Cities In South Korea Research Articles

Effects of anxiety, depression, social support, and physical health status on the health-related quality of life of pregnant women in post-pandemic Korea: a cross-sectional study.

This study aimed to examine the effects of anxiety, depression, social support, and physical health status on the health-related quality of life of Korean pregnant women using Spilker's quality of life model. This was a cross-sectional study with a correlational design. The participants included 166 pregnant women who were recruited via convenience sampling at two healthcare centers in South Korea. Questionnaires were collected from April 22 to May 29, 2023, in two cities in South Korea. The EuroQol-5D-3L, General Anxiety Disorder-7, Patient Health Questionnaire-2, Perceived Social Support through Others Scale-8, and EuroQol visual analog scale were used to assess the study variables. The t-test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression tests were conducted using IBM SPSS ver. 26.0. Statistically significant correlations were identified between the health-related quality of life of pregnant women and anxiety (r=.29, p<.001), depression (r=.31, p<.001), social support (r=-.34, p<.001), and physical health status (r=-.44, p<. 001). Physical health status (β=-.31, p<.001) and social support (β=-.21, p=.003) had the greatest effect on health-related quality of life (F=15.50, p<.001), with an explanatory power of 26.0%. The health-related quality of life of pregnant women was affected by social support and physical health status. This study demonstrated that physical health and social support promotion can improve the health-related quality of life of pregnant women. Healthcare providers should consider integrating physical health into social support interventions for pregnant women in the post-pandemic era.

Daily deviation from historical temperature and mortality in seven cities in South Korea

Daily deviation from historical temperature and mortality in seven cities in South Korea

Health justice and economic segregation in climate risks: Tracing vulnerability and readiness progress

Climate vulnerability can make urban space unhealthy and accentuate existing health (in)justice and (economic) segregation. Drawing on the vulnerability-readiness nexus and measuring health justice (i.e., health poverty, health distribution, and health access) and economic segregation (through indices), we strive to investigate the plausible pathways of the two constructs at the heat risks. Our work, focusing on metropolitan cities in South Korea, addresses the role of heat vulnerability and readiness nexus regarding health justice and economic segregation through correlational analysis and a time-trend comparative approach between 2011 and 2015 (as five year-long effects). Our results show that potential positive links exist between health poverty as a component of health justice and economic segregation. Moreover, climate readiness, as opposed to vulnerability, plays a crucial role in reducing economic segregation in the context of health justice and heat risks.

수술실 실습을 통한 간호대학생의 학습 경험 및 전문직관

Professionalism, which encompasses competencies, ethics, and societal expectations, is an essential feature of modern medical practice. For nurses, practical education in clinical settings, including the operating room, can foster professionalism by demonstrating the importance of patient safety, ethics, and collaboration. This article reports on a study that investigated nursing students’ learning journey and perceptions of professionalism during an operating room practicum. This qualitative descriptive study, which used Bengtsson (content analysis, analyzed 202 self-reflective reports written by junior students at a nursing college in one city in South Korea between 2021 and 2022. The analysis yielded 50 key meanings and 10 sub-categories and identified the following three categories: “Perceptions of a collaborative operating room care environment,” “Observations on nurses as advocates for surgical patients,” and “Challenges to professionalism and growth as future perioperative nurses.” The results of the study indicate that the operating room practicum offered more than clinical exposure; it also fostered professional growth and shaped ethical values. On the basis of these findings we suggest that practical education in the operating should be integrated with ethics education to enhance skills, cultivate professional awareness, and promote professionalism in nursing.

Roles of ambient temperature and relative humidity on the relationship between fine particulate matter and gaseous pollutants in the largest industrial city of Ulsan, South Korea.

Although meteorological conditions play a significant role in air pollution, research on their effects on the relationship between air pollutants is limited. In this study, trends of six criteria air pollutants were investigated from 15 air quality monitoring stations (AQMSs) in Ulsan, a multi-industrial city in South Korea, during 2015-2019. Unlike CO and O3, SO2, NO2, PM10, and PM2.5 showed statistically significant decreasing trends over the period. The companion relationship between PM2.5 and gaseous pollutants was evaluated by their correlations [R (PM2.5-GPs)]. R (PM2.5-NO2) was relatively high at almost all AQMSs, whereas high R (PM2.5-SO2) was observed near the petrochemical industrial complex, suggesting a great influence of local emissions (vehicles and industries). R (PM2.5-CO) and the standardized regression coefficients of CO obtained from the multiple linear regression model were the highest, indicating that combustion processes may significantly contribute to PM2.5. The effect of temperature (T) was more apparent on R (PM2.5-GPs) than that of relative humidity, with significant values under T > 15°C. Moreover, R (PM2.5-O3) was positive at the T range of 12-18°C, suggesting that reducing GPs emitted by industrial facilities during May-June may control PM2.5 and O3 in Ulsan. The methodology demonstrated in this study can be further used for a better understanding of the influences of environmental factors on the secondary PM2.5 formation from gaseous precursors and the R (PM2.5-O3).

