<p>Community engagement with Melbourne’s new <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/parking-and-transport/transport-planning-projects/Pages/transport-strategy.aspx">Transport Strategy 2030</a> indicates <a href="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/hdp.au.prod.app.com-participate.files/5815/7077/4789/Community_engagement_summary_-_Transport_Strategy_2030_-_September_2019.pdf">broad support</a> for reallocating street space to people.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/move-away-from-a-car-dominated-city-looks-radical-but-its-a-sensible-plan-for-a-liveable-future-116518">Move away from a car-dominated city looks radical but it's a sensible plan for a liveable future</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Now is the time to press ahead, because of what’s at stake – not just jobs and profits, but our collective identity and sense of place. Food and drink are a big part of city life and how we spend our time. The places we gathered with friends, nurtured romances and celebrated milestones are where memories live. Doing nothing could mean these experiences are replaced by numbing “For Lease” signs.</p>
<p>Luckily, taking action isn’t very risky. We can give our hospitality sector a boost right now by allowing businesses to trial a set of proven approaches. Everyone will then have a chance to experience the changes and decide what they’d like to keep.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kebab-urbanism-melbournes-other-cafe-makes-the-city-a-more-human-place-112228">Kebab urbanism: Melbourne's 'other' cafe makes the city a more human place</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<style>
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<iframe class="qp_iframe" src="https://www.poll-maker.com/frame2951023x0f562899-87" seamless="seamless" frameborder="no" style="border:0; background:transparent; width:100%; height:550px;" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<div id="qp_foot2951023" style="width:100%; padding:5px; text-align:center;">Created with <a href="https://linkto.run/e/SQ9DIYU8">Poll Maker</a></div><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139302/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thami receives funding from the European Commission and the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Distancing rules will make life very difficult for smaller bars, cafes and restaurants. Our streets can be modified quickly to help save an important part of the life of cities and their economies.Thami Croeser, Research Officer, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1391172020-05-28T02:14:33Z2020-05-28T02:14:33ZHow to stay safe in restaurants and cafes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337832/original/file-20200527-141295-1rt7jiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C20%2C997%2C643&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-man-woman-sitting-separated-restaurant-1723055608">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Now we have fewer cases of COVID-19, and restrictions are lifting, many of us are thinking of rejuvenating our social lives by heading to our local cafe or favourite restaurant. </p>
<p>What can we do to reduce the risk of infection? And what should managers be doing to keep us safe? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-cafes-bars-gyms-barbershops-and-other-third-places-create-our-social-fabric-135530">How cafes, bars, gyms, barbershops and other 'third places' create our social fabric</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>COVID-19 is an infectious disease <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/what-you-need-to-know-about-coronavirus-covid-19#:%7E:text=The%20virus%20can%20spread%20from,your%20mouth%20or%20face">spread</a> directly from person to person, carried in droplets from an infected person’s breath, cough or sneeze. If the droplets come into contact with another person’s eyes or are breathed in, that person may develop the disease. </p>
<p>Those droplets can also fall onto surfaces, where the virus can survive <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973">for up to 72 hours</a>. If someone touches these surfaces, then touches their face, they can also become infected.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/7-questions-answered-on-how-to-socialise-safely-as-coronavirus-restrictions-ease-139109">7 questions answered on how to socialise safely as coronavirus restrictions ease</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Eating out has led to several clusters</h2>
<p>We know people around the world have become infected while eating out.</p>
<p>Back in late January and early February, <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0764_article#tnF1">three clusters</a> of COVID-19 cases in China were connected to dining in a single restaurant. A total of 10 people became ill over the next three weeks.</p>
<p>The air-conditioning had apparently carried contaminated droplets from an infectious diner to nearby tables. This prompted the researchers to recommend restaurants increase their ventilation and sit customers at tables further apart.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-know-how-long-coronavirus-survives-on-surfaces-heres-what-it-means-for-handling-money-food-and-more-134671">We know how long coronavirus survives on surfaces. Here's what it means for handling money, food and more</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In Queensland, more than 20 people connected with a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/coronavirus-covid-19-infected-noosa-sails-restaurant-stayed-open/12097336">private birthday party</a> at a Sunshine Coast restaurant contracted the virus. Four were staff, the rest guests. We don’t know the source of infection.</p>
<p>Other outbreaks have been linked with restaurants in <a href="https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/04/14/authorities-investigate-cluster-coronavirus-cases-tied-kona-restaurant/">Hawaii</a>, <a href="https://la.eater.com/2020/5/4/21246555/morning-briefing-restaurant-news-los-angeles-covid-19-coronavirus-restaurant-cases-list">Los Angeles</a> and a <a href="https://www.muswellbrookchronicle.com.au/story/6759018/victoria-virus-cases-up-11-caution-urged/?cs=7">fast food restaurant in Melbourne</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kGQEuuv9R6E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Here’s how the coronavirus can spread in a restaurant.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The path to infection</h2>
