Would people prefer city-center living in the post-COVID era?: Experience, status, and attitudes to social disasters

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was a significant social disaster that radically affected the paradigm of current urbanization and city-center living. Responses to the disaster varied depending on related experiences, individual status, and attitudes. Thus, this research extends the previous literature by examining the effects of experiences related to the COVID-19 pandemic, socioeconomic status, and how perceptions and attitudes affect preferences for city-center living in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea. We use data from PSSRAC (Perception Survey of Seoul metropolitan area Residential Awareness during COVID-19) of 2021. A binary logistic regression method is used to examine significant characteristics that affected the residential preference change due to “Experience,” “Status,” and “Attitude” in the COVID-19 era. The findings showed that respondents’ experience, status, and attitude related to the pandemic could have a complex effect on predictions of preference, for central or suburban living tendencies in the post-COVID-19 era. In terms of “Experience,” people who had bad experiences during the pandemic, for example, poor economic conditions were associated with suburban area living trends. For “Status,” socially and economically vulnerable groups preferred suburban residence due to the steep rise in housing prices in the city center after the pandemic. Finally, for “Attitude,” ‘value of housing for investment” was positively associated with a preference for city-center living in the post-COVID-19 era; respondents with a higher priority for maintaining remote work tended not to change their current residence. This study may provide planners, housing developers, and policymakers with meaningful implications for addressing urban changes in the post-COVID-19 era. Additionally, it is expected that this research’s ESA analysis and results can be used as a valid reference for other global cities.