The impact of the "COVID-19 life" on the Tokyo metropolitan area households with primary school-aged children: A study based on spatial characteristics

Tomikawa, Shun; Niwa, Yukari; Lim, Hwajin; Kida, Maiko Article The impact of the "COVID-19 life" on the Tokyo metropolitan area households with primary school-aged children: A study based on spatial characteristics Journal of Urban Management Provided in Cooperation with: Chinese Association of Urban Management (CAUM), Taipei Suggested Citation: Tomikawa, Shun; Niwa, Yukari; Lim, Hwajin; Kida, Maiko (2021) : The impact of the "COVID-19 life" on the Tokyo metropolitan area households with primary school-aged children: A study based on spatial characteristics, Journal of Urban Management, ISSN 2226-5856, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Vol. 10, Iss. 2, pp. 139-154, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2021.03.003 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/271419 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. 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If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Article The impact of the “COVID-19 life”on the Tokyo metropolitan area households with primary school-aged children: A study based on spatial characteristics Shun Tomikawa a , Yukari Niwa a , Hwajin Lim b , * , Maiko Kida b a Faculty of Environmental Studies, Tokyo City University, Japan b Faculty of Urban Life Studies, Tokyo City University, Japan ARTICLE INFO Keywords: COVID-19 Tokyo metropolitan area Primary school children Questionnaire survey Text mining analysis ABSTRACT This study aims to elucidate the effects that staying home due to COVID-19 has had on households with primary school-age children living in the central area. To determine the differences in states of mind between people in the central area and people in other areas, we investigated the changes in their “daily lives”including matters related to school; playing outside; associating with other children; “communication”including communication with family and friends; and the “use of information technologies”that secure communication. Moreover, we explored households that are satisfied even when they are unable to go out and clarified how children and their parents who live in the central area perceive the current situation. The study results indicate that the risks of COVID-19 in large cities have spatial characteristics and increase the burden on households raising children. Particularly in the central area, which has a high population density, the changes children experience are striking. Furthermore, due to the inadequate amount of open space, a strong awareness of the “new normal (avoiding the ‘Three Cs’(closed spaces, crowded places, and closecontact settings)”is required. 1. Introduction 1.1. Research background The COVID-19 pandemic has affected countries worldwide, and the situation appears to be deteriorating. According to the World Health Organization (2021), as of January 14, 2021, the number of active cases had increased to 90,335,008 with over 1,950,000 deaths worldwide, while in Japan the figures were 307,159 active cases with 4314 deaths. While Japan’sfigures may appear low when compared to other regions, the number of cases are rapidly increasing, especially in Tokyo (Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare 2020). In April 2020, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency and called on citizens to avoid the “Three Cs: closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings”(Prime Minister’sOffice of Japan, 2020). In May 2020, the state of emergency was temporarily lifted; however, citizens were directed to “stay home.”Particularly in Tokyo, which has a high population, people have been urged to adopt a preventative lifestyle. This has brought sudden changes to people’s lives. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Lim). HOSTED BY Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Urban Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jum https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2021.03.003 Received 20 August 2020; Received in revised form 24 January 2021; Accepted 4 March 2021 Available online 23 April 2021 2226-5856/©2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Zhejiang University and Chinese Association of Urban Management. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Journal of Urban Management 10 (2021) 139–154 In this context, we must consider how children are coping with the pandemic. Although conditions vary across countries, the suspension of schools and the implementation of distance learning to maintain social distancing have been gaining ground worldwide. Thus, COVID-19 has had extensive impact on children. Studies from China, Japan, and Korea have highlighted that although the pandemic has affected the entire world, its impact and the status of infections vary by region (Shaw et al., 2020). Children’s lifestyles are expected to significantly change in each region with measures such as the implementation of online education. The proportion of infected children is negligible compared to that of adults and the elderly; however, reports have affirmed the effectiveness of suspending schools given the risk of infection spreading with their reopening. （Cluver, L. et al., 2020）Accordingly, the temporary closure of schools and public facilities is expected to continue. Faced with this unforeseeable event, children have been displaying various stress reactions. Therefore, it is important to cultivate resilience in children (Lyu et al., 2020). Since depression and stress levels have increased