One of the things we have had to do on several different events, during the pandemic, is to calculate how many people we can allow in a space and still have enough space to maintain social distancing of at least 2 metres.
On the face of it, it is quite simple, each person will need 1 metre around them, and if everyone has this 1 metre then that allows a separation of 2 metres, so in essence, each person will need 4m2.
4m2 is fine for a static audience, or even to allocate an occupancy internally in rooms office and welfare areas. But what if we have a dynamic audience that will want and should be able to move freely around an area?
Well, the Institute of Place Management (IPM) has produced some guidance on this and is very helpful for those planning events to give an idea of space required for a desired occupancy and vice versa. The guidance can be found here https://www.placemanagement.org/news/calculating-the-area-needed-for-social-distancing/
The guidance provides some useful insights into calculating the space you need for several different sectors such as retail and types of public urban spaces and is very useful for planning purposes.