Case Study Of Seoul Research Articles

Impact of Smartphone Activity on Pedestrian Safety: A Case Study in Seoul

Impact of Smartphone Activity on Pedestrian Safety: A Case Study in Seoul

Exploring maladaptive patterns of small-scale green roofs through evaluation in a capacity of heat mitigation: A case study in seoul

Climate change leads to more frequent and intense heat waves, exposing urban populations to extreme heat conditions and significant health risks. Many cities are adopting Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to mitigate urban heat, with green roofs emerging as a widely recognized NbS. Although numerous green roof projects are implemented on a small scale, research on the effectiveness of small-scale green roofs on an urban scale is limited, making it challenging to identify the critical factors for both maladaptation and success. Therefore, we assessed the cooling potential of 18 small-scale green roofs in Seoul, Republic of Korea. This comparative study that adopted a multi-site approach examined the cooling capacity of green roofs to reduce surface temperature and identified characteristics of effective and ineffective green roofs. We utilized a developed difference-in-differences method to improve causal inference, effectively isolating the effects of individual green roofs from background climate change. The multi-site comparative approach and more robust causal inference methods improved our understanding of the effects of small-scale green roofs. The findings of this study indicate that three out of 18 green roofs were statistically significant maladaptation cases with an increase in LST. This evidence can help an urban planner reduce ineffectiveness and enhance effective adaptation practices. Our proposed method is expected to support government projects, especially those with limited budgets, in efficiently managing urban heat and reducing trial and error.

Investigation of Perception Differences in Shared Mobility between Driver’s License Holders and Nonholders: A Case Study of Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon in South Korea

Shared mobility (SM) services are transitioning from the introduction stage to the growth stage, driven by the growth of the sharing economy, the promotion of smart cities, the diverse personal transportation modes, and the development of autonomous driving technologies. SM services, such as car sharing, car-hailing, shared bikes, and e-scooters, have emerged as solutions to address issues related to carbon neutrality and traffic congestion in densely populated areas. The purpose of this study is to investigate potential disparities in user perception and satisfaction among groups with or without driving experience when using SM services—through hypothesis testing using the two-proportion Z-test. Subsequently, a satisfaction analysis is conducted. This research creates foundational data for future SM services. The survey targeted 1041 residents living in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, and was conducted over two weeks in March 2020. This study aims to derive associations between two groups using SM—those with and without driving experience. The results indicate that car sharing and bike sharing showed significant differences in user patterns based on driving experience, whereas e-scooters and car-hailing did not exhibit significant differences. This contradicts the assumption that people without a driver’s license would use SM more frequently. Moreover, the results of each SM’s analysis show different usage patterns and satisfaction between driver’s license holders and nonholders. This study will serve as foundational data for researching strategies to reduce personal car ownership through the promotion of public transportation and SM services. Furthermore, it can be a basis for suggesting policy recommendations to facilitate future mobility systems.

Diurnal urban heat risk assessment using extreme air temperatures and real-time population data: A case study of Seoul, South Korea

Diurnal urban heat risk assessment using extreme air temperatures and real-time population data: A case study of Seoul, South Korea

The impacts of perceived access to public open spaces on non-physical wellbeing: focused on international graduate students in Seoul

ABSTRACT The growing trend of international student mobility in Asia and the associated challenges, advocating for the use of public open spaces to enhance students’ wellbeing. Using a case study of Seoul, South Korea, this research offers an investigation into the interplay between access to these spaces and the non-physical wellbeing of international graduate students. It primarily contrasts perceived access and the actual frequency of visits to these spaces. Variables derived from literature were compiled into a questionnaire in which then was analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study underscores the pivotal role of perceived access to public open spaces both in the city context and campus context, in enhancing the non-physical, highlighting the need for urban planning to prioritize quality access and awareness over mere frequency of visits. This study also emphasizes on the importance of perceived scale, safety, beauty, and ambiance attributes in moderating the positive impact of access to public open spaces. This result emphasizes on spaces that are not only physically accessible but also psychologically inviting and culturally resonant. This finding challenges the traditional focus on the quantitative expansion and underscoring the importance of perceived access for creating inclusive urban environments for an educational hub.