due to COVID-19, it is imperative to provide mental health care and support to children and students to combat the stress caused by long-term isolation and online learning (Rajkumar, 2020). More than 20% of university students experience anxiety, with stress levels increasing further due to factors such as family members or acquaintances becoming infected, the economic situation, and the delay in schoolwork. However, considering that the psychology underlying anxiety differs between university and primary school students, Cao et al. (2020) have highlighted that the same countermeasures should not be adopted across the board; instead, students’specific characteristics must be considered. For university students, these include a diverse range of factors that contribute to anxiety and are associated with depression, whereas primary school students tend to become deeply anxious about risks to life and health. Shengyi et al. (2020) reported that primary school students are dependent on the information and attitudes of their parents and that the roles that parents play are therefore important. It is also difficult to keep children in a healthy and secure state within the home. Cluver, L et al. (2020) found that these issues are further aggravated in low-income, high-density households; the violence and vulnerability experienced by children have increased during the school closure period and parents and children are susceptible to stress as well as information and sensational reporting by the media that increase their fears of COVID-19. Under these circumstances, UNICEF (2020) has published “coronavirus (COVID-19) parenting tips,”which offer advice on dealing with the problems arising from children remaining at home. Another issue is how to maintain the quality of primary school education (World Health Organization, 2020). However, considering the gravity of the infection in major cities, such as New York, the number of cases in regions primarily comprising low-income households has increased greatly, and the occurrence of child abuse and other related problems has become increasingly severe (Donnelly, 2020;Paybarah et al., 2020). Correspondingly, the risk of COVID-19 in major cities has spatial characteristics, increasing the burden borne by households with children. Although there are few reports of children being infected, they are being forced to accept changes to their lifestyles due to the pandemic. 1.2. Review of previous surveys on COVID-19 and Japanese children Public interest corporation “Save The Children Japan”is an international NGO that specializes in supporting children. In March 2020, the organization distributed an emergency child questionnaire, targeting children from Grade 1 age to 18 years old, in response to the increase in COVID-19 infections. Subsequently, Save The Children Japan (2020) published an overall report summarizing the 1422 responses collected from 41 prefectures nationwide. Comments confirmed COVID-19’s significant effect on Japanese children, such as “I want to/cannot meet with other people”and “I cannot live my daily life/I want to leave the house.”At approximately 50%, this was most relevant for primary school children (in lower grades) who were surveyed through afterschool childcare. Furthermore, Aiko et al. (2020) studied with the Association for Children’s Environment/Association for Research on the Children’s Environment, Hokkaido, conducting a survey targeting children aged up to 12 to examine how they were coping with school closures and staying at home without playing outdoors, following COVID-19. They confirmed that staying at home increased the amount of time spent watching television, videos, being on the Internet, and playing video games. However, it decreased the opportunities to play outdoors and spend time with friends, and caused confusion for many parents with respect to leaving the house, going for walks, or playing in nearby parks, home gardens, or lawns. 1.3. Research objectives and questions Based on this background, this study references the above-mentioned existing surveys and establishes three viewpoints. The first comprises the spatial features of the effects on children of staying at home, through a comparison of the central area with other areas. The second clarifies the differences between children and parents in terms of their concerns. The third underlines that it is possible to be satisfied with staying indoors, and considers the risks and benefits of living spaces in the central area. Primary schools in Tokyo closed in early March 2020. 1 Since the academic year commences in April under the Japanese primary school system, children were unable to participate in the graduation ceremonies at the end of March and the opening ceremonies in early April. In various countries, the academic year begins in September; however, Japanese children were forced to “stay home”during these momentous events. Thus, they could not participate in special occasions such as the graduation and opening ceremonies. This study examines whether the risks of COVID-19 have spatial characteristics and whether the anxieties experienced by households with children vary based on their area of residence. Children that live in cities are exposed to risks due to population. Our research 1 On February 27, 2020, at the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a call for temporary closures of elementary, middle, high, and special support schools nationwide from March 2, 2020 until spring vacation. 