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Exploring Food Deserts in Seoul, South Korea during the COVID-19 Pandemic (from 2019 to 2021)

Author

Listed:
  • Jeon-Young Kang

    (Department of Geography Education, Kongju National University, Gongju 32588, Korea)

  • Seunghwan Lee

    (Department of Tourism Management, Kongju National University, Gongju 32588, Korea)

Abstract

Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, our lifestyle (e.g., food culture) has changed. In particular, the food insecurity issue has exacerbated. To address this issue, this study aims to measure spatial accessibility to food outlets and identify food deserts in Seoul, South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., 2019–2021). To assess spatial access to food outlets, we used the enhanced two-step floating catchment area (E2SFCA) method. The results from the E2SFCA methods showed that spatial accessibility to restaurants increased, but access to grocery stores decreased. A noticeable change occurred in Gangnam and Seocho. The Gini coefficients indicated that equality in spatial accessibility to restaurants fluctuated (i.e., worsened from 2019 to 2020 and improved from 2020 to 2021), whereas equality in spatial accessibility to grocery stores improved. The results help to identify prioritized regions where additional food resources can be placed, especially for marginalized people who have limited access to food due to their socio-economic status.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeon-Young Kang & Seunghwan Lee, 2022. "Exploring Food Deserts in Seoul, South Korea during the COVID-19 Pandemic (from 2019 to 2021)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-8, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5210-:d:802255
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark LeClair & Anna-Maria Aksan, 2014. "Redefining the food desert: combining GIS with direct observation to measure food access," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(4), pages 537-547, December.
    2. Chen, Jie & Ni, Jianhua & Xi, Changbai & Li, Siqian & Wang, Jiechen, 2017. "Determining intra-urban spatial accessibility disparities in multimodal public transport networks," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 123-133.
    3. Kilinc, Mehmet Serdar & Milburn, Ashlea Bennett & Heier Stamm, Jessica L., 2017. "Measuring potential spatial accessibility of home healthcare services," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 13-25.
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