TRENDS among the populations in Scotland’s cities during the recent winter Covid curbs have been detailed by a new study.

The Covid-19 Community Mobility Report by Google have published their most recent findings, which set out to explain how the pandemic affected peoples visiting habits to areas in respective geographical regions.

The latest information shows mobility trends for places such as corner shops and supermarkets, museums and cinemas, and other public areas.

It analyses peoples visiting patterns from the five-week period of January 3 – February 6, 2020, just before the pandemic impacted the UK, and compares it with latest trends from December 2021 to as recent as January 17, 2022.

During this time, Scotland was under tougher Covid restrictions following new rules that were implemented on Boxing Day.

Here are the population trends for Scotland’s major areas during that period:

Glasgow

  • Visiting trends for places such as restaurants, cafés, shopping centres, museums, libraries, and cinemas was down by 16%.
  • Supermarkets, food warehouses, farmers markets, specialty food shops and pharmacies are down 11% compared to the baseline in 2020.
  • Visits to places like national parks, walkways, plazas and public gardens are up 23% compared to the 2020 baseline as many have upped their outdoor exercise and social activities due to limitations on meeting in-doors and being confined to homes during the lockdowns.
  • Public Transport, such as the subways, bus and train stations were expectedly down by 33% as work from home advice has remained in place.
  • Work from home advice has also had a clear impact on the mobility trends for workplaces with Glasgow now reporting a drop of 36% of workers not travelling to their workplace compared to the number doing so at the beginning of 2020.
  • Visits to places of residence, such as friend or family homes or neighbours, went up by 8% as parts of the public look to for alternative ways to meet with restrictions being enforced on hospitality venues.

The Herald:

Edinburgh

  • In Edinburgh, visiting trends for places such as restaurants, cafés, shopping centres, museums, libraries, and cinemas was down by nearly double compared to Glasgow. Compared to the baseline in 2020, the city of Edinburgh’s retail and recreation visits dropped by 33%.
  • Supermarkets, food warehouses, farmers markets, specialty food shops and pharmacies were down only 4% compared to the baseline in 2020.
  • The city of Edinburgh only witnessed a slight growth in the number of people upping their outdoor activities. Places like national parks, public beaches, marinas, dog parks, plazas and public gardens are up by only 2% compared to the 2020 baseline.
  • Public Transport visits were down by a huge 47%.
  • Work from home advice has had a clear impact on the mobility trends for workplaces with Edinburgh now reporting a drop of 44% of workers not travelling to their workplace compared to the number doing so at the beginning of 2020.
  • Visits for places of residence has shot up by 10%.
    The Herald:

Aberdeen City

  • The number of people in Aberdeen making visits to restaurants, cafés, shopping centres, theme parks, museums, libraries and cinemas fell by 24%.
  • In contrast to Glasgow and Edinburgh mobility trends for supermarkets, food warehouses, farmers markets, specialty food shops and pharmacies are up by 4% compared to the baseline in 2020.
  • Mobility trend for places that are public transport hubs fell by 34% compared to the 2020 figures.
  • Aberdeen City now has a reported increase of 11% of people who visit places like national parks, public beaches, marinas, dog parks, plazas, and public gardens.
  • Mobility trends for places of work have now dropped by 38%.
  • Similar to both Glasgow and Edinburgh, Aberdeen City seen an increase of people visiting a place of residence by 11%
    The Herald: Aberdeen City supermarkets and pharmacy figures rose by 4%Aberdeen City supermarkets and pharmacy figures rose by 4%

Dundee City Council

  • Dundee City Council has seen a drop of 20% in mobility trends for places such as restaurants, cafés, shopping centres, theme parks, museums, libraries, and cinemas.
  • Similar to Aberdeen City, a 3% rise in visiting trends for supermarkets, food warehouses, farmers markets, and pharmacies is being reported compared to the 2020 baseline.
  • The data for visits to outdoor areas like parks and public gardens shows an increase of 26% in the Dundee City Council area.
  • Mobility trends for places that are public transport hubs fell by 21% compared to the 2020 figures.
  • Workplace mobility trends fell by 30% compared to 2020’s baseline.
  • Residential visiting trends rose by 8%.

 

Perth and Kinross

Data on Perth as a City was not included on Google’s analysis of the data, so we have taken a look at the area of Perth and Kinross together

  • Perth and Kinross witnessed a drop of 18% in mobility trends for places such as restaurants, cafés, shopping centres, museums, libraries, and cinemas.
  • Unlike Aberdeen and Dundee, but like the central belt cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, Perth and Kinross saw an 11% decrease in mobility trends for supermarkets, food warehouses, farmers markets, and pharmacies.
  • The data for parks visits to outdoor areas shows an increase of 23% in the Perth and Kinross area.
  • Public transport mobility trends fell by 33% compared to the 2020 baseline.
  • Workplace visiting trends also fell by 30%.
  • Perth and Kinross recorded the same increase of residential visiting trends as Dundee as the data shows and increase of 8%.

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