Landscape and Ecology I

[023] People’s Accessibility and Visits to Parks and Green Spaces: Before and During COVID-19

Hibiki Saito, Nobuaki Ohmori, Teppei Osada, Yoshito Dobashi

Keywords:accessibility, parks and green spaces, COVID-19

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of open spaces such as parks and green spaces where people can engage in activities that avoid the crowded areas has been recognized by public. In this study, we analyzed citizen’s accessibility from residence to parks and green spaces in Utsunomiya City, Japan, using GIS. Also, we conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate changes in citizens’ behavior of visiting parks and green spaces and the relationships between accessibility and actual visits to parks and green spaces, before and during COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we found that about 90% of residents have access to a park or green space within 1km, and accessibility from their residence to those places is the most important factor in choosing parks/green spaces to visit. Analyses of the frequency to visit parks and green spaces and accessibility suggest that enhancing accessibility to parks and green spaces facilitate residents to visit there more frequently.