The Pandemic and the City: Empirical Evidence of Lifestyle and Location Preference Changes in Japan

This study examines how individuals’ preferences for four types of urban functions—residential, work-related, transportation, and leisure—shifted in Japan following the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that the widespread adoption of remote work, mainly in large cities, strengthened preferences for residential amenities while reducing the importance of work-related and transportation functions. In contrast, smaller cities with limited infrastructure experienced more modest changes. Our analysis further reveals that, in metropolitan areas, preference shifts are less strongly associated with local and surrounding amenity conditions, suggesting more complex internal dynamics. By comparison, in smaller cities, the scarcity of amenities makes them play a greater role in shaping these changes.