Don’t stand so close to me: Public spaces, behavioral geography, and COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 is influencing how people engage with one another in geographic space. Stay-at-home orders and social distancing have reduced people’s bodily presences and social interactions in public spaces. Revisiting classical behavioral geography, this commentary explores the perception and engagement of geographic space among residents in the downtown core of a large metropolitan region in Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic.