Factors affecting urban park utilization in Seoul: Insights from telecommunication data

This study utilizes big data from telecommunication companies to analyze the transient population in 119 neighborhood parks in Seoul in order to determine the actual population of urban parks and investigate the factors influencing their utilization. Park utilization is defined as the number of people per unit area of a park. The factors affecting park utilization include individual park characteristics such as the degree of aging, park type, internal park facility characteristics, and park location characteristics. Park location characteristics were derived using network analysis to examine accessibility, land use, and population within each park's service area. Using a hierarchical regression model, we found that individual park characteristics, including age and park type, had the greatest impact on park use, followed by park location and internal facility characteristics. Specifically, as park age increased by one year, utilization decreased by 1.2 %. Utilization was 5.3 times higher in living zone neighborhood parks and 1.44 times higher in walking zone neighborhood parks compared to city/regional zone neighborhood parks. Parks with educational facilities and those situated near subway stations were more likely to be used. Additionally, the larger commercial areas and fewer residential areas near the park, the greater the utilization of neighborhood parks.