<p>Let’s consider the risk of infection from the moment you arrive at a restaurant or cafe.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337856/original/file-20200527-141312-107a019.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337856/original/file-20200527-141312-107a019.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337856/original/file-20200527-141312-107a019.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337856/original/file-20200527-141312-107a019.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337856/original/file-20200527-141312-107a019.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337856/original/file-20200527-141312-107a019.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337856/original/file-20200527-141312-107a019.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When you open the door, you may have to put your hand on a door handle. If that handle has been touched by a person while infectious, they may leave behind thousands of individual virus particles. If you then touch your face, you run the risk of the virus entering your body and establishing an infection.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337857/original/file-20200527-141299-mwgex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337857/original/file-20200527-141299-mwgex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337857/original/file-20200527-141299-mwgex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337857/original/file-20200527-141299-mwgex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337857/original/file-20200527-141299-mwgex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337857/original/file-20200527-141299-mwgex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337857/original/file-20200527-141299-mwgex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you avoid the doorknob trap, you may pick up the virus when you take your seat at the table, by touching the chair or the tabletop. Again, if you touch your face, you are risking infection. Similarly, you risk exposure by touching the menu or the cutlery.</p>
<p>When the waiter comes to take your order, they will likely enter your breathing space. This is usually considered to be a circular zone of about <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-why-should-we-stay-1-5-metres-away-from-each-other-134029">1.5 metres</a> around your body. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337858/original/file-20200527-141316-bc23sc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337858/original/file-20200527-141316-bc23sc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337858/original/file-20200527-141316-bc23sc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337858/original/file-20200527-141316-bc23sc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337858/original/file-20200527-141316-bc23sc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337858/original/file-20200527-141316-bc23sc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337858/original/file-20200527-141316-bc23sc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If the waiter is infected but not yet showing symptoms, you may be exposed to droplets containing the virus on their breath or the breath may contaminate the tableware in front of you.</p>
<p>Now, your food is delivered and there’s good news. The virus <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjl1cOhotPpAhUC63MBHS5pAt4QFjANegQIBxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.who.int%2Firis%2Frest%2Fbitstreams%2F1274400%2Fretrieve&usg=AOvVaw2XBucHbnVtIWNHQnwm8cmV">is <em>not</em> transmitted</a> through food.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337859/original/file-20200527-141295-gk5awp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337859/original/file-20200527-141295-gk5awp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337859/original/file-20200527-141295-gk5awp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337859/original/file-20200527-141295-gk5awp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337859/original/file-20200527-141295-gk5awp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337859/original/file-20200527-141295-gk5awp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337859/original/file-20200527-141295-gk5awp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But wait. The air-conditioning can help the virus travel through the air from the infected person at the next table who has just choked on a crumb and is coughing uncontrollably.</p>
<p>Later, on a quick trip to the bathroom, you again open yourself to the risk of infection by touching the door and other surfaces. However, this trip allows you to take one very important step to prevent infection. You wash your hands with soap, taking care to hum Happy Birthday twice as you scrub and rinse. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337860/original/file-20200527-141283-10hk8sp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337860/original/file-20200527-141283-10hk8sp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337860/original/file-20200527-141283-10hk8sp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337860/original/file-20200527-141283-10hk8sp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337860/original/file-20200527-141283-10hk8sp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337860/original/file-20200527-141283-10hk8sp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337860/original/file-20200527-141283-10hk8sp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unfortunately, you fail to dry your hands thoroughly. Wet hands <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1757177418815549">are much more likely</a> to pick up microbes, so you may recontaminate your hands as you open the door and go back to your table.</p>
