The transformations of physical, digital and social spaces during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Since the end of the 20th century, the interconnection between physical and social spaces has been widely explored (Löw, 2001). However, “quarantine” as a new social-spatial practice, as well as the universal digital transformations of daily practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, led to spatial refigurations in social, digital and physical spaces. Hence, this study contributes to the advancement of the knowledge of the new social-spatial reality. In the framework of the critical practice theory, qualitative in-depth interviews have been conducted with educational and labour migrants from post-soviet space lining in Berlin to understand transformations of the social-spatial practices of the social agents as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The promise of this study is threefold: to understand the transformations of the social- spatial connectivity practices of social agents; to compare social connectivity practices in digital and physical spaces; to understand the interrelation of the social, digital and physical spaces. The research findings show that practice is more relevant than the structure of the network in the context of social connectivity. Moreover, the spatial context of the communication influences on connectivity practices. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic led to spatial refigurations in social, digital and physical spaces and these refigurations are interrelated. The findings of this research can be applicable in many fields starting from urban planning to the algorithms of digital applications.