Temporal Variation and Spatial Heterogeneity in Boarding/Alighting Patterns at Urban Railway Stations: Implications for Estimating Optimal Construction Scale—A Case Study in Seoul, South Korea

Urban railways have become a prominent mode of public transportation within cities owing to their connectivity with other modes of transport and environmental friendliness. Various policies, such as the expansion of metropolitan areas and the development of megacities, have further emphasized the pivotal role of urban railways. Consequently, more railway stations are expected to be constructed in developed cities. However, the temporal variation in boarding and alighting patterns at each railway station is often overlooked. Failing to account for this variation, specifically the differences in peak-hour concentration rates, in railway station design may cause increased conflicts among users owing to concentrated demands during specific time periods, exacerbating congestion and diminishing the appeal of the urban railway systems. Therefore, this study investigated the correlation between the temporal variation in boarding and alighting patterns and the attributes (location) of railway stations in Seoul, South Korea, and analyzed the spatial heterogeneity of this correlation. Initially, the factors influencing the peak-hour concentration rates in railway stations were identified using a linear regression model. Peak hours were defined as morning and afternoon peaks and boarding and alighting were differentiated to account for the directional aspects of temporal variations in boarding and alighting patterns. The correlation between boarding and alighting patterns and the attributes of railway station influence zones was determined, and a geographically weighted regression model was estimated to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of this correlation based on railway station location. The analysis results revealed that railway stations in the southeastern and downtown areas of Seoul exhibited varying impacts of station attributes on boarding and alighting patterns even when the station attribute influence zones were identical. The contribution of this study is to evaluate the priorities of railway projects and its corresponding transportation policies. Regarding the policy goal recently announced by the Korean government, “Achieving Commute Times in 30-min range,” our finding will provide a good measure of accessibility whether it succeeds or not.

Exploring the impact of pandemic fear on visitation to park attractions in urban city: A case study in Seoul, South Korea.

This research explores changes in perceptions and utilization of parks during the COVID-19 pandemic in Seoul, South Korea. It investigates the relationship between fear of the pandemic and individuals' opinions about open spaces and their visiting decisions. The study surveyed 600 adults from February 22-23, 2022, and used structural equation modeling to analyze the data. The findings revealed that increased fear of the pandemic led to more positive park sentiments, resulting in higher park visits and fewer visits to other public spaces. The research highlights the significance of parks during the COVID-19 pandemic and how people's perceptions were influenced by their pandemic-related fear.

Visual impact control of urban waterfront development on the background mountain view: Examining its justifiability through two types of immersive virtual reality experiments

Several cities built along the waterfront are also accompanied by mountainous backgrounds, and thus have characteristic panoramas contributing to their visual image and identity. However, urban waterfronts are also often subject to high-rise development, which may damage that identity by shielding the mountainous background. Building regulations are adopted as visual impact management policies to retain mountain visibility, but it is difficult to find either scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of such private property control or further empirical guidance for its elaboration. Through a case study of Seoul's Han River, this study thus analyzed the actual impact of relevant building characteristics on the visual preference of urban waterfront views with mountainous backgrounds. Immersive virtual reality experiments using both actual and simulated cityscape images were conducted. Hierarchical linear regression and quasi-rank-based conjoint analysis results confirm that controls on buildings to retain background mountain visibility would actually serve as reasonable visual impact management measures. Insights into what kinds of regulation could be desirable in which circumstances were further obtained—excessively high buildings are especially unrecommended when the height of the background mountain is low, and in all cases a combination of view corridors with convex skylines are advisable for mitigating the negative impacts of mid-to-high building heights.

Scenario-based statistical analysis for PM2.5 concentration: A case study of Seoul, South Korea

Rapid urban expansion and active economic development significantly contribute to increased levels of PM2.5, which degrades the urban environment. This study aims to establish a foundation for practical policy guidance on the impact of urban factors on PM2.5 concentrations in Seoul, South Korea. To achieve this objective, we utilized various urban factors, including socio-demographic data, three-dimensional urban geometry, land use, and traffic volume, in conjunction with PM2.5 concentrations estimated by satellite images. According to our statistical models, all urban development-related factors, except for Forest and Open Space (FOS), showed a statistically significant increase in PM2.5 concentration. However, FOS demonstrated an effective mitigation capability, with a 1% increase in FOS corresponding to an approximate 5% decrease in PM2.5 levels. In addition, five scenario analyses based on statistical results were conducted to evaluate the potential reduction of PM2.5 and associated spatial implications resulting from the removal of batching plants, decreased traffic volume, and the substitution of transportation network with green spaces in Seoul. They highlighted the importance of reducing traffic and increasing green spaces in order to lower PM2.5 levels. The findings suggest that a multifaceted strategy is necessary to develop efficient policies for mitigating PM2.5 for a sustainable environment.

