Reshuffling city life: spatial and functional dynamics of urban activity in Tokyo during COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the measures to curb it have profoundly affected the geography of urban activities in the past years. In this paper, we discuss its effects on urban activity in Tokyo during the first wave of COVID between February and July 2020. Different from other papers, which have analysed general changes in urban activity levels or changes in specific activities, we have focused on changes in activity levels in different types of multifunctional urban activity centres (UAC), allowing us to reveal interactions between UAC types, (combinations of) activities and location within a wider urban system. Our results show how the distribution of urban activity across UAC changed in space and time in reaction to pandemic measures, and relate these dynamics to the spatial patterns of functional specialization of UAC. The existing spatial pattern of UAC allowed urban activities to redistribute spatially, but continue without too much inhibition. Moreover, these changes appeared to be temporary, rather than resulting in irreversible urban transformations. Our analysis thus suggests that Tokyo's multilayered polynuclear structure appeared to contribute to the city's pandemic resilience, allowing urban activities to spatially reorganize, without needing to resort to a total lockdown and collapse of urban life. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.