IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirb/v52y2025i9p2139-2152.html

Does class matter? Understanding differential pandemic recovery via a building typology

Author

Listed:
  • Byeonghwa Jeong
  • Karen Chapple

Abstract

This study investigates the recovery of building-level footfall from the COVID-19 pandemic using privacy-preserving mobile devices-based footfall data within 60 downtown areas in the USA and Canada. Using clustering, we identify five distinct building typologies based on their characteristics, including rent, quality and recovery rates. The results reveal significant variation of recovery rates by building features. We find negative relationships with footfall recovery for both the percentage of office and remote work tenants and building quality. In contrast, buildings with traditional work tenants and retail functions achieve higher recovery rates. We also test the ‘flight to quality’ hypothesis via on our typology results. High-quality office buildings (Class A+) continue to have high rents but experience low physical footfall recovery, which suggests that this class is not as resilient as portrayed. The findings thus suggest the importance of considering both economic and footfall resilience in evaluating the performance of office buildings.

Suggested Citation

  • Byeonghwa Jeong & Karen Chapple, 2025. "Does class matter? Understanding differential pandemic recovery via a building typology," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 52(9), pages 2139-2152, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:52:y:2025:i:9:p:2139-2152
    DOI: 10.1177/23998083251326128
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23998083251326128
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/23998083251326128?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J Davis & Mathias Dolls & Pablo Zarate, 2023. "Working from Home Around the Globe: 2023 Report," EconPol Policy Brief 53, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    2. Umair Akram & Melinda Timea Fülöp & Adriana Tiron-Tudor & Dan Ioan Topor & Sorinel Căpușneanu, 2021. "Impact of Digitalization on Customers’ Well-Being in the Pandemic Period: Challenges and Opportunities for the Retail Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-21, July.
    3. Arjun Ramani & Nicholas Bloom, 2021. "The Donut Effect of Covid-19 on Cities," NBER Working Papers 28876, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Lei Ding & Jackelyn Hwang, 2022. "Has COVID Reversed Gentrification in Major U.S. Cities? An Empirical Examination of Residential Mobility in Gentrifying Neighborhoods During the COVID-19 Crisis," Working Papers 22-20, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    5. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C. & Urrego, Joaquin A., 2022. "JUE insight: Are city centers losing their appeal? Commercial real estate, urban spatial structure, and COVID-19," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    6. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis & Mathias Dolls & Pablo Zarate, 2022. "Working from Home Around the World," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 53(2 (Fall)), pages 281-360.
    7. Laura Schmahmann & Ate Poorthuis & Karen Chapple, 2022. "Pandemic polycentricity? Mobility and migration patterns across New York over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic [Rural to urban long-distance commuting in Sweden: trends, characteristics and pathways]," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 15(3), pages 515-535.
    8. Boeing, Geoff, 2017. "OSMnx: New Methods for Acquiring, Constructing, Analyzing, and Visualizing Complex Street Networks," SocArXiv q86sd, Center for Open Science.
    9. Nathaniel Baum-Snow & Nicolas Gendron-Carrier & Ronni Pavan, 2024. "Local Productivity Spillovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(4), pages 1030-1069, April.
    10. Yasuyuki (Yas) Motoyama, 2022. "Is COVID-19 Causing More Business Closures in Poor and Minority Neighborhoods?," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 36(2), pages 124-133, May.
    11. Arpit Gupta & Vrinda Mittal & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2026. "Work from Home and the Office Real Estate Apocalypse," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 116(2), pages 674-709, February.
    12. Stefan Siedentop & Philipp Zakrzewski & Peter Stroms, 2018. "A childless urban renaissance? Age-selective patterns of population change in North American and German Metropolitan areas," Regional Studies, Regional Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 1-20, January.
