Urban Acupuncture Theory for Covid-19 Effects on Public Spaces: A Literature Review

This review article tackles Urban Acupuncture Theory to address the consequences of COVID-19 affecting today’s cities through various forms of people’s low presence and boredom in public spaces. After several rounds of lockdowns and applying social distancing policies in a wide range of places across the globe, there might be a need for catalytic action to restore public spaces to livable conditions. To address the argument, this review conducted a bibliometric analysis of articles indexed in databases and books published in the last eleven years, then a thematic content analysis. The collected sources determined the catalyst for humans’ daily use of public spaces and the role of pandemics that changed their function. A literature review was conducted to map the theory used in the literature. The results figured out the principles and capabilities of urban acupuncture that can help humans interact with urban spaces. Out data mining shows this theory can convert un-functional spaces into livable places. The contribution of this research may assist urban designers and planners in designing public areas of the future.