Analysis of Hotspots in and outside School Zones: A Case Study of Seoul

With growing social concern on pedestrian accidents involving children, the Korean government announced a plan to decrease the number of child deaths due to traffic accidents by 2026. Therefore, policymakers should consider various measures for school zones because a safe school walkway is essential for preventing traffic accidents around schools. Some parts of the roads within a radius of 300 m from elementary school and kindergarten entrances are designated as school zones. Certain roads experience frequent accidents within the school zone, while others experience frequent accidents outside the school zone. Hence, this study aimed to provide school zone types in Seoul by noting different occurrence accidents within and outside each school zone and suggest proper countermeasure by type. After selecting a 300 m radius analysis unit from the school zones, a distinction was made between the school zones and outside for each analysis unit. After verifying the spatial autocorrelation in each unit, hotspot analysis identified four types based on the presence or absence of hotspots in each unit. Types were defined as follows: Type A—no hotspots in school zones or outside the school zones; Type B—hotspots only outside the school zones; Type C—hotspots only the school zones; and Type D—hotspots both in school zones and outside the school zones. Subsequently, a case study was conducted to validate the types. For Types B and C, the results revealed differences in the installation of traffic safety facilities and the environment between within and outside the school zones. Therefore, Type B requires improving safety outside the school zones by expanding school zones to match the safety level within. For Type C, it implies the need to strengthen safety measures in the school zones. Lastly, for Type D, improvement projects for a safe walking environment should be implemented in primarily by conducting separate inspections.

Analyzing Habitat Suitability of Bird Species in Urban Areas to Changes in Biotope Level: Case Study of Seoul

Background and objective: Rapid urbanization has led to habitat degradation and fragmentation in urban ecosystems, negatively impacting biodiversity. Various natural spaces and green areas, particularly urban biotopes, are essential to foster an environment for diverse species within urban areas. The increase in biotope grades is a crucial factor in enhancing biodiversity and expanding wildlife habitats in urban areas, thereby improving the overall health and sustainability of urban ecosystems. This study focuses on environmentally sensitive bird species, applying scenarios of biotope grade elevation to derive efficient methods for improving biotope grades. The goal is to support projects and policy decisions to increase urban biodiversity and sustain ecosystems within the city.Methods: The analysis model employed the MaxEnt species distribution model, and 11 environmental variables tailored to bird characteristics were considered. Additionally, four scenarios for upward adjustments in biotope grades were examined: (1) current biotope grades, (2) upgrading second-grade areas to first-grade, (3) upgrading third-grade areas to second-grade, and (4) upgrading second and third-grade areas to first-grade. The study aimed to derive the efficiency of potential habitats in response to biotope grade increases under each scenario.Results: The results of the biotope grade upward scenarios showed an increase in efficiency of 81% for Scenario(2), 38.6% for Scenario (3), and 54.6% for Scenario (4). This reveals the efficiency of potential habitat expansion for urban birds with improved biotope grades. The findings underscore the significant role of biotope grade enhancement in securing bird habitats within the city.Conclusion: Focusing on birds in Seoul, this study concluded that higher biotope ratings significantly increase potential habitats. Limitations of the study include the omission of specific bird species when considering environmental variables and the lack of reflection of habitat characteristics like meteorological factors. Future research aims to develop a more in-depth and accurate model for evaluating the efficiency of biotope rating change scenarios.

Travel demand management strategies to mitigate climate change

As urbanisation intensifies worldwide, the associated increase in travel demand poses significant challenges to mitigate climate change. This study examines the implementation of travel demand management (TDM) strategies within the context of urban development, focusing on the case study of Seoul's green transport zone. Through a comprehensive analysis of transportation, environmental, health, spatial reorganisation and economic aspects, this research study demonstrates the effectiveness of TDM in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainable urban growth. The findings highlight the importance of integrating TDM measures into urban planning efforts to achieve resilient and environmental-friendly transportation systems.

Converging Smartwatch and Urban Datasets for Sustainable City Planning: A Case Study in Seoul, South Korea

The widespread availability of open datasets in cities is transforming the way urban energy systems are planned, simulated, and visualized. In this paper, a cross-scale approach is pursued to better understand the reciprocal effects between building energy performance, the urban climate, and urban dwellers’ indoor and outdoor thermal comfort. On the one hand, monthly building electricity and gas demand data at the parcel level was collected, along with hourly weather station data at the urban scale. On the other hand, a longitudinal experiment was carried out in which 22 participants wore smartwatches for 4–6 weeks and filled out hourly micro surveys on their activities, location, and thermal comfort. In addition to survey responses, the smartwatches collected participants’ physiological data and location throughout the period of the study. The project was conducted in Seoul, South Korea, the highest-ranked Asian country in open data readiness, implementation, and impact. This paper reports on the data collection effort and provides some preliminary analysis of the results. The work carried out is expected to help develop methodologies for the convergence of district-scale and occupant-scale data in urban areas. A number of expected applications are proposed, including urban-scale studies on the impact of urban form on the local climate and building energy performance, district-to-building-scale building energy simulations accounting for occupant thermal comfort-related behaviors, and district-scale analyses of occupants’ outdoor thermal comfort and its relationship with location and wayfinding in urban areas.