    13. repec:osf:socarx:q86sd_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Fernando V. Ferreira & Maisy Wong, 2022. "Neighborhood Choice After COVID: The Role of Rents, Amenities, and Work-From-Home," NBER Working Papers 29960, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2004. "Evidence on the nature and sources of agglomeration economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 49, pages 2119-2171, Elsevier.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Forouhar, Amir & Chapple, Karen & Pokharel, Ramesh & Allen, Jeff, 2025. "Transit-driven resilience: Unraveling post-COVID-19 urban recovery dynamics," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Malik, Khyati & Kim, Sowon & Cultice, Brian J., 2023. "The impact of remote work on green space values in regional housing markets," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Amir Forouhar & Karen Chapple & Jeff Allen & Byeonghwa Jeong & Julia Greenberg, 2025. "Assessing downtown recovery rates and determinants in North American cities after the COVID-19 pandemic," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 62(6), pages 1209-1231, May.
    4. repec:ags:aaea22:335486 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Li, Wenli & Su, Yichen, 2026. "The great reshuffle: Remote work and residential sorting," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    6. Bergeaud, Antonin & Eyméoud, Jean-Benoît & Garcia, Thomas & Henricot, Dorian, 2023. "Working from home and corporate real estate," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Malik, Khyati & Kim, Sowon & Cultice, Brian J., 2023. "The Impact of Remote Work on Green Space Values in Regional Housing Markets," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335486, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Gilles Duranton & Jessie Handbury, 2023. "COVID and Cities, Thus Far," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 29(2), pages 6-52, October.
    9. Böhnen, Carina & Kuhnimhof, Tobias, 2024. "Working from home and commuter travel in germany – panel data analysis of long-term effects," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    10. Keith Ihlanfeldt & Cynthia Fan Yang, 2025. "Single-family home spaciousness and COVID-19," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 74(1), pages 1-29, March.
    11. Makoto Sakuma & Kazushi Matsuo & Morito Tsutsumi & Toyokazu Imazeki, 2024. "Measuring office attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic with mobility data to quantify local trends and characteristics," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 185-237, March.
    12. Philipp Brüggemann & Luis F. Martinez & Koen Pauwels, 2025. "Theoretical perspectives and conceptual framework for online grocery shopping: Adapting to environmental circumstances and influencing internal factors," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 2271-2307, June.
    13. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis & Mathias Dolls & Pablo Zarate, 2022. "Working from Home Around the World," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 53(2 (Fall)), pages 281-360.
    14. Lee, Kangoh, 2023. "Working from home as an economic and social change: A review," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    15. Olszewski Krzysztof & Trojanowski Dariusz & Łaszek Jacek, 2024. "Low Interest Rates and Uncreative Destruction in the Office Market," Real Estate Management and Valuation, Sciendo, vol. 32(2), pages 90-99.
    16. Sandro Heiniger & Winfried Koeniger & Michael Lechner, 2022. "The Heterogeneous Response of Real Estate Asset Prices to a Global Shock," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 22-86, Swiss Finance Institute.
    17. Jorck, Gerrit von & Börger, Tobias & Ghirardello, Linda & Meyerhoff, Jürgen & Praetorius, Barbara, 2025. "The impact of work arrangements on the choice to work from home: a discrete-continuous choice experiment," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 59, pages 1-029.
    18. Shackleton, J. R., 2025. "Liberating the labour market: How reforming employment regulation can boost British growth," IEA Discussion Papers 139, Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).
    19. Howard, Greg & Liebersohn, Jack & Ozimek, Adam, 2023. "The short- and long-run effects of remote work on U.S. housing markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(1), pages 166-184.
    20. Osorio, María Lucila & Madero, Sergio, 2025. "Explaining Gen Z’s desire for hybrid work in corporate, family, and entrepreneurial settings," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 83-93.
    21. Juan C Duque & Nancy Lozano-Gracia & Jorge E Patino & Paula Restrepo, 2022. "Urban form and productivity: What shapes are Latin-American cities?," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(1), pages 131-150, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:52:y:2025:i:9:p:2139-2152. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.