Spatial Analysis of Environmental Impacts Linked to Changes in Urban Mobility Patterns during COVID-19: Lessons Learned from the Cartagena Case Study

Salvador García-Ayllón and Phaedon Kyriakidis
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Salvador García-Ayllón: Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Cartagena, Paseo Alfonso XIII, 52, 30203 Cartegena, Spain
Phaedon Kyriakidis: European University of Technology EUT+, Paseo Alfonso XIII 52, 30203 Cartegena, Spain

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: The impact of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 on urban pollution in our cities is a proven fact, although its mechanisms are not known in great detail. The change in urban mobility patterns due to the restrictions imposed on the population during lockdown is a phenomenon that can be parameterized and studied from the perspective of spatial analysis. This study proposes an analysis of the guiding parameters of these changes from the perspective of spatial analysis. To do so, the case study of the city of Cartagena, a medium-sized city in Spain, has been analyzed throughout the period of mobility restrictions due to COVID-19. By means of a geostatistical analysis, changes in urban mobility patterns and the modal distribution of transport have been correlated with the evolution of environmental air quality indicators in the city. The results show that despite the positive effect of the pandemic in its beginnings on the environmental impact of urban mobility, the changes generated in the behavior patterns of current mobility users favor the most polluting modes of travel in cities.

Keywords: urban mobility; COVID-19; spatial statistics; air quality; spatial correlation; Cartagena (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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