Association between land use features and changes in walking patterns from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic: A case study of city of Sydney (2013–2023)

Abstract

While the impact of the pandemic on active mobility patterns is widely studied in several cities, the underlying characteristics that describe the heterogeneity in changes in active mobility are less understood. This is particularly important for post-pandemic active mobility planning. This study aims to investigate and describe the association between urban population and land-use features, as well as changes in the spatio-temporal patterns of walking from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic through a case study of the city of Sydney, Australia, using 11 years of pedestrian count data from 2013 to 2023. The findings indicate that during the pandemic, the average daily pedestrian traffic in Sydney decreased significantly compared to the pre-pandemic period. However, since experiencing the lowest pedestrian traffic in 2020, activities in the study area have shown signs of partial recovery, with a 51% increase observed in 2023. The observed changes in pedestrian activities are, however, spatially heterogeneous. Modeling results reveal that areas with greater commercial land use, more points of interest (POIs), higher population density, and higher network connectivity experienced a significant negative change in the number of walking trips from the pre-pandemic to the pandemic period. Areas with higher percentages of educational and residential use and with higher personal income experienced smaller changes in pedestrian activities during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period. During the post-pandemic recovery, the influential features remain mostly unchanged; however, the association direction is the opposite.