Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Use of smartphone mobility data to analyze city park visits during the COVID-19 pandemic

Formally Refereed

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic focused attention on city parks as important public resources. However, monitoring park use over time poses practical challenges. Thus, pandemic-related trends are unknown. Methods: We analyzed monthly mobility data from a large panel of smartphone devices, to assess park visits from January 2018 to November 2020 in the 50 largest U.S. cities. Results: In our sample of 11,890 city parks, visits declined by 36.0 % (95 % CI [27.3, 43.6], p < 0.001) from March through November 2020, compared to prior levels and trends. When we segmented the COVID-19 period into widespread closures (March–April) and reopenings (May–November), we estimated a small rebound in visits during reopenings. In park service areas where a greater proportion of residents were White and highincome, this rebound effect was larger. Conclusions: Smartphone data can address an important gap for monitoring park visits. Park visits declined substantially in 2020 and disparities appeared to increase.

Keywords

Parks, Covid-19, Racial equity, Smartphones, Big data

Citation

Jay, Jonathan; Heykoop, Felicia; Hwang, Linda; Courtepatte, Alexa; de Jong, Jorrit; Kondo, Michelle. 2022. Use of smartphone mobility data to analyze city park visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Landscape and Urban Planning. 228(1): 104554. 5 p. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104554.
Citations
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/65204