<p>When you go to pay your bill, you may be worried that cash may be a source of infection. While there were concerns about this initially, there is no evidence to date of any cases linked to handling money. Just in case, you use your credit card, but inadvertently transfer the virus to your finger as you type in your PIN.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/you-dont-need-to-worry-about-spreading-the-coronavirus-with-cash-137865">You don't need to worry about spreading the coronavirus with cash</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>On your way out the door, you not only pick up more virus from the doorknob, but transfer some of the ones on your hand in return, ready for the next unwary diner.</p>
<h2>How can I protect myself?</h2>
<p>There are some simple (and familiar) things you can do to protect yourself as venues reopen.</p>
<p>Keep washing and drying your hands, thoroughly and regularly. If you don’t have access to soap and water, use alcohol-based hand sanitiser. Wash or sanitise after handling money, touching surfaces, before eating and after visiting the bathroom. Avoid touching your face, including wiping your eyes or licking juice off your fingers. If you must touch your face, use hand sanitiser first. </p>
<p>Maintain a distance of at least 1.5 metres from other people, unless they are people you share close contact with.</p>
<p>Sit outside if you can. Direct transmission is <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.28.20029272v2">much more likely</a> indoors.</p>
<p>Finally, think about using a credit or debit card with a contactless transaction, rather than having to enter a PIN.</p>
<p>To avoid infecting other people, stay home if you have any symptoms or suspect you might have been in contact with a person who has tested positive.</p>
<h2>What should cafes and restaurants be doing?</h2>
<p>Regulations about the number of patrons allowed in cafes and restaurants vary between states and territories. But there are certain common rules of thumb. </p>
<p>First, tables need to be spaced at reasonable distances. This allows patrons to be outside others’ 1.5-metre breathing zones and also takes into account the potential effect of air conditioning. </p>
<p>While COVID-19 doesn’t appear to be spread through air conditioning systems, they do boost air flow. This means droplets may travel a little further than 1.5 metres. This spacing will also reduce the number of people in the venue at the same time.</p>
<p>Some venues <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3050085/coronavirus-hong-kong-restaurants-install-physical">overseas</a> are using plastic screens to separate diners to try to reduce the risk of person-to-person spread. This should not be used as a substitute for correct distancing if there is sufficient space. </p>
<p>Tables and chairs need to be sanitised, <a href="https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/industry-and-businesses/resources-and-fact-sheets-for-industry/covid-19-cleaning-and-disinfection-recommendations">using a chemical sanitiser such as diluted bleach</a>, between patrons.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337833/original/file-20200527-141283-1qoeyg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337833/original/file-20200527-141283-1qoeyg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337833/original/file-20200527-141283-1qoeyg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337833/original/file-20200527-141283-1qoeyg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337833/original/file-20200527-141283-1qoeyg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337833/original/file-20200527-141283-1qoeyg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337833/original/file-20200527-141283-1qoeyg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337833/original/file-20200527-141283-1qoeyg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Social distancing is important and will limit the number of people in a venue.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/singapore-mar2020-social-distancing-rules-practice-1684328626">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cutlery and tableware cannot be left ready on the table. They must be stored to prevent contamination in the kitchen and brought to the patron with their meal. Afterward, they need to be cleaned and sanitised as usual. </p>
<p>Disposable cutlery should never be left out for self-service; it should only be provided with food or on request. </p>
<p>All frequently touched surfaces must be regularly sanitised – including door handles, refrigerator and freezer doors, taps, light switches, hand rails, PIN pads and touch screens.</p>
<p>Staff must maintain safe distances from patrons at all times and must <em>never</em> be allowed to work if they have respiratory symptoms or are suspected to have had contact with a COVID-19 positive person.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-lower-your-coronavirus-risk-while-eating-out-restaurant-advice-from-an-infectious-disease-expert-138925">How to lower your coronavirus risk while eating out: Restaurant advice from an infectious disease expert</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>We need to be vigilant</h2>
<p>Coronavirus cases in most states and territories are now very low. So, the chance of coming into contact with an infectious person is unlikely and is why restrictions are now gradually being lifted. </p>
<p>However, we musn’t become complacent. We need to continue to take precautions to reduce the risk of infection via our cafes and restaurants. It only takes one instance of carelessness to start the viral ball rolling again.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-restrictions-ease-here-are-5-crucial-ways-for-australia-to-stay-safely-on-top-of-covid-19-138000">As restrictions ease, here are 5 crucial ways for Australia to stay safely on top of COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139117/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Bricknell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As restaurants and cafes re-open, here’s what you can do to limit the chance of coronavirus transmission.Lisa Bricknell, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Health, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.