Coping With Crisis: Green Space Use in Helsinki Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged a deeper exploration about how people deal with crisis. This paper presents one of the first pre- and during-pandemic assessments urban green infrastructure (UGI) use across same individuals aim better understanding people's different types blue spaces changed during pandemic. A baseline Public Participation GIS survey ( N = 1,583 respondents) conducted in August 2018 was followed up May 2020 418 identical Helsinki, Finland. We found that residents were more likely to visit UGI closer their home compared before Patterns associated quality residential areas, for example, sought out forests nearby one's domicile tended avoid parks recreation areas order escape pressures lockdown, socially distance overcrowding. However, spatial cluster analyses also revealed places mapped by intensive users natural recreational outdoor oriented became dispersed pandemic, suggesting active search new UGI, including agricultural land high tree density cover. Our results further highlighted some such as distant semi-natural serve critical both Natural experienced very little change use. presented have implications planners design manage enable cope crises like pandemics into future.