140 S. Tomikawa et al. Journal of Urban Management 10 (2021) 139–154 questions are as follows: 1 What are the difficulties in daily life and communication experienced by families raising children under the difficult circumstances caused by COVID-19? Do these difficult situations differ between children and parents? 2. What are parents satisfied with in life under COVID-19? What are the trends by region? The answers to these questions may provide useful knowledge on how the living environment in the central area should be reconstructed during the post-COVID-19 period. Correspondingly, this study aims to elucidate the effects that staying home due to COVID-19 has had on households with primary school-age children living in the central area. To determine the differences in the state of mind between people in the central and other areas (the Eastern and Western areas), we investigated the “daily life”changes, including matters related to school; playing outside; associating with other children; “communication”with family and friends; and the “use of information and communication technologies (ICT)”that secure communication. We also examined households that are content even when they are unable to go out, and aimed to clarify how children and their parents who live in the central area perceive the current situation. 2. Research methods 2.1. Overview of questionnaire survey We conducted a questionnaire survey on households with children attending grades four to six, living in one of Tokyo’s 23 wards (Tables 1 and 2). We conducted the questionnaire survey from April 20–22, 2020 (Table 1). The survey comprised an Internet web survey, which garnered 310 responses. We conducted the survey online, without coming into direct contact with the participants. It targeted households with children in Grades 4–6 living in the 23 wards of Tokyo. The main survey questions, which were only answered by the parents, concerned the care of their children in the current living environment under COVID-19. The children answered questions concerning their condition in the current living environment. To elucidate the differences between the opinions of children and their parents, parents and children were required to respond separately to the survey. 2.2. Method of identifying spatial trends To identify spatial trends, we categorized the survey participants into three different residence areas: the central, Eastern, and Western areas. The “central area”comprises a total of seven wards and is where the majority of the 23 wards’political, economic, and cultural functions are concentrated (Statistics of Tokyo Metropolitan Government, 2018), while the subcentral area features scattered capital city functions (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Toshima, and Bunkyo). 2 The remaining areas were divided in two, as the Eastern and Western areas (Figs. 1 and 2). The regional classification used in this study was determined by the following criteria and characteristics. ●Spatial characteristics related to urban functions and residence ➢Population density (daytime population density) 3 and birth rate 4 The average daytime population density (person/km2) is 25,499.2 in the 23 wards of Tokyo, while it is 45,703.1 in the central area of Tokyo. The highest intermediate population density is in Chiyoda (73161.9 persons/km2), followed by Chuo (59608.5 persons/km2) and Chuo (46184.8 persons/km2). These three Table 1 Outline of the questionnaire survey. Distribution period April 20, 2020–April 22, 2020 Survey form Internet web survey Number of responses 310 Survey subjects Households with children in Grades 4–6 living in the 23 wards of Tokyo Respondents Children in Grades 4–6 and their parents Survey items Questions about raising children in the current living environment [Answered by parents] Questions about raising children in the current living environment [Answered by children] Questions about current life status and living environment [Answered by parents] 2 The central and subcentral areas comprise the core areas where many capital functions are concentrated, such as governmental, legal, and administrative agencies as well as the headquarters and flagship stores of large companies. There are around 207,000 offices within the area, or approximately 31% of the total number in Tokyo. There is a conspicuous concentration of offices related to telecommunications, the service industry, academic and research functions, finance, and medicine, as well as foreign companies. For further information, see the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Location Support Center, https://ilsc.tokyo/region/toshin.html. 3 Population density: Statistics of Tokyo Metropolitan Government (Daytime population of Tokyo according to the national census), 2018 https:// www.toukei.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/tyukanj/2015/tj-15index.htm. 4 Fertility rate: Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health, 2019 Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Annual Trends (by ward, city, town and village), 2019 https://www.fukushihoken.