Published in Scientific Reports

The study on “Analysis of People's Mobility Transformation during the COVID-19 Pandemic” by Yoshinao Ishii et al., in collaboration with Hiroshima University was published in Scientific Reports.

Previous studies have shown that people in Japan have taken the initiative in voluntary travel restraints during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a transformation of travel patterns. However, there has been a lack of analysis covering a wide range of spatio-temporal variations in travel patterns by purpose of travel. In this paper, we first estimated the mobile population based on data on the population staying in each 500-meter square. Next, we analyzed the transformation of travel patterns by purpose of travel by analyzing the relationship between the number of buildings by type and the estimated mobile population in each square. Our results revealed that people in the Tokyo area continued to restrict themselves to travel for about two years after the pandemic began, regardless of the purpose of travel, such as commuting to work, school, or shopping. The results suggest the need for optimal urban development based on the actual conditions of people's mobility in the coming era.

Title: Sustaining Self-restraint Until the Middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Tokyo
Authors: Ishii, Y., Hayakawa, K., Chikaraishi, M.
Journal Name: Scientific Reports
Published: December 2, 2022
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25489-4