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Title: Spatial and Temporal Characterization of Activity in Public Space, 2019–2020

Journal Article · · Scientific Data
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  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
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The data reported here characterize spatial and temporal variation in the ratio of short-to-long-duration visits in public places (i.e., points of interest) in the United States for each week between January 2019 and December 2020. The underlying data on anonymized and aggregated foot traffic to public places is curated by SafeGraph, a geospatial data provider. In this work, we report the estimated number and duration of “short” (i.e., <4 hours) and “long” (i.e., >4 hours) visits to public places at the US census block group level. Long visits are shown to be a good proxy for workers based on formal economic data. We propose that short visits are more likely to represent nonobligate activities: people visiting a public place for leisure, shopping, entertainment, or civic or cultural engagement. Our work constructs a ratio of short to long visits, which can be used to inform population estimates for nonworker use of public space. These data may be useful for understanding how people’s use of public space has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and, more generally, for understanding activity patterns in public.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1885373
Journal Information:
Scientific Data, Vol. 9, Issue 1; ISSN 2052-4463
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (8)

The GenTree Dendroecological Collection, tree-ring and wood density data from seven tree species across Europe journal January 2020
Shifting temporal dynamics of human mobility in the United States journal February 2022
Areal interpolation of population in the USA using a combination of national parcel data and a national building outline layer other January 2019
A Vector Analytical Framework for Population Modeling journal August 2021
Spatial and Temporal Measurements of the Shopper-Worker Ratio, 2019-2020 collection January 2022
Noise infusion as a confidentiality protection measure for graph-based statistics journal February 2016
Multiscale dynamic human mobility flow dataset in the U.S. during the COVID-19 epidemic journal November 2020
Spatial and Temporal Measurements of the Shopper-Worker Ratio, 2019-2020 collection January 2022

Linked Research (1)

Figures / Tables (10)

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Table 1(p. 6)table Table 1
Table 2(p. 6)table Table 2
Fig. 5(p. 7)figure Fig. 5
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Fig. 7(p. 9)figure Fig. 7
Table 3(p. 10)table Table 3

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