Territorial Strategy of Medical Units for Addressing the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City: Analysis of Mobility, Accessibility and Marginalization

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an exponential increase in the demand for medical care worldwide. In Mexico, the COVID Medical Units (CMUs) conversion strategy was implemented. Objective. To evaluate the CMU coverage strategy in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) by territory. Materials. The CMU directory was used, as were COVID-19 infection and mobility statistics and Mexican 2020 census information at the urban geographic area scale. The degree of urban marginalization by geographic area was also considered. Method. Using descriptive statistics and the calculation of a CMU accessibility index, population aggregates were counted based on coverage radii. In addition, two regression models are proposed to explain (1) the territorial and temporal trend of COVID-19 infections in the MCMA and (2) the mobility of the COVID-infected population visiting medical units. Results. The findings of the evaluation of the CMU strategy were (1) in the MCMA, COVID-19 followed a pattern of contagion from the urban center to the periphery; (2) given the growth in the number of cases and the overload of medical units, the population traveled greater distances to seek medical care; (3) after the CMU strategy was evaluated at the territory level, it was found that 9 out of 10 inhabitants had a CMU located approximately 7 km away; and (4) at the metropolitan level, the lowest level of accessibility to the CMU was recorded for the population with the highest levels of marginalization, i.e., those residing in the urban periphery.

Are Coworkers in the Italian Peripheral Areas Performing Better? A Counterfactual Analysis

Coworking spaces are “serendipity accelerators” designed to host creative people and entrepreneurs. While recent literature has started exploring the indirect effects of coworking spaces on the local context, little is still known on how coworking spaces may directly affect the coworkers’ economic performance and wellbeing. Using a novel dataset based on a survey of 326 CWs working in the Italian coworking spaces in 2018, this paper explores the potential economic impact for coworkers, depending on whether a coworking space is localized in a peripheral or an urban area. Through a propensity-score matching approach, we found that being located in a peripheral area for coworkers may represent an opportunity to earn more than working in an urban center. The same holds for the organization coworkers belong to.

Typology of Municipalities to Monitor Their Socio-Economic Development

One of the urgent tasks of the state policy of spatial development is the introduction of a permanent system for monitoring the socio-economic development of municipalities (at least at the level of municipal and districts), for which, as stated in the article, it is necessary to develop typologies of municipalities. It is advisable to generalize and analyze statistical information on municipalities on the basis of its automatic processing for different types of territories. The article analyzes the existing experience of the EU and the OECD in the typology of regions comparable to Russian municipal districts, and also summarizes the experience accumulated in Russia in the typologization of territories – municipalities in general, cities. It is shown that the basic typology can and should be based on an assessment of the settlement system – the ratio of urban and rural population, population density, the presence of a large urban center or proximity to it. Additionally, it is also important to take into account natural and climatic conditions, geographical location, sustainable economic specialization, and administrative status.

„Vom Zentrum an die Peripherie – und umgekehrt“ Zu Ausonius, Ordo Urbium Nobilium, und Prudentius, Peristephanon

This article deals with the relationship between an urban center and peripheries in two Latin pieces of ʻcollected poetry’: Ausonius’ catalogue of cities of the Empire, Ordo urbium nobilium, and Prudentius’ cycle of hymns on Christian martyrs of the Western Romania, the Peristephanon. In both collections Rome, diametrically opposed in the initial and final positions, points to the geometric center of the orbis terrarum, in each poem for both an objective and a subjective reason: Ausonius was writing as a former consul in ca. 389, Prudentius as a pilgrim in ca. 399. The latter may have compiled his cycle as a Christian counterpart to Ausonius’ Ordo, starting with the Passio of the ideal Christian Roman by name, Romanus, and ending in historical Rome at the tomb of Agnes.

Simulation of Rainwater Harvesting Potential to Satisfy Domestic Water Demand Based on Observed Precipitation Data in Jakarta

Jakarta as the most populous urban center of Indonesia has a major problem related to clean water availability for the domestic needs of its residents, who mostly depend on the extraction of groundwater. The rooftop rainwater harvesting (RRWH) system is a solution to reduce the use of groundwater to satisfy domestic water needs. This study used demographic data and precipitation observation data from the rain gauge network in Jakarta to simulate the water supply from rainwater harvesting from 2010 to 2019 in each municipality. Three simulations were carried out to calculate the percentage of domestic water demand (DS) satisfied by RRWH based on the proportion of residential areas installed with RRWH (RA). The results showed that an RA value of 0.2 produced the lowest DS (approximately 11% to 18.7%), while an RA value of 0.3 produced a higher DS (approximately 16.3% to 28%). An RA value of 0.4 resulted in a DS of around 21.8% to 37.4%. Overall, the RRWH system could provide up to 30% of domestic water demand on average, with South Jakarta having the highest fulfillment of water needs with an average of 28% based on the three simulations, while Central Jakarta had the lowest with 16.4%.

Cumulative burden of non-communicable diseases predicts COVID hospitalization among people with HIV: A one-year retrospective cohort study

There continue to be conflicting data regarding the outcomes of people with HIV (PWH) who have COVID-19 infection with most studies describing the early epidemic. We present a single site experience spanning a later timeframe from the first report on January 21, 2020 to January 20, 2021 and describe clinical outcomes and predictors of hospitalization among a cohort of PWH in an urban center in Connecticut, USA. Among 103 PWH with controlled HIV disease, hospitalization occurred in 33% and overall mortality was 1%. HIV associated factors (CD4 count, HIV viral suppression) were not associated with hospitalization. Chronic lung disease (OR: 3.35, 95% CI:1.28–8.72), and cardiovascular disease (OR: 3.4, 95% CI:1.27–9.12) were independently associated with hospitalization. An increasing number of non-communicable comorbidities increased the likelihood of hospitalization (OR: 1.61, 95% CI:1.22–2.13).