Changes in the Cultural Trend of Use by Type of Green Infrastructure Before and After COVID-19 Using Blog Text Mining in Seoul

Abstract

Background and objective: This study examined the changes in the cultural trend of use for green infrastructure in Seoul due to COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The subjects of this study are 8 sites of green infrastructure selected by type: Forested green infrastructure, Watershed green infrastructure, Park green infrastructure, Walkway green infrastructure. The data used for analysis was blog posts for a total of four years from August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2020. The analysis method was conducted keyword frequency analysis, topic modeling, and related keyword analysis. Results: The results of this study are as follows. First, the number of posts on green infrastructure has increased since COVID-19, especially forested green infrastructure and watershed green infrastructure with abundant naturalness and high openness. Second, the cultural trend keywords before and after COVID-19 changed from large-scale to small-scale, community-based to individual-based activities, and nondaily to daily culture. Third, after COVID-19, topics and keywords related to coronavirus showed that the cultural trends were reflected on appreciation, activities, and dailiness based on natural resources. In sum, the interest in green infrastructure in Seoul has increased after COVID-19. Also, the change of green infrastructure represents the increased demand for experience that reflects the need and expectation for nature. Conclusion: The new trend of green Infrastructure in the pandemic era should be considered in the the individual relaxations & activities.

Restorative Environment Characteristics of an Urban Forest Based on Big Data Analytics

“…Based on the unique Korean topographical characteristics and perceptions of nature, urban forests have been used and valued pluralistically since the Joseon Dynasty (14th century) [26]. Chae and Cho [27] analyzed big data on the public use of urban green spaces such as forests, watersides, parks, and walkways collected from blogs and found that people used them as a space for daily leisure activities, appreciating natural resources and engaging in activities such as exercise and walking, expressing the emotional word happiness. This research revealed that users of urban forests directly or indirectly expressed their expectations and experiences of them as a restorative environment.…”

“…Researchers are attempting to analyze semantic changes in peoples' descriptions of urban forests before and after the COVID-19 outbreak [27,28]. Forest management according to residents' perception [29], preferred motivation and companion characteristics [30], and ecological sensitivity [31] have been raised.…”

The Factors and Relationships Influencing Forest Hiking Exercise Characteristics after COVID-19 Occurrence: At Seoul Metropolitan Area and in Hikers’ 20s and 30s

“…Likewise, Korea also increased people’s attention and usage of small-scale outdoor activities in natural spaces that could comply with quarantine policies outside of a hermetic, dense, closed environment. Moreover, the mention of natural green space online rose compared with before COVID-19 [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

Changes in Electroencephalographic Results and Heart Rate Variability after Exposure to Green Landscape Photographs Correlated with Color Temperature and Illumination Level

“…As the daily use of visual display terminals (VDTs) such as TVs, PCs, and smartphones increases, the amount of time spent in nature decreases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions due to social distancing have closed public green spaces and kept people at home (Chae et al, 2021), and people have had to face a lot of stress during this forced isolation period (Lee and Yeon, 2021). The pandemic has also changed the usage patterns of green areas (Chae et al, 2021;Lee and Yeon, 2021).…”

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions due to social distancing have closed public green spaces and kept people at home (Chae et al, 2021), and people have had to face a lot of stress during this forced isolation period (Lee and Yeon, 2021). The pandemic has also changed the usage patterns of green areas (Chae et al, 2021;Lee and Yeon, 2021). As a result, the awareness and importance of green spaces has increased significantly (Larcher et al, 2021;Bulgari et al, 2021).…”