An article on a library collected in the twentieth century by a Canadian woman may seem of little relevance to a topic called “A way with words”. Still, one of the many contexts in which we read books is their existence as objects in various kinds of libraries. This article’s subject is a library of over seventeen hundred books accumulated in the twentieth century in a modest house on a modest street in the mid-sized city of Brantford, Ontario, by a woman who had graduated from high school, but who would now be considered to have had a modest education. As well as gathering these books, she read them. In most she signed her name; in many she recorded such information as the date of their acquisition; and, although she did not usually mark them up, she sometimes left objects in them. Over the years she also listed them in notebooks. When she died, her nephew boxed the books in no particular order. Since then, they have been moved several times, and more than half have disappeared. Over six hundred of the books, however, have survived and are now deposited in the MacOdrum Library at Carleton University, Ottawa. While I had these books in my house, I prepared lists of them in alphabetical order according to author, and I arranged them alphabetically in bankers’ boxes. As I reorganised this library, I was impressed with what it revealed about not only Bibliography and Textual Studies, including the History of the Book, particularly as these subjects concern Canada, but also about such topics as Canadian culture and the influence of books and reading on the shaping of images of women in the twentieth century. My article demonstrates the importance of this private library’s “way with words”.

Abstract. As urban centre face growing challenges from climate change, air pollution, and complex mobility patterns, city governments increasingly seek tools to plan more sustainably and act more responsively. Despite advances in urban sensing and data availability,most mid-sized cities struggle to integrate diverse data sources into a single platform for anticipatory decision-making. Moreover,traditional smart city approaches often lack citizen participation and educational value. I.M.P.A.T.T.O. addresses this gap by designing and deploying an end-to-end urban intelligence system in Udine, a mid-sized Italian city known for its proactive environmental and digital policies. The project integrates mobility, environmental and presences data, low-cost environmental sensors developed by students. A web-based dashboard will be developed with predictive models that allow scenario-based planning and early-warning capabilities. Unlike many top-down initiatives, the system is co-designed by researchers, technicians, students, and municipal officers, allowing for long-term ownership and institutional integration. In this paper, we describe the architecture, methodology, and operational model of I.M.P.A.T.T.O. We outline the key technologies used, discuss the participatory sensor deployment and educational modules, and present results from predictive modelling and dashboard integration. The paper concludes by discussing the alignment with international SDG frameworks and the potential for replication in other cities.

Abstract Background Small and large cities typically both have street trees, but small cities have fewer resources to manage them. Three 1980s papers assessed that small rural cities in the state of Iowa, USA, were at a disadvantage in managing street trees as reflected in the diversity, age, and condition of their street tree populations. This paper analyzes more current street tree inventory data in conducting a similar assessment. Methods Street tree inventory data were obtained from small, midsize, and large Iowa cities for 2008 to 2024. Tree diversity, age, and condition were analyzed based on city size. Diversity was assessed by relative abundance percentages and diversity index statistics, age by trunk DBH distributions, and condition by ratings for tree wood and leaves. Results Small cities have less street tree diversity than midsize and large cities. A diversity t -test found statistically significant differences based on city size. Small and midsize cities were found to have older tree population profiles than large cities. Large and midsize cities had better condition wood ratings than small cities, but little difference was found between cities for leaf condition. Conclusions Inventory data suggest that Iowa’s small cities still face challenges managing their street trees. Lack of funding is the reason most often cited. Progress is being made although its extent cannot be determined due to lack of longitudinal data. There remains a need to assist Iowa’s small cities in sustainably managing their street trees and maintaining the benefits they provide.

The present study explores the role of food as a symbolic, material, and relational device in identity construction and community processes. This study draws on a qualitative case study of a community-based social restaurant located in a mid-sized city in central-northern Italy. The initiative’s objective is to promote the social and labor inclusion of migrant women through training and experiential programs. The research, conducted over a period of nine months from October 2024 to June 2025, was based on a participatory qualitative design, which integrated semi-structured interviews, ecological maps, photointervention, world café, and affective cartography, involving 35 participants including operators, trainees, local community members, and politicians. The results demonstrate the multifaceted role of food practices at the restaurant, which serve to strengthen internal relationships, regulate community life, construct intercultural narratives, and establish spaces of recognition and agency for the women involved. Moreover, the restaurant has been shown to have the capacity to influence the broader social representations of migration in the urban context, thereby promoting processes of cohesion and belonging. It is evident that food-related activities manifest as quotidian micro-political practices, which have the capacity to subvert stereotypes, recognize frequently unseen abilities, and generate new forms of inclusive citizenship. The present study underscores the transformative capacity of initiatives that employ food practices as innovative instruments for fostering empowerment; well-being; and social participation; through the third element of food. The limitations and future prospects of the present situation are discussed; with particular reference to the need to ensure continuity and institutional sustainability for similar experiences.

