Defecation, littering and other acts of public disturbance in pandemic times – A study of a Scandinavian city

Abstract

The spatiotemporal patterns of public disturbance acts are investigated in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Using crowdsourced data, the number of records is compared 15 months before and after the stay-at-home measures of the COVID-19 pandemic, controlling for seasonal trends. Poisson-Gamma-CAR regression models are implemented to assess the potential impact of land use on the spatial distribution of public disturbance acts, accounting for the effect of pandemic restrictions and differences in neighborhood context. Findings show that, with the exception of abandoned vehicles, there was a significant increase in records of public disturbance after the 2020 stay-at-home pandemic restrictions. Parks, transport hubs and less importantly, schools were significantly associated with public disturbances, controlling for neighborhood characteristics and reporting practices. Recommendations are made for research and practice.