Jiwon Lee’s research while affiliated with Seoul National University and other places

The so-called "Corona Blue" decline in mental health after the COVID-19 outbreak. This study examines how COVID-19 risk perception affects mental health via urban space usage in Seoul, Korea, and Shanghai, China. It uniquely explores direct PR-MH and OS-MH effects, along with indirect effects mediated by pandemic-driven changes in urban space utilization. Results reveal that visits to urban destinations and open spaces mediate the relationship between perceived risk and MH, with differing significance levels between the two cities. In Seoul, disruptions in daily life negatively affected mental health through decreased interactions with urban destinations and outdoor spaces, with a statistically significant impact on stress through urban destinations. This suggests that maintaining access to and engagement with these spaces is crucial for mental health during crises. Conversely, Shanghai showed indirect effects predominantly through perceptions of safety, which significantly influenced anxiety levels through urban destinations, but did not manifest similarly through interactions with outdoor spaces. Caution in interpretation is necessary for better generation, but the outcomes of this study underscore the importance of considering cultural, historical, and political contexts in understanding the varying impacts of future pandemic policies on mental health. ARTICLE HISTORY

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant social changes through government prevention andcontrol measures, changes in people’s risk perceptions, and lifestyle changes. In response, urban inhabitantschanged their behaviors significantly, including their preferences for transportation modes and urban spaces inresponse to government quarantine policies and concerns over the potential risk of infection in urban spaces.These changes may have long-lasting effects on urban spaces beyond the COVID-19 pandemic or they mayevolve and develop new forms. Therefore, this study aims to explore the potential for urban spaces to adapt tothe present and future pandemics by examining changes in urban residents’ preferences in travel modes andurban space use due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study found that overall preferences for travel modes andurban spaces significantly differ between the pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic periods. During thepandemic, preferences for travel modes and urban spaces has decreased, except for privately owned vehiclesand green spaces, which are perceived to be safe from transmission, show more favorable than others.Post-pandemic preferences for travel modes and urban spaces are less favorable than pre-pandemic withurban spaces being five times less favorable than transportation. Although green spaces and medical facilitiesthat were positively perceived during the pandemic are expected to return to the pre-pandemic preferencelevel, other factors of urban spaces are facing a new-normal. The findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemichas had a significant impact on urban residents’ preferences for travel modes and urban space use.Understanding these changes is crucial for developing strategies to adapt to present and future pandemics andimprove urban resilience.

This comparative study examines the shifts in perception and behavior among urban residents in Seoul and Shanghai during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings reveal significant disparities in perception and behavior between the cities and variations within each city at different stages of the pandemic. Shanghai residents had a higher perception of the pandemic's impact compared to Seoul, which can be attributed to the implementation of more stringent COVID-19 prevention policies in Shanghai, including comprehensive restrictions on personal movement and the closure of non-essential facilities. The pandemic significantly affected the perception of urban spaces, with Seoul residents showing a stronger association between urban characteristics and disease transmission compared to Shanghai. This can be explained by Seoul's higher population density, making it more susceptible to COVID-19 transmission. In contrast, Shanghai's decentralized urban growth and multiple central business districts provided residents with more diverse options for visiting different areas, potentially reducing their perception of risk. Shanghai also exhibited a higher fear of infection compared to Seoul, likely due to the prolonged and stringent nature of disease control measures, which resulted in significant economic damage. Overall, the study highlights significant disparities in perception and behavior between Seoul and Shanghai during the COVID-19 pandemic, influenced by factors such as government policies, population density, and economic impact. The findings provide valuable insights into the impact of the pandemic on urban residents in East Asia.

Empirical studies on agro-industrial complexes are few. Facing the issue of their sustainability, the vitality of the complex is analyzed in South Korean settings through structural equation modeling of the survey data of 600 companies. Unlike the existing literature on regional economics, the survey evaluates objective characteristics at the local, complex, and company levels while incorporating psychometrics, subjective qualities of the local environment, the complex itself, infrastructure, networking, and supportive policy. Among the objective characteristics, significant variables in the employment and sales models turn out to be consistent and mainly at the company level. Among the subjective variables, employment size and sales are associated with the qualities of infrastructure and supportive policy. Specifically, potential employees will be attracted by accessible transportation systems to neighboring major cities rather than convenience facilities within the complex. Sales may be improved by providing direct support for the marketing of each company compared to indirect support regarding agro-industrial complexes, infrastructure, and networking.

