Inside out: human mobility big data show how COVID-19 changed the urban network structure in the Seoul Metropolitan Area

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed human mobility patterns in cities. Lockdowns, social distancing and flexible working hours have restructured pre-existing dynamics between two opposing forces in major cities: centripetal and centrifugal. To scrutinise the new dynamics, human mobility in the Seoul Metropolitan Area in early 2020 was investigated using big data collected from cell phone activity. By suggesting a network-based approach to untangle complex human mobility in the urban network, this research contributes to understanding how the COVID-19 shock impacted human mobility patterns in everyday life and how human behaviours adapted to the new normal.

Defining urban network resilience: a review

“…For example, severe weather conditions such as heavy rainfall and flooding may interrupt intercity transportation lines, thereby hindering the movement of individuals and goods among cities (van Ginkel et al, 2022). On the other hand, disturbances such as economic downturns, regional industrial shifts, market player relocations, and epidemics can have the potential to destabilize intercity organizational networks without causing damage to the physical environment (Kim & Jun, 2022). Unlike physical networks, disturbances typically do not alter the configuration of organizational networks directly.…”