By Laura Schmahmann, Ate Poorthuis, and Karen Chapple
Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society
May 2022
The expectation of a mass movement out of cities due to the rise of remote work associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, is counter to longstanding theories of the benefits of agglomeration economies. It suggests centrifugal shifts of economic activity which could boost neighbourhood economies at the expense of the downtown core.
Using mobile phone data from SafeGraph, the authors track migration and daily mobility patterns throughout the New York metropolitan area between July 2019 and June 2021.
The article finds that diverse suburban centres and exurban areas have bounced back more quickly than the dense specialised commercial districts in and around Manhattan.