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/smph/kiban/chosa_tokei/jinkodotaitokei/kushityosonbetsu.html. S. Tomikawa et al. Journal of Urban Management 10 (2021) 139–154 141 wards show a particular increase in the birth rate among the 23 wards. The average fertility rate per 1000 population in the 23 wards is 7.6, while the fertility rate in the 7 wards is 8.9. ➢Administrative services 5 If the revenue per capita is large, it is easy to enhance the administrative services that each resident can receive; the average revenue per capita in the 23 wards is 460,700 yen, while the average revenue per capita in the 7 central wards is 611,000 yen. In addition, we compared the ratio of self-financing by the government, which is important in considering stable finances. The average self-financing rate of the 23 wards is 29.3%, while that of the 7 central wards is a high 36.8%. ●Spatial characteristics related to the lives of families with small children ➢Total amount of park space 6 In the seven central wards of Tokyo, there are many green parks. The average area of parks per capita in the 7 central wards of Tokyo is 7.01㎡, compared to the average of 4.3 ㎡in the 23 wards. The average area of parks per resident is 7.01 ㎡, compared to 4.3 ㎡in the 23 wards. ➢Hospitals and clinics Comparing the number of general hospitals per 10,000 population, the average number of hospitals in the 7 wards of central Tokyo is 0.25 times higher than that in the 23 wards (0.54 in the 23 wards, 0.79 in the 7 wards of central Tokyo). The average number of clinics per 10,000 people in the 7 wards of central Tokyo is almost double that of the 23 wards (31.7 clinics per 10,000 people compared to 15.8 clinics per 10,000 people in the 23 wards). Table 2 Attributes of respondents. Items Contents Gender 136 men (44%), 174 women (56%) Age group 27 people aged 30–35 (9%), 56 people 35–40 (18%), 110 people 40–45 (35%), 90 people 45–50 (29%), 27 people older than 50 (9%) Areas of residence The central area: 68 people (22%) The other areas: Eastern area, 62 people (20%); and Western area, 180 people (58%) Housing type Home-owner (single-family): 135 people (44%) Home-owner (condominium): 81 people (26%) Tenant (single-family): 11 people (4%) Tenant (apartment building): 75 people (24%) Dormitory or company housing: 6 people (2%) Other: 2 people (less than 1%) Fig. 1. The wards of Tokyo. 5 Revenue and self-financing ratioQuoted from each municipality’s websiteChiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Bunkyo, Taito, Sumida, Koto, Shinagawa, Meguro, Ota, Setagaya, Shibuya, Nakano, Suginami, Toshima, Kita, Arakawa, Itabashi, Nerima, Adachi, Katsushika, Edogawa Wards. 6 Parks: Tokyo Metropolitan Government,“Table of Urban Parks by District, Municipality, Area and Population Ratio”https://www.kensetsu. metro.tokyo.lg.jp/jigyo/park/kouenannai/kouen_menseki.html. S. Tomikawa et al. Journal of Urban Management 10 (2021) 139–154 142 2.3. Text mining In this study, text mining analysis with open-ended responses was used to examine the details of residential satisfaction. This analysis explores satisfaction while having to stay at home and its relationship with area of residence. The analysis method involved textmatching on free description responses to the question, “Please describe the aspects with which you are most satisfied in your current life.”Text-matching analysis is also commonly used in research on administrative planning (Yamashita, 2012) and the state of affairs of community development (Oda et al., 2017). KH Coder3 software was used to process data in text form (Higuchi, 2014). After morphological analysis, frequently appearing words were extracted and shown in a co-occurrence network. Moreover, the relationship between frequently appearing words and area of residence was considered through a correspondence analysis between “satisfaction with current life”and “area of residence.”Thus, we clarified how parents living in the central area perceived their current situation. 3. Results 3.1. The effects of staying home on children’s living environments The brief attributes of respondents are shown in Table 2. Most parents were in the age groups 35–40 (18%) and 40–45 (35%). Approximately half of the survey respondents lived in their own homes. There were 68 responses (22%) from the central area, 62 responses (20%) from the Eastern area, and 180 responses (58%) from the Western area. In this section, the changes in life due to COVID-19 were divided into three aspects, and the changes of each child and parent were tabulated. The three aspects were: things in daily life, communication with others, and the use of ICT technology. Specifically, we grasped things related to life in general in “normal life,”and then we grasped “communication with others,”which has the most impact when it comes to maintaining social distance. Finally, we investigated the use of ICT technology that can supplement those changes. 3.1.1. Changes in daily life We compared the changes to children’s daily lives from the perspective of parents and children by area of residence. The question to the parents was, “How has your child’s daily life changed under COVID-19? “. The parents selected five answer options: “increased,” “did not change,”“decreased,”“did not exist to begin with,”or “I don’t know.”And the question to the children was, “How has your daily life changed under COVID-19? “. The children selected four answer options: “increased,”“did not change,”“decreased,”or “did not exist to begin with.”In this way, we prepared questions on “daily life changes,”“communication,”and “use of information and communication technologies (ICT).” We asked parents and children to fill out questionnaires separately. Figs. 3–5exclude “don’t know”responses. Many children believed that affinity toward schools, time spent playing outdoors, and interactions with other children had decreased, while home activities, chores, and reading time had increased. The opinions of parents largely concurred with these beliefs, particularly regarding the changes in playing outdoors (Fig. 3). Looking solely at children’s opinions, we examined whether the hypothesized spatial characteristics existed. We conducted a Fisher’s exact probability test using JMP pro, regarding the independence of the central and other areas (the Eastern and Western areas). The survey results showed that the percentage of respondents who reported that “relations with school”“decreased”was significantly higher Fig. 2. The central area and the other areas (Western and Eastern). S. Tomikawa et al. Journal of Urban Management 10 (2021) 139–154 143 for other areas than for the central area (Table 3). 