Assessing downtown recovery rates and determinants in North American cities after the COVID-19 pandemic

Amir Forouhar, Karen Chapple, Jeff Allen, Byeonghwa Jeong and Julia Greenberg
Additional contact information
Amir Forouhar: University of Toronto, Canada
Karen Chapple: University of Toronto, Canada
Jeff Allen: University of Toronto, Canada
Byeonghwa Jeong: University of Toronto, Canada
Julia Greenberg: University of California, Berkeley, USA

Urban Studies, 2025, vol. 62, issue 6, 1209-1231

Abstract: North American downtowns are struggling to recover from the global COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate the varying rates of recovery experienced by downtown areas in the 66 largest cities of the United States and Canada. Leveraging Location-Based Services data extracted from mobile phone location trajectories, we assess the recovery rates in the 2023 post-pandemic period, juxtaposed against pre-pandemic 2019 levels. We find significant disparities in downtown recovery rates. Economic factors emerge as crucial determinants, where downtowns hosting a concentration of sectors with remote/hybrid work options – such as information, finance, professional services and management – displayed sluggish recovery. Conversely, downtowns with a focus on industries like accommodation, manufacturing, education, retail, construction, entertainment and healthcare exhibited greater resilience post pandemic. Furthermore, higher density, crime rates and education levels were correlated with slower recovery rates, as were harsher weather conditions and longer commuting times. Lower-density and auto-orientated downtowns demonstrated a swift rebound, even surpassing pre-pandemic activity levels. These findings underscore the necessity for tailored policies to bolster the revival of North American downtown areas.

Keywords: COVID-19; downtown; location-based service data; North America; resilience; 2019å† çŠ¶ç—…æ¯’ç—…; 城市中心区; åŸºäºŽä½ ç½®çš„æœ åŠ¡æ•°æ ®; 北美; å¤ åŽŸåŠ› (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980241270987 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:62:y:2025:i:6:p:1209-1231

DOI: 10.1177/00420980241270987

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Urban Studies from Urban Studies Journal Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().