Random Network Model for Assessing the Topological Performance of Water Distribution Systems

A complex network approach enables identifying various topological characteristics of critical infrastructure such as water distribution networks (WDNs). These infrastructure networks are designed based on site-specific conditions and also change over time, so at some point, their topological properties may require improvement, especially in terms of their functions. This research aims to analyze WDNs by establishing a random network with varying proportions of grids (pg). To generate random networks, the properties of the real WDN of a city in South Korea were used as a reference point. Our results indicate that, as the WDN shifted from a loop to a branched structure, the system functioning changed non-linearly with the existence of a threshold below which a network may be effectively improved with low resource inputs. More specifically, the threshold pgs were identified as 0.40 and 0.44 for network efficiency and decentralization. Additionally, the threshold pgs were around 0.22 and 0.23 with respect to availability and normalized efficiency when vulnerability was assessed by removing 1% of nodes whereas those were 0.40 and 0.45 when 10% of nodes were removed. On the other hand, the pg of the real WDN was 0.02 which was significantly lower than the thresholds, resulting in low network efficiency, more centralization and increased vulnerability. This suggests that an increase in pg is required to improve the performance of the WDN in the target area. Our study provides a novel framework for identifying a threshold for the functioning of WDNs. This threshold can be used for designing a new network, as well as for improving existing networks for better topological performance.

Non-linear impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on human mobility: Lessons from its variations across three pandemic waves

This study sought to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced human mobility patterns in a city, how the influences varied across the pandemic wave phases, and how the influences differed between car and bus trips. Data for the pandemic and individual-level trips were collected from Daejeon Metropolitan City in South Korea. Three indices of trip demand and trip randomness were used to represent mobility patterns and were compared with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. The results demonstrated different responses to the pandemic by transportation mode and revealed non-linear impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mobility patterns. Car dependency intensified and car trip randomness more sensitively fluctuated as the pandemic spread. The COVID-19 impacts on mobility follow a power-law relationship that revealed the existence of lower bounds of citizens’ travel-related responses to the pandemic, which generally increased over time, but its trend differed according to trip demand and randomness as the pandemic continued. The findings demonstrate variations in mobility patterns due to the long-lasting pandemic, which could not be explained solely by trip demand. This information can assist in the formulation of flexible policies that adapt to changes in travel behaviors.

Constructing a Composite Index of Sports Welfare: Application to the 17 Major Provinces and Cities in South Korea

The term “sports welfare” has been widely used in South Korean society for over a decade. In contrast, the academic definition of it remains largely undefined, which led to inefficiency in the policies regarding sports welfare. This paper quantifies the degree of sports welfare on a first-level division basis by developing a composite index model through three rounds of Delphi surveys and an Analytic hierarchy process. 5 Key factors and 13 sub-factors were identified to composite the Index, and the index values were calculated by applying data collected from national sources. As a result, most “Do”s scored higher than “Si”s overall, while South Jeolla Do showed the highest (109.5) and Sejong Si showed the lowest (92.1). We expect the results to shed light on the concept of sports welfare and provide guidance on comparing the sports welfare level between regions.

Analysis of Coupled and Coordinated Development of South Korea’s Life-Cycle and Public Housing Systems from 2017 to 2021

Providing sustainable public housing solutions is one of the major challenges for countries with emerging economies. Based on the panel data of eight metropolitan cities in South Korea from 2017 to 2021, this study uses the entropy value method and coupling coordination model to evaluate the quantitative interaction between the life-cycle and the public housing systems, followed by the OLS regression model to explore their level of coupling coordination and its influencing factors. The findings reveal the following: (1) The support of public housing welfare by the life cycle had previously been effective in alleviating housing conflicts. (2) The main evaluation values of the indicators had their focus shifted from the quantitative supply to the growth of households, housing cost affordability, and housing size. (3) Overall, the average level of coupling and coordination among Korean cities has risen substantially, but the development of the public housing system still lags behind the change in the life cycle of each city’s composite index. As a result, policymakers should reasonably allocate policies by focusing on their long-term benefits. (4) The supply for emerging families, infrastructure allocation, and the affordability of housing are important factors for improving the level of coordination that should be considered.

