Influence of Cultural Landscapes on Visitors’ Behavior in the Context of COVID-19 Social Distancing Policies: A Case Study of Open Public Spaces Inside Gyeongbok Palace

Abstract

Background and objective: Many studies have highlighted the psychological benefits of natural outdoor environments and cultural heritage sites for visitors. However, few studies have investigated the combined impact of natural outdoor settings and cultural heritage sites considering contextual factors such as gender, age, time of day, and period on visiting patterns. This study aims to identify the impact of cultural landscapes on visiting patterns, focusing on the open public spaces of Gyeongbok Palace, Seoul.Methods: A mixed-method approach was used to examine the association between cultural landscape elements and visiting patterns. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were employed to assess how the cultural landscape affected visiting patterns from 2019 to 2021, considering the impact of COVID-19 social distancing policies. An on-site visit observation and analysis of previous case studies were conducted to further investigate the impacts of cultural landscape elements on visitors' behavior patterns.Results: The findings indicated that the cultural landscape played a role in shaping visitors' behaviors and revealed significant variations in visitation patterns based on visitors' age and the day of the week. A strong positive correlation was observed between teenagers and weekday visits, especially in 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were in place and students were taking online classes. Furthermore, the results showed a noticeable increase in correlation scores in 2021 compared with those in 2019, supporting the notion of heritage sites serving as healing and relaxing places for people to enjoy as they age.Conclusion: The study findings provide an empirical basis for studying cultural heritage assets and other natural outdoor environments as a type of cultural landscape to enhance visitor satisfaction and provide positive benefits to visitors. It highlights the importance of preserving and promoting cultural landscapes as integrated systems of natural and cultural resources, which can be applied to heritage policies and management strategies.