Building Back Better Resilient Public Spaces What the COVID-19 pandemic changed in urban planning and design

The aim of the paper is to point out the role of resilient public spaces in ensuring public health and safety in the time of pandemic and in multi-risk scenarios. The investigation of urban strategies – that guarantee accessibility and flexibility of public spaces – is framed in opposition to the policies of closure and forbiddance of use which have largely been applied during the COVID-19 pandemic in the years 2020-2022, especially in Italy. Through a review of current policies on the topic of multi-risk exposure and emergency management at the global, Europe- an, national, and local level (with the case of the Campania Region, in South Ita- ly), the paper underlines the weaknesses of urban planning and design instances in emergency decision-making processes. A selection of initiatives that experi- mented new spatial uses and configurations of public spaces is used to reflect on how recent practices reacted to the pandemic, as an alternative to restrictive, non-resilient approaches. The results are discussed and interpreted as relevant components to build back better, reinterpreting the role of public spaces towards an innovative research agenda for more sustainable and resilient planning and design.