scholarly journals Mobility functional areas and COVID-19 spread

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Maria Iacus ◽  
Carlos Santamaria ◽  
Francesco Sermi ◽  
Spyridon Spyratos ◽  
Dario Tarchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Mobile Positioning ◽  
Functional Areas

AbstractThis work introduces a new concept of functional areas called Mobility Functional Areas (MFAs), i.e., the geographic zones highly interconnected according to the analysis of mobile positioning data. The MFAs do not coincide necessarily with administrative borders as they are built observing natural human mobility and, therefore, they can be used to inform, in a bottom-up approach, local transportation, spatial planning, health and economic policies. After presenting the methodology behind the MFAs, this study focuses on the link between the COVID-19 pandemic and the MFAs in Austria. It emerges that the MFAs registered an average number of infections statistically larger than the areas in the rest of the country, suggesting the usefulness of the MFAs in the context of targeted re-escalation policy responses to this health crisis. The MFAs dataset is openly available to other scholars for further analyses.

scholarly journals Smart and Resilient Urban Futures for Sustainability in the Post COVID-19 Era: A Review of Policy Responses on Urban Mobility

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6486
Author(s):  
Christina Kakderi ◽  
Eleni Oikonomaki ◽  
Ilektra Papadaki
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Smart Growth ◽  
Urban Mobility ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Daily Routines ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Urban Futures ◽  
Made In

The COVID-19 pandemic has put lifestyles in question, changed daily routines, and limited citizen freedoms that seemed inalienable before. A human activity that has been greatly affected since the beginning of the health crisis is mobility. Focusing on mobility, we aim to discuss the transformational impact that the pandemic brought to this specific urban domain, especially with regards to the promotion of sustainability, the smart growth agenda, and the acceleration towards the smart city paradigm. We collect 60 initial policy responses related to urban mobility from cities around the world and analyze them based on the challenge they aim to address, the exact principles of smart growth and sustainable mobility that they encapsulate, as well as the level of ICT penetration. Our findings suggest that emerging strategies, although mainly temporary, are transformational, in line with the principles of smart growth and sustainable development. Most policy responses adopted during the first months of the pandemic, however, fail to leverage advancements made in the field of smart cities, and to adopt off-the-shelf solutions such as monitoring, alerting, and operations management.

scholarly journals How does globalization affect COVID-19 responses?

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve J. Bickley ◽  
Ho Fai Chan ◽  
Ahmed Skali ◽  
David Stadelmann ◽  
Benno Torgler
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
State Capacity ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Government Effectiveness ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
High Government

Abstract Background The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vast differences in approaches to the control and containment of coronavirus across the world and has demonstrated the varied success of such approaches in minimizing the transmission of coronavirus. While previous studies have demonstrated high predictive power of incorporating air travel data and governmental policy responses in global disease transmission modelling, factors influencing the decision to implement travel and border restriction policies have attracted relatively less attention. This paper examines the role of globalization on the pace of adoption of international travel-related non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the coronavirus pandemic. This study aims to offer advice on how to improve the global planning, preparation, and coordination of actions and policy responses during future infectious disease outbreaks with empirical evidence. Methods and data We analyzed data on international travel restrictions in response to COVID-19 of 185 countries from January to October 2020. We applied time-to-event analysis to examine the relationship between globalization and the timing of travel restrictions implementation. Results The results of our survival analysis suggest that, in general, more globalized countries, accounting for the country-specific timing of the virus outbreak and other factors, are more likely to adopt international travel restrictions policies. However, countries with high government effectiveness and globalization were more cautious in implementing travel restrictions, particularly if through formal political and trade policy integration. This finding is supported by a placebo analysis of domestic NPIs, where such a relationship is absent. Additionally, we find that globalized countries with high state capacity are more likely to have higher numbers of confirmed cases by the time a first restriction policy measure was taken. Conclusions The findings highlight the dynamic relationship between globalization and protectionism when governments respond to significant global events such as a public health crisis. We suggest that the observed caution of policy implementation by countries with high government efficiency and globalization is a by-product of commitment to existing trade agreements, a greater desire to ‘learn from others’ and also perhaps of ‘confidence’ in a government’s ability to deal with a pandemic through its health system and state capacity. Our results suggest further research is warranted to explore whether global infectious disease forecasting could be improved by including the globalization index and in particular, the de jure economic and political, and de facto social dimensions of globalization, while accounting for the mediating role of government effectiveness. By acting as proxies for a countries’ likelihood and speed of implementation for international travel restriction policies, such measures may predict the likely time delays in disease emergence and transmission across national borders.

