Frontiers in big data
From crisis to new routine: shifts in urban shopping mobility and socioeconomic inequality during and after the COVID-19 shock
By Xu Y, Bahrami M and Pentland A.
Abstract
Introduction
This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on revealed shopping-location patterns and their persistence during the early recovery period. It focuses on urban shopping mobility in New York City and investigates whether observed store-selection patterns returned to, or remained different from, their pre-pandemic baseline by 2021 across different socioeconomic communities.
Methods
We use large-scale mobility and place datasets together with census information to analyze visits to general merchandise and department stores in New York City. A modified Huff gravity model and a metaheuristic calibration method are used to quantify temporal shifts in store-selection patterns. We also use unsupervised learning techniques and statistical inference models to examine heterogeneity across socioeconomic communities and evaluate changes before, during, and after the COVID-19 shock.