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

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.