Changing sense of place in privately owned public spaces during the pandemic: Evidence from a regression discontinuity in time design

As COVID-19 directly and indirectly affected a wide range of urban living and activity spaces, people's sense of place and human-place interactions in urban public spaces have attracted considerable interest from practitioners and scholars across various disciplines. Using a regression discontinuity in time design combined with natural language processing techniques, this study investigates how people's emotional experiences expressed in tweets within privately owned public spaces (POPS) changed following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Manhattan, New York City. The findings indicate that while people using Twitter tended to express heightened negative sentiments overall after the pandemic outbreak, their sentiment levels within POPS exhibited a comparatively muted decline compared to those in other locations outside of the spaces. Recognizing POPS as potential sentimental respites and emotional buffers during such crises, this research provides insights for planning and public health interventions aimed at enhancing community well-being and resilience across geographically and socioeconomically diverse contexts.