Exploring Spatial Mismatch between Primary Care and Older Populations in an Aging Country: A Case Study of South Korea

With the rapid growth of aging populations in South Korea, it is important to assess spatial accessibility to healthcare resources as older adults may need frequent visits to hospitals. Healthcare spatial accessibility is measured based on available resources (e.g., physicians, beds, services), demands (e.g., population), and travel costs (e.g., distance or time). In this study, we employed an Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (E2SFCA) method to measure the spatial accessibility to primary care for older populations (i.e., aged 65 and older) in major cities in South Korea, including Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Ulsan. We found that the aging population in Seoul, the capital and biggest city in South Korea, has relatively better accessibility than those living in other cities. We also discovered a negative relationship between accessibility to primary care and the aging index (i.e., population over 65 years old/population less than 15 years old); the regions with a higher ratio of older populations have lower accessibility to primary care. The results suggested that more primary care services (perhaps via mobile vans) are needed in regions predominantly with older people to improve their healthcare access.

Nursing students' experiences of safety threats and coping processes during clinical practice: A qualitative study

BackgroundNursing students are exposed to various safety incidents during clinical practice. Frequent safety incidents cause stress, undermining their will to continue studying. Therefore, more effort is needed to analyse the scope of training safety threats perceived by nursing students and their coping processes to improve the clinical practice environment. ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore nursing students' safety threat experiences and coping processes during clinical practice using focus group interviews. DesignA qualitative study. SettingsFour nursing departments located in the G and J cities in South Korea. ParticipantsSixteen third- and fourth-year nursing students with more than six weeks of clinical practice experience. Participants who had experienced safety-threatening incidents during their clinical practice were selected. The inclusion criteria were indirect experiences of safety-threatening incidents and exposure to incivility or physical violence from patients or caregivers. Students with no prior experience of safety incidents were excluded from this study. MethodsData were collected through focus group interviews conducted between 9 December and 28, 2021. ResultsThe five main data categories extracted were safety threat cognition, action-reaction, coping process, reinforcement experience, and reinforcing conditions, and thirteen subcategories were extracted. Nursing students experienced a growing sense of responsibility for their own and patients' safety through exposure to safety-threatening situations and coping processes in clinical practice. Ultimately, they reached the stage of the core category: “seeking to protect own and patients' safety while performing the dual role.” ConclusionsThis study delivers basic data on the safety threat situations experienced by nursing students during clinical practice and their coping processes. It can be used in developing clinical practice safety education programs for nursing students.

Evaluating the Educational Effectiveness of Hospital Healthcare Providers after Chemical Mass Casualty Response Training Program

Introduction:Chemical exposures can cause direct and indirect injuries to responding medical personnel. Therefore, hospital healthcare providers should be provided with disaster response training that includes identification of chemical hazards, establishment of the hazard zone, personal protective equipment use, decontamination, and chemical injury antidote use. This study evaluates the educational effectiveness of the chemical-mass casualty incident response education module (C-MCIREM) for hospital healthcare providers.Method:This was a retrospective quasi-experimental study. Subjects were hospital providers who enrolled in the C-MCIREM program between May 1, 2021, and July 26, 2022. Subjects were hospital providers from Bucheon, Mokpo, Iksan, Jeonju, and Dae-gu cities in South Korea. Subjects completed pre, post, and three-month knowledge retention and self-assessments of readiness tests, as well as evaluations on tabletop exercises (TTX), and a satisfaction survey (11-point Likert) after the course. The instructors scored teamwork measures via standardized evaluations on TTX throughout the course. The K-paired Sample Friedman test was used to compare samples.Results:127 respondents were enrolled. The median knowledge score rose from 51/100 (39, 66) to 85.5/100 (73.75, 90) with a median retention score of 74/100 (64, 88) (p&lt;0.001). Participants felt their readiness to respond increased in all facets (all p&lt;0.001) on the post and retention test for the MCI situation. All three hospital teams showed significant increases in teamwork between the median of the 1st and 4th TTX as 27/100 (23.5, 29) and 69/100 (66.75, 69.5) (p&lt;0.05). Participants were overall satisfied (9.1/10 SD 1.13) and would recommend the training to others (9.15/10 SD 1.2).Conclusion:C-MCIREM participants had high satisfaction with a significant increase and persistence in knowledge, improved teamwork, and self-assessed readiness to respond to a chemical mass casualty incident.

