The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on urban green space use during COVID19 pandemic

Keywords: Urban Green Space, UGS Activities, Social Media Data, COVID-19
Session Type: Virtual Lightning Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 36

Abstract

The aim of this study is use changes in the spatio-temporal characteristics of georeferenced Tweets to understand changes in behaviours around urban green space (UGS). Tweets were collected pre-, during- and post- the Coronavirus lockdown period (23 March to 23 June for 2019, 2020 and 2021) in Greater London. The study area was separated into London's Central Business District (LCBD) and non-LCBD. The novelty of the present research is that the full historical Twitter data were used as a proxy for evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UGS use, in combination with high-resolution spatio-temporal information. The results showed that (1) the land-use type of Public park and garden was the most frequently visited during lockdown and UGS increasingly provided crucial services for people during the lockdown period; (2) the usage of UGS decreased in LCBD and increased in non-LCBD during lockdown; (3) Physical activities in UGS became more popular during lockdown and (4) people have more flexibility in arranging their UGS visitation and they spent more time in UGS areas on weekdays than weekends compared to pre-pandemic. In conclusion, UGS visitation increased during the first lockdown and people spent more time in UGS areas, they also more frequently participated in outdoor recreational and physical activities. The findings can help policy makers optimize the management of and facility provision in urban green spaces, especially in a period of social crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.