Greenery in times of crisis: Accessibility, residents' travel preferences and the impact of travel time

Abstract

Urban green spaces (UGSs) played a pivotal role in easing the effects of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. It is, therefore, relevant to identify factors influencing why people choose specific UGSs. This paper aims to investigate the preferences of residents of Kraków (Poland) regarding the selection of UGSs in times of crisis. Distance or travel time from home are among the key factors affecting the choice of UGSs. The paper verifies whether such other factor considerations as age, type of housing, and physical activity influence travel preferences to UGSs. We analyse residents' preferences regarding travelling to UGSs by integrating survey research with statistical and geostatistical methods, which is the innovative value of the research. The Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) survey yielded 1353 returned questionnaires, which provided input data when combined with geostatistical analyses of network distance (routing). With nonparametric statistical methods, we could identify preferences of Kraków residents regarding travelling to UGSs during times of crisis. The primary results show that travel time was not always a factor when selecting UGSs. In times of crisis, the respondents were willing to cover larger distances to UGSs, namely up to 51 minutes on foot and 16 minutes by bicycle. We also demonstrated that there is a relationship between age and UGS travel time and a link between type of housing and UGS travel time. The results are inconclusive regarding the importance of distance to UGSs for people who are physically active. Note that accessibility recommendations for travel time often presented in the literature did not apply to Kraków in times of crisis.