Did new electricity progressive tariff system change energy usage pattern in Seoul apartments? Evidence from integrated multisource dataset and combined analytical models

A new electricity progressive tariff (PT) system was introduced to cities in South Korea at the end of 2016 to replace the previous one as a policy response to increased energy demand and costs in hotter summers. Public concerns have been raised over its effects on annual energy use and energy poverty. However, studies on this topic are very few due to the lack of relevant data. In the broader literature on the effect of the PT system, studies are limited in that they mostly focus on household characteristics. This study contributes to the literature and practical discussions by examining how the new PT system influences residential electricity use in 243 sample apartments in Seoul, considering a wide range of factors that impact energy use decisions. An integrated urban dataset was developed based on urban big data from multiple sources, and a combination of two models was used for analysis. The interrupted time series analysis was adopted to find whether the change in household electricity use was significant for each apartment using the dataset. A logistic regression model was then used to examine the relationships between the significance of change and influential factors in energy use and billing, household, apartment, and neighborhood. Results suggest that nearly half of the sample apartments significantly increased electricity usage, and energy and built environment factors significantly influenced the change. Furthermore, higher-income groups were found to benefit more from the new PT system. The findings provide a reference for policymakers to evaluate the new policy and develop strategies toward broad sustainability goals. Given the wicked nature of urban energy policy, suggestions were made on policy implementation design and urban data integration for more rigorous evaluation.

A new city's water–energy nexus implications: The case of Sejong City in South Korea

Cities’ impact on water, energy, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is increasing as the world becomes more urbanized. Focusing on Sejong City, which was developed as a new administrative hub in South Korea in 2012, this study scrutinizes its development path from water–energy nexus perspective by developing a system dynamics model that describes the interactions among numerous components related to water and water-related energy consumptions. Furthermore, this study reimagines the city's potential development trajectories by constructing nine policy scenarios that combine different degrees of water conservation ambitions with different amounts of decarbonization in the power sector. The results confirmed the potential of water conservation policies. The expansion of rainwater use has the potential to cut water use by 50% from the 2050 baseline levels. Although the use of harvested rainwater is negligible compared to wastewater reuse, its overall effect on water conservation would be substantial if it is increased. The maximum reduction in GHG emissions from the water sector would be 9.36% from the 2050 baseline scenario when combined with decarbonizing the power sector. Although this study does not fully account for the water conservation potential, including the efforts at the end-use stages, the possibility of carbon neutrality in Sejong's water sector by 2050 is presented. It affirms that local governments can significantly reduce cities’ environmental footprints and complement national efforts for the transition to a carbon-neutral society.

User Segmentation Based on Travel Regularity in E-Scooter Sharing Service

The dockless e-scooter sharing service is rapidly spreading, replacing existing transportation, and improving last-mile accessibility. User segmentation with travel regularity and segment-level behavior analysis, which are already conducted in public transit, also benefits e-scooter sharing service to enhance service quality and increase usage. In this work, we group e-scooter users according to their travel regularity and identify each group’s usage characteristics. Through the dockless e-scooter usage data, as operated in six cities in South Korea, travel regularity measured by users’ repetitive departure time and destination is discovered and spatiotemporal usage patterns are identified. We divide e-scooter users into three groups by type of travel regularity: irregular user, spatially regular user, and regular user. Regular users more frequently use e-scooters, travel shorter distances, and walk longer distances to find an e-scooter than other groups. It is also revealed that the use in morning peak hours only occurs in the regular user group. By decomposing the temporal patterns of spatially regular and regular users, we discover that spatially regular users are composed of daytime, evening peak, and nighttime users. In contrast, regular users are composed of morning peak, evening peak, and lockdown (restriction in response to COVID-19 pandemic) peak users. This research suggests user segmentation based on travel regularity in e-scooter sharing services, enabling multiple strategies to be drawn to retain users with high regularity and convert users with low regularity to regular users.

Does Proximity to a Power Plant Affect Housing Property Values of a City in South Korea? An Empirical Investigation

The South Korean government plans to switch from a centralized power generation method to a distributed one. However, due to opposition from local residents, construction of distributed power plants is frequently delayed or suspended. This study attempts to investigate whether proximity to a power plant negatively affects housing property values, using the hedonic pricing technique and quantitatively analyzing the level of impact. To this end, 2291 apartment sales data from a specific city in the South Korean Seoul Metropolitan area with a power plant were used. As a result of the analysis, it was found that proximity to a power plant had a negative effect on apartment prices, which was statistically significant at the significance level of 5%. The difference in apartment prices per 1 km direct distance from the power plant to the apartment was derived as KRW 8 million (USD 7.1 thousand). This value is about 0.7% of the average price of apartments in the area (KRW 1102 million = USD 0.98 thousand). The results of this study can be used as a useful reference when the government determines the size of subsidies for local residents near power plants.

