Effects of COVID-19 on Residential Planning and Design: A Scientometric Analysis

Abstract

Coronavirus disease has caused city blockades, making people spend longer in residential areas than ever before. Human well-being and health are directly affected by the suppression of the epidemic through residential planning and design. In this regard, scholars from all over the world have made significant efforts to explore the links between COVID-19 and residential planning and design, trying to adjust the states in time to cope with the effects of COVID-19 in the long run. This study is based on Bibliometrix to conduct a scientometric analysis of the literature on “Effects of COVID-19 on residential planning and design (ECRPD)” published in Web of Science and Scopus from 2019 to October 2022. The aim of this study is to comprehensively present the scientific knowledge of ECRPD research through general characteristics’ analysis, citation analysis, and horizontal conceptual structure analysis, and try to summarize how residential planning and design responds to COVID-19, so as to provide support and advice for urban planners, builders, and policy makers. According to the results, ECRPD research is growing significantly, and the scientific productivity of it has increased exponentially. The main effects and feedback are characterized by three aspects: residential environment, residential building space and planning space, and residential traffic and community management. Generally, ECRPD research has expanded beyond the disciplines of architecture and planning. Environmental and energy concerns have attracted the most attention, though practical research into residential building space is relatively limited. To fully deal with COVID-19’s multiple negative facets, it is imperative to promote cross-disciplinary and multi-field collaboration, implement new technologies and methods for traditional disciplines, develop bioclimatic buildings to cope with environmental changes, and strengthen practical research in residential building and planning to ensure that a sustainable and resilient living environment is created in the post-pandemic era.

Apartment Space Planning Directions for Infectious Disease Prevention and Management: Insights Based on Residents’ Experiences

“…Considering the above results, space planning for preventing and managing infectious diseases among apartment residents in South Korea differs slightly from the results of previous studies. Previous studies [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] have emphasized the importance of removing contaminants by installing dry wash basins, air showers, inner gates, and entrance dressing rooms to strengthen sanitation. The opinions of apartment residents in this study indicate that securing efficient storage space for various items is more important than adding new facilities.…”

“…For living rooms, eliminating walls and flexibly adjusting space divisions using flexible walls, doors, and partitions have been emphasized in previous studies [34,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. Korean apartment residents emphasized that although separating areas is necessary, establishing flexible facilities that can be individually adjusted for each space should also be considered.…”