Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic will be remembered as the most severe medical threat of last decades, which forced billions of people to live in isolation and alienating conditions while millions have lost their lives. So far, the design interventions created to contrast the pandemic have been largely focused on the design of products for personal use (i.e. PPE), which however will not be very effective in the long run. In post-pandemic scenarios, designers will be asked to create new enabling solutions to foster socially inclusive and sustainable ‘new normalities’. These solutions will play a fundamental role in the transition toward future sustainable and inclusive living conditions. This paper proposes three inclusive-oriented design scenarios containing some promising design ideas conceived to enhance the social and sustainable qualities of living places and communities. Later, a number of promising testing grounds will be listed for immediate interventions in the post- pandemic’s transition stages.