Understanding the Impact of Walkability, Population Density, and Population Size on COVID-19 Spread: A Pilot Study of the Early Contagion in the United States.

Fernando T Lima,José P Duarte,Nathan C Brown

doi:10.3390/e23111512

Fernando T Lima, José P Duarte + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/e23111512

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Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented global event that has been challenging governments, health systems, and communities worldwide. Available data from the first months indicated varying patterns of the spread of COVID-19 within American cities, when the spread was faster in high-density and walkable cities such as New York than in low-density and car-oriented cities such as Los Angeles. Subsequent containment efforts, underlying population characteristics, variants, and other factors likely affected the spread significantly. However, this work investigates the hypothesis that urban configuration and associated spatial use patterns directly impact how the disease spreads and infects a population. It follows work that has shown how the spatial configuration of urban spaces impacts the social behavior of people moving through those spaces. It addresses the first 60 days of contagion (before containment measures were widely adopted and had time to affect spread) in 93 urban counties in the United States, considering population size, population density, walkability, here evaluated through walkscore, an indicator that measures the density of amenities, and, therefore, opportunities for population mixing, and the number of confirmed cases and deaths. Our findings indicate correlations between walkability, population density, and COVID-19 spreading patterns but no clear correlation between population size and the number of cases or deaths per 100 k habitants. Although virus spread beyond these initial cases may provide additional data for analysis, this study is an initial step in understanding the relationship between COVID-19 and urban configuration.

Highlights

Introduction published maps and institutional affilThe novel coronavirus pandemic has significantly changed the way people interact with each other and with urban space
We have considered the 93 urban American counties for which walkability data (Walk Score) was available and a 60-day timelapse from the first case confirmation and death dates in each one of them according to USAFacts Database
While the datasets and corresponding knowledge are specific to COVID-19 in the United States, our established methodology could be extended to predict the spread of future epidemics in other urban areas

Summary

Introduction

Introduction published maps and institutional affilThe novel coronavirus pandemic has significantly changed the way people interact with each other and with urban space. Many significant, increasing, and competing issues have arisen from implementing aggressive social distancing measures versus preserving socioeconomic activity. In this regard, there is a knowledge gap regarding how urban environments’. According to [10], urban areas are the ground zero of the COVID-19 pandemic, responsible for 90 percent of reported cases before and during April 2020. 57,433 deaths were reported in the U.S. There is a knowledge gap regarding how the configuration of urban environments impacts the spread of infectious diseases. While the datasets and corresponding knowledge are specific to COVID-19 in the United States, our established methodology could be extended to predict the spread of future epidemics in other urban areas

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