Welcome to our Study Project:

Exploring Human Activity Patterns in London during 2020 - a year defined by unprecedented challenges

1. About the Project

This project explores human activity patterns in London throughout 2020, a year marked by the unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic. By analyzing daily movement data and focusing on Polygons of Interest (POIs), such as transit hubs, parks, and event venues, we aim to understand how the pandemic influenced urban mobility. Our analysis offers insights into the reduction of activity during lockdowns, the rebound effects post-restrictions, and the shifting dynamics of human movement in response to public health measures.

2. Data Acquistion and Preprocessing

The foundation of this project is the 2020 movement data of London, which provides daily aggregated metrics of human activity. These data points are complemented by geospatial information, including: Geo-coordinates linked to specific locations, London borough boundaries, and Points of Interest (POIs) categorized by function and significance. Preprocessing involved cleaning, mapping, and aggregating the data for analysis. Special focus was given to temporal patterns, allowing us to identify activity trends before, during, and after key COVID-19 milestones, such as lockdown announcements or easing measures.

2.1 Movement Data

2.2 Selected Polygons of Interest (POIs)

We have six different types of POIs:

  1. the biggest bus stops,
    • These are major transit hubs where a significant number of daily commuters converge.
    • We have selected only the bus stops with ...
  2. the biggest subway stations,
    • These are the key nodes in London's underground network,
    • They are connecting various boroughs and supporting urban mobility,
    • We've selected the subway stations with over 10,000,000 yearly passengers.
  3. football stadiums,
    • Large venues that host football matches and attract massive crowds, influencing movement patterns on game days.
    • They all have a capacity of over 25,000 people.
  4. big event places,
    • These include arenas and convention centers that host concerts, exhibitions, and other major events.
    • They all have a capacity of over 7,500 people.
  5. the most popular sightseeings,
    • Here we have iconic tourist attractions that draw visitors year-round.
    • Like museums, landmarks, and historical sites.
  6. royal parks,
    • Eight historic parks in London, originally royal hunting grounds.
    • Now public spaces for relaxation and recreation.

2.3 Map of the POIs

2.4 Events Dataset

2.5 Limitations and Challenges in Data Preprocessing

3. Analysis of Human Activity Data

3.1 Temporal Analysis

3.2 Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns

3.3 Comparison Across POI Categories

4. Discussion

4.1 Key Findings

4.2 Implications for Urban Mobility

4.3 Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic

4.4 Limitations of the Analysis

5. Conclusion

5.1 Summary of Findings

5.2 Future Research Directions

4. Clustered Heatmaps for the movement data

Here are different the maps of the movement data for different days

Clustered activity map for the 01.01.20

Clustered activity map for the 03.24.20