Escaping from Cities during the COVID-19 Crisis: Using Mobile Phone Data to Trace Mobility in Finland

Elias Willberg,Tuuli Toivonen,Olle Järv,Tuomas Väisänen

doi:10.3390/ijgi10020103

Elias Willberg, Tuuli Toivonen + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi10020103

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Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis resulted in unprecedented changes in the spatial mobility of people across societies due to the restrictions imposed. This also resulted in unexpected mobility and population dynamics that created a challenge for crisis preparedness, including the mobility from cities during the crisis due to the underlying phenomenon of multi-local living. People changing their residences can spread the virus between regions and create situations in which health and emergency services are not prepared for the population increase. Here, our focus is on urban–rural mobility and the influence of multi-local living on population dynamics in Finland during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020. Results, based on three mobile phone datasets, showed a significant drop in inter-municipal mobility and a shift in the presence of people—a population decline in urban centres and an increase in rural areas, which is strongly correlated to secondary housing. This study highlights the need to improve crisis preparedness by: (1) acknowledging the growing importance of multi-local living, and (2) improving the use of novel data sources for monitoring population dynamics and mobility. Mobile phone data products have enormous potential, but attention should be paid to the varying methodologies and their possible impact on analysis.

Highlights

Human mobility plays an integral part in the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic
The decrease was more drastic for both Helsinki and its metropolitan area (HMA): 27% and
Increasing human mobilities and technological developments contribute to the diversifying lifestyles of people, including remote working and multi-local living around the world

Summary

Introduction

Human mobility plays an integral part in the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Most-prevailing COVID-19 containment and mitigation measures by authorities to protect society focus on restricting mobility and spatial behaviour of people. Initial studies indicate the effectiveness of abovementioned spatial measures on curbing the pandemic, in particular cancelling public events, restricting private gatherings, closure of schools and self-isolation at home [3,4]. Multi-local living is a widespread phenomenon in Finland as in all Nordic countries, where roughly half of all Nordic households have access to a second home [23]. Million), some 24% of households own secondary homes [15], whereas multi-local living is tightly connected to seasonal residences—there are half a million summer cottages in the country [24]. A recent study reveals that millions of Finns practice multi-local living for different reasons [25]

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