Framework for Connected and Automated Bus Rapid Transit with Sectionalized Speed Guidance based on deep reinforcement learning: Field test in Sejong City

Nowadays, Automated Vehicle (AV) technology is gaining attention as a candidate to improve the efficiency of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems. However, there are still some challenges in AV technology including limited perception range and lack of cooperation capability in mixed traffic situations with drivers. The emerging Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) and Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System (C-ITS) offer an unprecedented opportunity to solve such challenges. As a result, this study presents a framework for Connected and Automated BRT (CA-BRT), including a cloud-based architecture and a deep reinforcement learning system for Sectionalized Speed Guidance (SSG) system designed for CAVs. The proposed framework is field-tested in Sejong City in South Korea, where there are various road environments such as bus stops, overpasses, underground tunnels, intersections, and crosswalks. The driving performance of the proposed system is compared with different types of control scenarios, and the results from the field tests show that the proposed system improves the driving performance of the AVs in various aspects including driving safety, ride comfort, and energy efficiency with downstream information obtained from road infrastructures.

Carbon Offset Service of Urban Park Trees and Desirable Planting Strategies for Several Metropolitan Cities in South Korea

Urban parks are essential for offsetting high carbon emissions in cities, which are known to be high emitters. This study quantified carbon uptake and storage in Daejeon and Daegu, two major metropolitan cities in South Korea, and explored planting strategies to promote carbon offset services. Mean carbon uptake and storage per unit area in the study parks were 2.6 ± 0.1 t/ha/yr and 29.9 ± 1.7 t/ha, respectively. The urban park trees of a metropolitan city in South Korea were estimated to annually sequester and store 50 kt/yr and 572 kt of carbon, respectively. This carbon uptake equaled 1.5% of the total annual carbon emissions from residential energy consumption. The economic value of the carbon uptake was equivalent to $3.3 million/yr, which is 1.50% of the annual establishment budget of urban forests of the Korea Forest Service. Planting strategies included reducing unnecessary grass and pavement areas, the active planting of trees in the potential planting space, multilayered planting, and planting tree species with high growth rates. These results are expected to guide policies related to carbon credits, which have recently emerged as major concerns, and to provide useful information for quantifying carbon offset services in greenspace establishment projects.

Factors Related to Clinical Competence among Graduating Nursing Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study.

This study investigated clinical competency, COVID-19-related anxiety, coping strategies, self-efficacy, and perceived stress among graduating nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional survey. Participants were recruited from universities located in four major cities in South Korea. General demographic information, clinical competency, self-efficacy, perceived stress, COVID-19-related anxiety, and coping strategies were assessed using reliable questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression tests were used to analyze the data. The mean clinical competency, self-efficacy, perceived stress, adaptive coping, and maladaptive coping were 138.16 ± 18.34, 83.85 ±14.02, 21.37 ± 5.79, 53.15 ± 4.64, and 30.98 ± 6.73, respectively. COVID-19-related anxiety was reported by 4.3% of participants. Clinical competency was significantly positively correlated with self-efficacy (r = .44, p < .001) and adaptive coping (r = .20, p = .035) and was significantly negatively correlated with maladaptive coping (r = .20, p = .035). The predictors of clinical competency were self-efficacy (β = .434, p < .001) and adaptive coping (β = .173, p < .039), which explained 23% of the variance in clinical competency. Self-efficacy and adaptive coping strategies are significant predictors of clinical competence during the pandemic. Planning and implementing various curricular and non-curricular activities to increase senior students' self-efficacy and adaptive coping strategies will help prepare competent nursing graduates for the pandemic when they enter the nursing workforce.

Identifying urban form typology of residential areas in major cities in South Korea using clustering

In South Korea, cities have experienced rapid development, resulting in diverse urban form patterns. While the typology approach has emerged for identifying different patterns for better understanding of urban development, typology studies are still lacking for Korean cities. This study identifies and compares urban form typologies for residential blocks in major Korean cities using clustering. Two cities are analysed which represent distinct regional city characteristics and planning themes in Korea: Seoul and Jeju. In each city, physical form data are collected in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) format for calculating and analysing residential blocks. Urban form variables and principal components were analysed and used for K-means clustering. The results of clusters are then interpreted as urban form typologies. The identified urban form typologies in the two cities show the similarities and differences of typologies between the cities providing insights in the influences of regional characteristics, such as natural environment, culture, and of the planning patterns on urban form development patterns. The findings provide a better understanding of diverse urban forms in the three cities and their different local identities. The typologies can be utilized as references for urban and policy makers for sustainable planning and design.