3.1.2. Changes in communication The question to the parents was, “How has your child’s communication changed under COVID-19? “. The parents selected five answer options: “increased,”“did not change,”“decreased,”“did not exist to begin with,”or “I don’t know.”And the question to the children was, “How has your communication changed under COVID-19? “. The children selected four answer options: “increased,”“did not change,”“decreased,”or “did not exist to begin with.” Regarding children’s communication, “time spent together with family”and “time spent talking with family”increased, while “time spent together with friends”and “time spent talking with friends”decreased. Particularly in the central area, “opportunities to talk with family about worries and inexplicable concerns”increased (Fig. 4). Fisher’s exact probability test revealed significant differences between the central area and other areas for all survey items, except for “opportunities to talk with friends about worries and concerns.”“Time spent together with family”and “time spent talking with family” either “decreased”or “did not exist to begin with”for a section of children in the central area. In comparison, it “increased”in the other areas. Furthermore, when compared to the large percentage of children in the central area, who responded that “opportunities to talk with family about worries and inexplicable concerns”“increased,”in the other areas, a large percentage of children responded that the situation “did not change.”In contrast to children from the central area who often responded that “time spent with friends outside of school”and “time spent talking with friends”increased or “did not change,”children in other areas responded that it “decreased” Fig. 3. Life changes. S. Tomikawa et al. Journal of Urban Management 10 (2021) 139–154 144 (Table 4). 3.1.3. Changes in the use of ICT The question to the parents was, “How has your child’s use of information and communication technologies (ICT) changed under COVID-19? “. The parents selected five answer options: “increased,”“did not change,”“decreased,”“did not exist to begin with,”or “I don’t know.”And the question to the children was, “How has your use of ICT changed under COVID-19? “. The children selected four answer options: “increased,”“did not change,”“decreased,”or “did not exist to begin with.” In the central area, the frequency of interactions with friends on social networking services such as LINE approximately doubled compared to that in the other areas. Moreover, in the central area, time spent playing online games and using the Internet on personal computers increased. As schools closed, and children were compelled to learn at home, their opportunities to come in contact with information systems may have increased. Furthermore, they may have been affected by opportunities to use information technologies as an alternative means to compensate for the lack of communication (Fig. 5). Fisher’s exact probability test revealed significant differences in the “frequency of interactions with friends on social media networks such as LINE,”“frequency of online gaming,”and “frequency of using the Internet from a personal computer.”In contrast to a high percentage of children in the downtown area who reported that these activities “increased,”children from the other areas responded that these activities were “not common to begin with”(Fig. 5). Fig. 4. Changes in communication. S. Tomikawa et al. Journal of Urban Management 10 (2021) 139–154 145 3.2. Concerns regarding COVID-19 3.2.1. Differences between the concerns of parents and children The question “What are your problems, worries, or concerns that bother you under COVID-19?”elicited five levels of response ranging from “Applies to me”to “Does not apply to me.”Approximately 40% of parents responded to all the questions with “Applies to me”(Fig. 6). The most pressing problem was “worry and anxiety about the increasing rate of infections,”to which 65.2% of parents responded “Applies to me.”Other highly concerning items were “lack of exercise and loss of strength for children,”“losing out on special experiences,”“not being able to lead a normal life (having to stay at home),”and “concerns about studying, such as children falling behind in their studies.”In contrast, “my own job and family life”and “not being able to meet up with people”were not considered serious problems. Children were concerned about “not being able to live a normal life (having to stay at home),”“losing out on special experiences,”and “not being able to meet up with people.”However, they were unconcerned about their “parents’jobs and family life” and “disruptions to lifestyle”(Fig. 6,Table 5). 3.2.2. Regional comparison Fig. 7 shows a distribution of the problem items faced by children, with the rate of responses that were “most applicable”of the five Fig. 5. Changes in the use of information technologies. S. Tomikawa et al. Journal of Urban Management 10 (2021) 139–154 146 minimize such stress. In the high-density central area, it may also be necessary to create mechanisms by which open spaces, which help reduce stress, can be experienced without crowds. The increase in COVID-19 infections has forced us to consider how spaces are being built and used. 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