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Aberdeen, Source: Mkonikkara / CC BY-SA 3.0

Aberdeen receives funding to adapt to life with social distancing

Aberdeen receives funding to adapt to life with social distancing

Nearly 2 million pounds will be used by the City Council to redesign public spaces in order to allow for social distancing

Social distancing has become a must in pretty much all cities and towns across Europe. Even with lockdown restrictions slowly being rolled back, social distancing measures are set to remain for a while more. That is why local governments all over the continent are developing different approaches to making their cities more social distancing-friendly in order to allow citizens to safely venture outside their houses.

The Scottish way

In Aberdeen, the City Council has taken the task to heart and has received a total of 1.76 million pounds for the setting up of temporary accommodations for social distancing from the Scottish Government’s Spaces for People fund.

The money will be used for the pedestrianisation of areas, the widening of pavement across the city, the creation of temporary bike lanes and the implementation of one-way walking systems. Work on these projects will begin in the next few weeks as it aims to make it easier for locals to be able to freely walk around and cycle in the city, without fearing infection.

Other measures planned by the Aberdeen City Council will be based on the further easing of lockdown restrictions across the country. Officials are planning for the closing down of parking spaces in order to create more room for restaurants and shops, much like it has been done in the Bavarian capital of Munich, as well as the setting of additional signs and the dispatching of extra personnel within the city’s parks in order to deal with the increased flow of people.

Upon the announcement of the city receiving the grant from the government, Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Jenny Laing stated that “We welcome the grant funding which will be used to implement temporary active travel measures, helping to ensure people can walk and cycle during this public health emergency whilst physically distancing and keeping safe from traffic.

“These temporary interventions will help us meet the health and wellbeing needs of residents during this difficult time and will allow people to move safely around Aberdeen which will, in turn, start the social and economic recovery of the city and the wider region."

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