distancemaking

Distancemaking is the practice of creating or regulating the distance between people, places, objects, or ideas. It encompasses physical arrangements, policy measures, and social norms that alter proximity and access. Distancemaking can be intentional— for safety, privacy, or order— or emergent, arising from everyday behavior and design. The concept spans multiple domains, including urban planning, architecture, public health, social interaction, and art.

In public health and urban design, distancemaking includes measures such as barriers, clear pathways, occupancy limits, setbacks, and zoning rules that shape how closely people may gather or how spaces relate to one another. In architecture and interior design, it uses thresholds, sightlines, materials, and furniture placement to influence movement, interaction, and perceived intimacy or detachment. In culture and media, distancemaking can be achieved through framing, lighting, and staging that create psychological distance or tension.

Critically, distancemaking can promote safety and order but also risk excluding or surveilling marginalized groups, reinforcing inequalities, or reducing accessibility. Effective distancemaking seeks balance among safety, privacy, mobility, and inclusion, and often relies on transparent rules and user-centered design. Related concepts include personal space, social distancing, and urban zoning.