Extended urbanisation and the spatialities of infectious disease: Demographic change, infrastructure and governance

Abstract

This paper argues that contemporary processes of extended urbanisation, which include suburbanisation, post-suburbanisation and peri-urbanisation, may result in increased vulnerability to infectious disease spread. Through a review of existing literature at the nexus of urbanisation and infectious disease, we consider how this (potential) increased vulnerability to infectious diseases in peri-or suburban areas is in fact dialectically related to socio-material transformations on the metropolitan edge. In particular, we highlight three key factors influencing the spread of infectious disease that have been identified in the literature: demographic change, infrastructure and governance. These have been chosen given both the prominence of these themes and their role in shaping the spread of disease on the urban edge. Further, we suggest how a landscape political ecology framework can be useful for examining the role of socioecological transformations in generating increased risk of infectious disease in peri-and suburban areas. To illustrate our arguments we will draw upon examples from various re-emerging infectious disease events and outbreaks around the world to reveal how extended urbanisation in the broadest sense has amplified the conditions necessary for the spread of infectious diseases. We thus call for future research on the spatialities of health and disease to pay attention to how variegated patterns of extended urbanisation may influence possible outbreaks and the mechanisms through which such risks can be alleviated.

The Socio-Spatial Determinants of COVID-19 Diffusion: The Impact of Globalisation, Settlement Characteristics and Population

“…To understand the role of settlement characteristics in COVID-19 diffusion, we test four variables that measure various national-scale dimensions, including: urbanisation rate, population density, maximum urban population density, and areal accessibility (measures the average drive time of the national population from smaller to larger settlements (63)). These represent human interaction within national boundaries, with recent publications demonstrating that diffusion happens more rapidly in cities that are dense, well-connected, and accessible (11,29,(42)(43)(44). Settlement variable 1 is urbanisation rate, defined as the proportion of a national population located in cities or metropolitan regions (national definitions vary).…”

“…Settlement Variable 4 is areal accessibility, defined as an area-weighted average of driving time to locations with at least 1,500 inhabitants per square km (63). This variable has been selected based on a previous study (43) in which the authors argue that extended urbanisation may result in increased vulnerability to an infectious disease spread. Urban accessibility captures the variations in suburbanisation and peri-urbanisation across countries.…”

The Socio-Spatial Determinants of COVID-19 Diffusion: The Impact of Globalisation, Settlement Characteristics and Population

“…To understand the role of settlement characteristics in COVID-19 diffusion, we test four variables that measure various national-scale dimensions, including: urbanisation rate, population density, maximum urban population density, and areal accessibility (measures the average drive time of the national population from smaller to larger settlements (59)). These represent human interaction within national boundaries, with recent publications demonstrating that diffusion happens more rapidly in cities that are dense, well-connected, and accessible (11,29,(42)(43)(44). Settlement variable 1 is urbanisation rate, de ned as the proportion of a national population located in cities or metropolitan regions (national de nitions vary).…”

“…Settlement Variable 4 is areal accessibility, de ned as an area-weighted average of driving time to locations with at least 1,500 inhabitants per square km (59). This variable has been selected based on a previous study (43) in which the authors argue that extended urbanisation may result in increased vulnerability to an infectious disease spread. Urban accessibility captures the variations in suburbanisation and periurbanisation across countries.…”

The City Under COVID‐19: Podcasting As Digital Methodology

“…Wuhan was placed in complete lockdown and other cities around the world soon followed. We know viruses do not respect roadblocks, train cancellations, airport closures or national borders (Connolly et al 2020), and scientists initially questioned the efficacy of quarantining an entire city by cutting Wuhan off from the rest of China and the world (Ren 2020). Nonetheless, in social terms, quarantining whole or parts of cities (Ren 2020), and self‐isolation and physical‐distancing more broadly (Ricco 2020), gained various degrees of popular support in many countries, with varied and uneven impacts on communities within cities.…”