The Relationship between Geographic Accessibility to Neighborhood Facilities, Remote Work, and Changes in Neighborhood Satisfaction after the Emergence of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Hongjik Kim () and Chihiro Shimizu
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Hongjik Kim: Center for Real Estate Innovation, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
Chihiro Shimizu: Center for the Promotion of Social Data Science Education and Research, Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi 186-8601, Japan

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-20

Abstract: The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and working remotely may decrease the advantages of residing in populated areas. This study aims to test the relationship between remote work and changes in neighborhood satisfaction and to discern the difference according to both the status of remote work and the centrality of areas where people live in the relationships between geographic accessibility to neighborhood facilities and changes in neighborhood satisfaction. By using an ordinal logistic regression, we analyzed data from a questionnaire completed by residents of the 23 wards of Tokyo. Working remotely was found to increase neighborhood satisfaction of people living in a central (OR = 1.31) and a noncentral area (OR = 1.50). Remote workers living in single-family homes were found to be less satisfied with their neighborhoods. Less decrease (or increase) in geographic accessibility to eating facilities was found to be related to increase in neighborhood satisfaction for both remote and nonremote workers regardless of the centrality of areas where they live. The findings suggest that populated areas continue to provide benefits which will improve neighborhood satisfaction even after the start of a pandemic; however, there could be a shift of demand for facilities in central areas to noncentral areas beyond the emergence of the pandemic.

Keywords: eating facilities; sports facilities; geographic accessibility; populated city (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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