Urban Community Sustainable Development Patterns under the Influence of COVID-19: A Case Study Based on the Non-Contact Interaction Perspective of Hangzhou City

Jiwu Wang, Xuewei Hu and Chengyu Tong
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Jiwu Wang: Institute of Urban Planning & Design, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Xuewei Hu: Institute of Urban Planning & Design, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Chengyu Tong: Institute of Urban Planning & Design, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: A community is the basic organization and living unit of a city. During COVID-19, China’s epidemic prevention and isolation measures against COVID-19 based on the community as the basic unit achieved excellent results and strengthened the impact of non-contact interaction activities on the lifestyles of resident communities. We surveyed and interviewed 1610 respondents on how the epidemic changed residents’ lifestyle habits “before, during, and after COVID-19” in 12 communities in Hangzhou, China. Then, we undertook a comparative analysis and found that, under the stimulus of COVID-19, the frequency of residents using non-contact interaction had increased to varying degrees, community lifestyles had undergone significant changes, and the impact of non-contact interaction on community service facilities was complicated. Our conclusions are as following: (1) under COVID-19, the community space had become a composite space—that is, a new type of community space formed by the fusion of community physical space and community virtual space; (2) non-contact interactive activities were the main content in the community composite space, which differently influenced people’s habits of using existing community service facilities; (3) the influence mechanism was manifested in significant differences and spatial scale effects. Therefore, based on the research results, we propose a model for the configuration of service facilities in community composite spaces. It is necessary to build communities into a healthy, safe, and convenient urban space governance unit to ensure the sustainable development of cities.

Keywords: COVID-19; non-contact interaction; community space; service facilities; Hangzhou (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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