Nonparametric tests of extremes of daily maximum temperatures based on the breaking records: A case study in Seoul and Busan during 1961-2022

An observation in a time series is called an upper record if it is greater than all previous observations in the series. Also it is called a lower record than all previous observations in the series. Therefore, the analysis of record-breaking events is of interest in fields such as climatology, economics and sports. As an alternative to the classical extreme value theory, which are based on the fit of generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution, generalized Pareto (GP) distribution and Poisson processes, this work is based on the study of record-breaking events to analyze non-stationarity in the extremes. The contribution of this work is the use of the statistical tools developed by Castillo-Mateo et al. (2023) to assess and analyze the effect of global warming in the extreme and record breaking events using daily maximum temperature series in Seoul and Busan over 1961-2022. These test statistics consider the information based on the four different types of record, that is, forward upper, forward lower, backward upper and backward lower. Also, change point detection is implemented based on records.

Forest landscape connectivity to prioritize afforestation in urban ecosystems: Seoul as a case study

Forest landscape connectivity is a key indicator that reflects the quality and function of the ecological environment. In urban ecosystems, analysis frameworks are needed to prioritize and optimize afforestation projects that maintain and increase forest landscape connectivity to help mitigate the increasing fragmentation of urban habitats, coordinate the relationship between urban development and urban ecosystem services, and guide decision making processes. The objective of this study is to identify forest patches that are most worth conserving and small patches that make the most significant contribution to landscape connectivity after their transformation into forest patches in a high-density city. We conducted a case study in Seoul, South Korea, where we initially quantified the landscape connectivity changes from 2001 to 2018 using the probability of connectivity (PC) and integral index of connectivity indices. Subsequently, we calculated the importance of each forest patch for four different years and ranked the potential contribution of each patch based on data from 2018 using the delta values for PC index (dPC). Our results showed that forest landscape connectivity in Seoul increased significantly from 2001 to 2018. In all four years, the ten forest patches with the highest dPC values remained nearly unchanged and were large in size; however, the individual area of each patch was not strictly related to its importance for connectivity. Based on these findings, we further examined the potential effect that the afforestation of habitat patches smaller than 20 ha would have on the overall forest landscape connectivity in Seoul. We also identified the 50 most important patches for afforestation using six land use and land cover types to provide a guide for effective afforestation efforts in Seoul. We expect that this study could enhance the effectiveness of habitat connectivity intervention while providing a realistic strategy for ecological afforestation planning in urban ecosystems.

Survival characteristics of food and beverage businesses in a gentrified commercial area—A case study in Seoul, Korea

Commercial gentrification is a common cause of urban transformation in modern cities. Former residential and industrial areas are being transformed into commercial ones specializing in the food and beverage (F&B) industry because of their unique atmosphere. However, F&B businesses in the gentrified commercial areas are prone to intense competition for survival that debate on the emerging commercial street's sustainability. Thus, this study analyzed F&B street businesses' survival characteristics where commercial gentrification has occurred. The research site was selected among Seoul's commercial streets by performing data analysis. The Cox proportional hazards model and urban spatial indicators were used to analyze the factors affecting survival time. The research findings were as follows: First, physical attractiveness, such as openness or visual accessibility, lowered the closure risk. Second, accessibility to cultural facilities or open spaces was beneficial for the nearby F&B demands; however, it occasionally intensified the competition. Finally, competitive businesses' agglomeration increased the closure risk, while non-competitive ones' agglomeration and diversification decreased it. This research's results could be useful for policymakers in promoting a more sustainable business environment for F&B entrepreneurs.