Trapped in a Blind Spot: The Covid-19 Crisis in Nursing Homes in Italy and Spain

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Margarita León ◽  
Marco Arlotti ◽  
David Palomera ◽  
Costanzo Ranci
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Legacy Effects ◽  
Allocation Of Resources ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Emergency Interventions ◽  
Institutional Embedding ◽  
The Welfare State

This article investigates the delay in implementation and inadequacy of specific policy actions in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing homes. The analysis focuses on Lombardy and Madrid, the two wealthiest regions in Italy and Spain. These were the most severely affected by the onset of the pandemic, both country-wise and at the European level. We compare the chronology of policy decisions that affected nursing homes against the broader policy responses related to the health crisis. We look at structural factors that reveal policy legacy effects. Our analysis shows that key emergency interventions arrived late, especially when compared to similar actions taken by the national health services. Weak institutional embedding of nursing homes within the welfare state in terms of ownership, allocation of resources, regulation and coordination hindered a swift response to the onset of the crisis.

Human Mobility in Roman Italy, II: The Slave Population

2005 ◽  
Vol 95 ◽  
pp. 64-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Scheidel
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Family Structure ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Parametric Model ◽  
Demographic Structure ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Probable Number ◽  
Roman Italy ◽  
Slave Population

In this paper, I seek to delineate the build-up of the Italian slave population. My parametric model revolves around two variables: the probable number of slaves in Roman Italy, and the demographic structure of the servile population. I critique existing estimates of slave totals and propose a new ‘bottom-up’ approach; discuss the probable sex ratio, mortality regime and family structure of the Italian slaves; and advance a new estimate of the overall volume of slave transfers. I argue that the total number of slaves in Roman Italy did not exceed one-and-a-half million, and that this population had been created by the influx of between two and four million slaves during the last two centuries B.C.

Social cohesion vs COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-203
Author(s):  
Manuel M. Dayrit ◽  
Ronald Umali Mendoza
Keyword(s):  
Social Protection ◽  
National Level ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Global Public Good ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Good Practices ◽  
International Good ◽  
Crisis Responses

PurposeThe control of particularly virulent communicable diseases such as COVID-19 can be considered a global public good. Unabated contagion, both within and across borders, can result in a global public bad. More effective control – such as by flattening the epidemiological curve – could prevent severe social and economic disruption by allowing domestic health and social protection systems to more adequately respond to the health crisis. This article elaborates on some of the main elements of counter COVID-19 responses, drawing on emerging international good practices. While a full evaluation of policy effectiveness is still forthcoming, it is critical to review and synthesize the emerging lessons and evidence even this early.Design/methodology/approachThis article reviews the international good practices in counter COVID-19 responses across countries.FindingsConcerted efforts across borders, such as by sharing data and collaborating in research and by coordinating international support for countercyclical economic and health responses at the national level, are some of the options for countering COVID-19 at the international level. Within countries, more inclusive social protection and health systems, combined with countercyclical economic policies, and concerted behavioral changes tend to produce more effective collective action against the spread of the disease.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on a review of emerging responses to the health crisis.Practical implicationsThe policies and practices reviewed in this paper could feed into better-informed crisis responses to COVID-19 and other types of health shocks.Originality/valueThis study is among the first general reviews of policy responses to the COVID-19 health crisis.

