Urban space use for outing before and during the pandemic: A case study of Daejeon, South Korea using social media posts

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the popularly visited places and their spatial characteristics during the pandemic. To achieve this objective, semantic network analysis (SNA) and GIS spatial analysis were conducted using place-based words collected from Instagram posts from 2018 to June 2021 with the hashtag ‘Daejeon Nadri.’ The findings indicate that during the pandemic, the eigenvector centrality of words related to city centers decreased significantly, while words related to suburban areas increased. Before the pandemic, there was approximately a 10 km distance from the central node to the farthest node in the same modularity class. However, during the pandemic, the visited places were limited to their neighboring areas in the same modularity class. This study found that visited places during the pandemic were predominantly located in suburban areas, particularly around stream and forest areas. Green areas situated in city centers did not show a significant increase in visits during the pandemic. This indicates that people tended to visit less crowded green areas in suburban areas and showed a tendency to visit nearby places during the pandemic. These changes suggest that suburban green areas are also crucial for cities, not just for green areas in cities. In planning for future epidemics, easy access to green areas is crucial. Such accessibility can be made by allocating small green areas, creating linear green belts to link main greens, and strengthening public transport links to suburban areas.

Management implications

The results of this study imply that individuals tend to prefer natural green spaces with low population density for their outings amid the COVID-19 crisis. This finding underscores the significance of green spaces that accommodate urban residents' leisure activities during specific circumstances such as epidemics. It is worth considering appropriate allocation of green spaces within the city to ensure equal access to public green in urban planning. Another challenge is to enhance the public transportation network to connect major green spaces in the outskirts and suburbs of the metropolitan region.