Quantifying Photovoltaic surplus at an urban scale: A case study in Seoul

With the increasing photovoltaic (PV) penetration in urban buildings, the temporal overproduction of PV electricity presents both a challenge and an opportunity for solar energy utilization in high-PV-penetration urban environments. While existing research has focused on strategies for improving self-consumption, little to no information exists on the magnitude and implications of PV surplus at the urban level. Questions such as when and where PV surplus occurs in the urban area remain unanswered, and there is a lack of established knowledge about how urban contexts relate to PV surplus. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify the PV surplus in a high roof-PV penetration scenario at an urban scale, using a method that couples hourly PV production and electricity consumption data from individual buildings in urban areas. The paper explored two aspects of PV surplus, namely PV surplus hours (PVsH) and PV surplus energy (PVsE), which were utilized to identify the temporal occurrence and quantify the amount of PV surplus, respectively. One residential and one office area in Seoul were examined. Results showed abundant PV surplus resources in case areas, especially in residential buildings. A wide range of surplus distribution was found among the buildings, especially in the office area. The PV surplus peaked between late spring and early summer. A noticeable correlation between building morphology and PVsE was detected. The results suggested the PV surplus of the residential area is sufficient for localizing charging demand by comparing PV surplus against the electricity demand from a hypothetical scenario of a full electric vehicle (EV) community.

Exploring the impact of urban factors on land surface temperature and outdoor air temperature: A case study in Seoul, Korea

Land surface temperature (LST) and outdoor air temperature (OAT) have been widely used to investigate urban heat island (UHI) phenomena. Although LST and OAT were reported to show a substantial correlation, whether urban factors play a consistent role in both LST and OAT has not been well addressed in the existing literature. To fill this gap, this study examined the effects of urban factors on both LST derived from satellite image data and OAT measured at the pedestrian-level through a case study in Seoul, Korea. Two different temperature datasets were used for the same days in summer and winter, and corresponding urban spatial characteristics were calculated on the basis of geographic information system (GIS) data. The effects of urban variables were analyzed using the Genizi and partial correlation methods. The results from the Genizi method revealed that land use characteristics (i.e., building coverage and pervious ratios) were important factors influencing LST, whereas urban morphological characteristics (i.e., building height) had a greater influence on OAT. The partial correlation results confirmed these separate sets of urban factors above are key factors for LST and OAT. In addition, the partial correlation analysis demonstrated that the pervious ratio showed a negative correlation with LST and the building height consistently showed a significant influence on OAT in both seasons. In contrast, the canyon ratio showed a contrasting effect on OAT depending on the season, underscoring that urban factors can affect temperatures differently depending on the meteorological conditions. This study highlights the different effects of urban factors depending on temperatures.

Analyzing the Factors that Affect and Predict Employment Density Using Spatial Machine Learning: The Case Study of Seoul, South Korea

There is a regional disparity in the employment density of Seoul. Considering problems such as traffic congestion and jobs‐housing imbalance, it is important to understand the spatial pattern of employment density and identify key influencing factors to determine the changes in the future urban spatial structure. This study analyzed employment density in each region of Seoul to derive important predictors. We examined the spatial patterns of employment density and evaluated the effects of spatial and nonspatial factors based on the general model and the spatial heterogeneity model. To predict the distribution of employment density, we used two statistical models (i.e., ordinary least squares regression [OLS] and geographically weighted regression [GWR] models) and two machine learning models (i.e., the random forest [RF] and geographically weighted random forest [GWRF] models). The results showed that the key influencing factors were the number of corporate business companies, number of main and attraction facilities, accessibility to subway stations, areas of commercial and industrial districts, and distance to business districts.

Statistical Characteristics of Air Quality Index DAQx*-Specific Air Pollutants Differentiated by Types of Air Quality Monitoring Stations: A Case Study of Seoul, Republic of Korea

Seoul has a high density of air quality monitoring stations (AQMSs) grouped into roadside, urban, and background types. Using the extensive data from 42 AQMSs in the period 2018 to 2021, the statistical characteristics of air pollutants required to calculate the daily air quality index DAQx* (daily maximum 1 h O3 and NO2 means and daily 24 h PM10 and PM2.5 means) are determined, depending on station types and three temporal periods (individual years, winters, and summers). The results for (i) annual cycles, which include peak concentrations of PM10 (up to 517 µg/m3 in May 2021) and PM2.5 (up to 153 µg/m3 in March 2019) owing to transboundary transport, (ii) annual medians, (iii) annual scattering ranges, (iv) partitioning of frequencies into DAQx*-related concentration ranges, and (v) maximum daily variations within individual station types indicate clear statistical air pollutant characteristics depending on the station types. They were primarily caused by different emission and atmospheric exchange conditions in a circular buffer around each AQMS, which are often approximated by urban form variables. The maximum daily variations were highest in the middle NO2 concentration range of the “satisfying” class for the roadside type (between 53% in summer 2019 and 90% in winter 2020).