Irish Examiner view: Pandemic gives us an opportunity to reimagine tomorrow's cities

Outdoor dining on Prince’s Street, Cork City

The pandemic accelerated the huge changes in how cities work, how we work in them, and how they will develop. 

Homeworking is a new reality for many people. Covid-19 also challenged retailing by encouraging online shopping. 

This has inevitable, if unattractive, consequences for local retailers. It also has consequences for cities that do not quickly adapt.

Cork may respond positively by extending street dining to the end of the year and the practice could, if successful, become permanent.

It is natural to wonder if street dining might be attractive in an Irish winter but cities like Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm have shown what is possible.

Though the assertion will draw charges of chauvinism few European cities have Cork’s potential to remake itself to fit in a new world where only people-friendly, convivial cities can thrive.

If the right choices are made, and permanent street dining may be one, then the future can be brighter than today. 

An honest reassessment of some of the venues we promote as attractions would authenticate that process too. So too would a better celebration of the wonderful food produced in the region.

Huge progress was made in this area but maybe we have become complacent. A recalibration of standards would not only attract visitors but enrich our lives too.

These are indeed challenging, worrying times but Cork has the capacity to turn them into the catalyst to again remake itself. and enjoy the next iteration of its centuries-long existence.