The social distancing policy is an effective way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in the initial phase of their outbreak when medical evidence to support a particular course of treatment is deficient. While studies on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have mainly focused on the effects of specific measures (e.g., school and workplace closures and restrictions on movement), few investigated the characteristics of epidemic trends in response to the intensity of the policy and the amount of time required for policy measures to take effect. This study employs the SIRD (susceptible, infected, recovered, and deceased) model to analyze the COVID-19 epidemic trend according to the intensity of the social distancing policy in South Korea. The model reveals that the reproduction number began at 5.58 and fluctuated between 0.14 and 1.72 during the study period in accordance with different policy intensities. At the beginning of the social distancing policy, restrictions on public facility use were likely to have been effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19. When the intervention was relaxed, the transmission potential increased significantly. According to the reproduction number, social distancing policies prove to be effective after 13–19 days of implementation; however, as the pandemic progressed, this period extended from 13–14 to 18–19 days for the same effect. This suggests that governments need to consider not only the intensity of the social distancing policy, but also people’s low responsiveness as the pandemic remains prevalent over time. It is also recommended they take preemptive action to ensure sufficient time for the policy to achieve its stated goal.

Trip characteristics, travel utility, socio‐economic characteristics, and built environment influence travel mode choice. Since the elements have a hierarchical structure, this study conducted multilevel multinomial logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between these elements and travel modes. Particularly, this study focused on how twelve types of expressed travel utilities affect travel mode choice for five travel purposes. The results show that people consider various travel utilities for each travel purpose; these elements influence the travel mode choice of cars, public transit, or non‐motorized modes, for example, public transit is preferred for punctuality and multitasking in commute, and for health benefits in shopping.

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and various restrictions, peoples’ leisure activity patterns significantly change. Thus, it is necessary to understand how people’s travel and leisure behaviors have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence on how individuals’ COVID-19 risk perception influences their leisure destination choice behavior. This empirical study aims to confirm the relationship between risk perception of COVID-19 and choice of leisure destination and to explore any differences between them related to demographic characteristics. A total of 537 valid samples were used for SUR model analysis by conducting an online survey targeting citizens of the Seoul metropolitan area, Korea. Our findings show that the risk perception of COVID-19 has a significant effect on the choice of leisure places. In particular, the risk perception of COVID-19 has a positive effect on the choice of natural places, disinfected areas, and socially distanced spaces while negatively influencing the choice of crowded leisure places. In addition, age and gender are more effective factors than other control variables in COVID-19 risk perception and leisure destination choices. Furthermore, this study also provides several implications for urban leisure place planners and service providers to respond to the changing leisure activity patterns caused by COVID-19.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is believed to have substantially changed travel mode choices. While current urban transit policies and plans aim at higher public transit ridership, the negative perception that transit is unsafe increases in line with the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) because of its higher risk in cases in which so-called 3C conditions are met: crowded areas, close-contact settings, and closed places. Thus, this study empirically examines how the perception of urban spaces changed by COVID-19 and how it influenced the choice of travel modes, accordingly, in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea. A structural equation model presents that changes in individual cognition and positive perception of policy changes during COVID-19 changes their perception of multi-use facilities negatively compared to before the COVID-19 outbreak. The negative perception is found to result in changes in travel mode choices by decreasing public transit ridership. Analytical findings show that intrinsic utility (i.e. risk perception) is revealed as a major determinant to understand travel mode choice. Also, in relation to the limitations of the current metropolitan transit system, the findings provide policy implications in the aspect of preventive measures and promoting micro-mobility for post-COVID-19 transit. Highlights • The behavioural change under the pandemic is caused by fear of infection. • Risk perception on public transit is affected negatively due to COVID-19. • The increased risk perception leads to a reduction in public transit use. • Risk perception is a major determinant to understand travel mode choice. • Promoting micro-mobility will enhance the city's resilience during a pandemic.

As ageing population is growing faster, traffic accidents involving elderly drivers become a serious social problem in South Korea. The present study aims to examine the impact of environmental characteristics on the injury severity of accidents involving elderly drivers in Seoul, South Korea. To achieve the purpose, the study divided elderly drivers into the following two groups: young-elderly drivers aged 65–69 years and middle- and old-aged drivers over 69 years old. The study also analysed non-elderly drivers aged 30 to 64 years as the comparative group. The study used the generalised ordered logit model, which is widely used to analyse data with ordinal scales. The findings from the study draw attention to the fact that (1) the characteristics of traffic accidents by injury severity considerably differed by age group. (2) risk of accident severity involving elderly drivers increase in areas with heavy traffic volumes and facilities that may create a complex driving condition to elderly drivers, (3) since elderly drivers tend to require longer response time with impaired vision under complex driving environment, it increased the risk of traffic accidents that older drivers face a higher risk of fatal injuries than younger counterparts. Thus, in order to reduce traffic accidents involving elderly drivers, the traffic safety policies should take environmental characteristics as well as the human factor concerning elderly drivers’ difficulties because of ageing and longer cognitive response time. This study contributes to the research in traffic accidents involving elderly drivers in that not only the accident characteristics (human factors, road condition, weather), mostly used for traffic accident analysis, but also environmental factors concerning the urban characteristics of Seoul Metropolitan City were analysed to compare the risk of traffic accidents and accident severity by age groups.