scholarly journals Multiscale dynamic human mobility flow dataset in the U.S. during the COVID-19 epidemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhao Kang ◽  
Song Gao ◽  
Yunlei Liang ◽  
Mingxiao Li ◽  
Jinmeng Rao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Spatial Interaction ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Open Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Spatiotemporal Resolution ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Spreading Dynamics ◽  
Behaviour Changes

AbstractUnderstanding dynamic human mobility changes and spatial interaction patterns at different geographic scales is crucial for assessing the impacts of non-pharmaceutical interventions (such as stay-at-home orders) during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this data descriptor, we introduce a regularly-updated multiscale dynamic human mobility flow dataset across the United States, with data starting from March 1st, 2020. By analysing millions of anonymous mobile phone users’ visits to various places provided by SafeGraph, the daily and weekly dynamic origin-to-destination (O-D) population flows are computed, aggregated, and inferred at three geographic scales: census tract, county, and state. There is high correlation between our mobility flow dataset and openly available data sources, which shows the reliability of the produced data. Such a high spatiotemporal resolution human mobility flow dataset at different geographic scales over time may help monitor epidemic spreading dynamics, inform public health policy, and deepen our understanding of human behaviour changes under the unprecedented public health crisis. This up-to-date O-D flow open data can support many other social sensing and transportation applications.

scholarly journals Measuring the impact of COVID-19 confinement measures on human mobility using mobile positioning data. A European regional analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 132 ◽  
pp. 104925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Santamaria ◽  
Francesco Sermi ◽  
Spyridon Spyratos ◽  
Stefano Maria Iacus ◽  
Alessandro Annunziato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Mobility ◽  
Regional Analysis ◽  
Mobile Positioning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
European Regional

scholarly journals Solidarities, Fairness, and Economic Governance in Advanced Capitalism: The Cases of COVID-19 Responses in Germany and the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Achim Goerres ◽  
Mark I. Vail
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Governance ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Economic Relationships ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Theoretical Question

This paper addresses the theoretical question of how competing models of social and economic solidarity shape patterns of economic governance in periods of economic crisis. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a signal case, we seek to understand how changes in public opinion in response to similar social and economic shocks are informed by deeper ideational structures among citizens relating to their capacity for empathy, mutual support, and willingness to support and trust public policy interventions. Drawing on scholarly literatures related to moral economies and the social embeddedness of economic relationships, we undertake an empirical study of how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped patterns of support for social and economic policies. We focus on Germany and the United States, countries with widely divergent modes of integration of capitalist markets and, therefore, potentially different levels of support for particular kinds of policy responses. We trace American and German policy responses since March 2020 across a number of domains, complemented by a systematic analysis of public opinion in the two countries, drawing from fifteen different sources of public-opinion data, in order to assess the pandemic’s effects on public support for individualized and collectively-oriented policy responses.

scholarly journals Building Smart and Resilient Urban Futures by Setting a Mission for Sustainability in the Post COVID-19 Era

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Kakderi ◽  
Eleni Oikonomaki ◽  
Ilektra Papadaki
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Smart Growth ◽  
Urban Mobility ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Daily Routines ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Urban Futures ◽  
Made In

The COVID-19 pandemic has put lifestyles in question, changed daily routines and limited citizen freedoms that seemed inalienable before. A human activity that was greatly affected since the beginning of the health crisis is mobility. Focusing on mobility, we aim to discuss the transformational impact that the pandemic brought on this specific urban domain, especially with regards to the promotion of the smart growth agenda and the acceleration towards the smart city paradigm. We collect 60 initial policy responses related to urban mobility from 86 cities around the world and analyse them based on the challenge they aim to address, the exact principles of smart growth and sustainable mobility that they encapsulate and the level of ICT penetration. Our findings suggest that emerging strategies, although mainly temporary, are transformational, in line with the principles of smart growth. As a result the pandemic becomes an opportunity for shifting towards more sustainable urban planning and mobility practices. However, most policy responses adopted during the first months of the pandemic fail to leverage advancements made in the field of smart cities, and to adopt off-the-shelf solutions such as in monitoring, alerting and operations management.

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