Urban governance in rapidly transforming cities is increasingly challenged by declining civic engagement, social polarization, and the commodification of public spaces, yet governance debates often overlook how spatial and architectural conditions shape the possibility of meaningful participation. This study aims to conceptualize how the architectural design of public spaces functions as a mediator of good urban governance by embedding principles of transparency, inclusivity, participation, and accountability into the material fabric of the city. Employing a qualitative descriptive design with a literature based approach, the research synthesizes 40 core sources selected from 75 initial publications spanning governance studies, urban design, spatial theory, and architecture. Through qualitative content analysis and thematic synthesis, the study identifies key linkages between spatial design elements such as openness, accessibility, flexibility of use, co-management, and adaptive reuse and governance outcomes related to civic trust, social cohesion, and participatory decision-making. Case illustrations from cities including Copenhagen, Bandung, Seoul, Cagliari, Luanda, and mid-sized Indonesian cities show that participatory and inclusive public space design can enhance collaborative governance, while exclusionary or heavily securitized spaces undermine it. The analysis also highlights constraints such as unequal participation, bureaucratic silos, limited resources, and risks of tokenistic engagement. The study concludes that architecture should be treated as governance infrastructure, public spaces must be planned, designed, and managed through participatory frameworks, co-governance mechanisms, and justice-oriented design guidelines so that governance principles are materially experienced in everyday urban life.

Abstract. With rising global temperatures, urban environments are increasingly vulnerable to heat stress, often exacerbated by the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. While most UHI research has focused on large metropolitan areas around the world, relatively smaller-sized cities (with a population 100 000–300 000) remain understudied despite their growing exposure to extreme heat and meteorological significance. In particular, urban heat advection (UHA), the transport of heat by mean winds, remains a key but underexplored mechanism in most modeling frameworks. High-resolution numerical weather prediction (NWP) models are essential tools for simulating urban hydrometeorological conditions, yet most prior evaluations have focused on retrospective reanalysis products rather than forecasts. In this study, we assess the performance of a widely used operational weather forecast model, the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR), as a representative example of current NWP systems. We investigate its ability to predict spatial and temporal patterns of urban heat and UHA within and around Lubbock, Texas, a small-sized city located in a semi-arid environment in the southwestern US. Using data collected between 1 September 2023, and 31 August 2024 from the Urban Heat Island Experiment in Lubbock, Texas (U-HEAT) network and five West Texas Mesonet stations, we compare 18 h forecasts against in situ observations. HRRR forecasts exhibit a consistent nighttime cold bias at both urban and rural sites, a daytime warm bias at rural locations, and a pervasive dry bias across all seasons. The model also systematically overestimates near-surface wind speeds, further limiting its ability to accurately predict UHA. Although HRRR captures the expected slower nocturnal cooling in urban areas, it does not well capture advective heat transport under most wind regimes. Our findings reveal both systematic biases and urban representation limitations in current high-resolution NWP forecasts. Our forecast–observation comparisons underscore the need for improved urban parameterizations and evaluation frameworks focused on forecast skill, with important implications for heat-risk warning systems and forecasting in small and mid-sized cities.

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic brought the global economy to its knees, with the urban livelihoods of the poor in the developing world particularly hit hard. Yet, how the pandemic impacted livelihoods in modernizing, mid-sized Global South cities like Kigali, Rwanda, remains underexplored. This study investigates the effects on Kigali’s low-income and informal residents by examining livelihood activities and challenges, resilience strategies, and trajectories across pre-, during-, and post-pandemic periods. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews, the research employs the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach, urban vulnerability, and resilience theory as guiding frameworks to analyse experiences of residents in Kigali city. Findings highlight a dramatic shift from pre-crisis livelihood stability to widespread economic and social disruption during the pandemic, with urban residents, particularly those reliant on daily earnings and informal activities, facing acute job losses and distress. Resilience emerged through a hybrid of government aid, livelihood diversification, community and familial support, enabling some to adapt mid-crisis and others to transform livelihoods long-term. However, the pandemic also left a lingering psychological toll, with many residents reluctant to revisit their experiences, underscoring the enduring human legacy of crisis. Kigali’s modernising context offers a novel lens on urban crises, distinct from megacities or rural settings. The study argues that Kigali’s experience reframes urban vulnerability as a modernization paradox, where progress heightens precarity. The study advances urban scholarship, particularly in the developing world, by illuminating how modernisation can amplify vulnerability while fostering adaptive potential through blended support systems. The analyses call for policies for economic safety nets, skill development, and mental health support during and post-crises.

This study aims to determine the most suitable tram route among three alternative alignments in Aksaray city by employing an integrated multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). The study further examines the consistency and robustness of the selected route through sensitivity analysis. The research methodology integrates AHP and TOPSIS to evaluate alternatives using six decision criteria: population density, route length, estimated construction cost, accessibility to important urban functions, traffic congestion level, and number of road intersections. Criteria weights were derived from expert judgments via pairwise comparisons (AHP), and the final ranking of routes was obtained using TOPSIS. A sensitivity analysis was conducted by altering weight configurations to assess the stability of the ranking. Results indicated that Route II achieved the highest closeness to the ideal solution in the base scenario (D2 = 0.598), followed by Route I (D1 = 0.519) and Route III (D2 = 0.400). However, sensitivity analysis across seven alternative weighting configurations revealed that Route I ranked first in five scenarios, Route II in one, and Route III in one. Particularly, under congestion-dominant weighting, Route I reached D1 = 0.897, while Route II dropped to D2 = 0.147. These findings highlight a competitive balance between the first two alternatives and demonstrate the decisive influence of population served, congestion level, and cost criteria on the route selection outcomes. The integrated approach provides a replicable decision-making framework for urban rail planning under limited spatial and economic resources. The findings highlight the need to account for both technical and spatial constraints while designing cost-efficient and demand-sensitive tram systems. The novelty of this study lies in embedding spatial indicators into a hybrid AHP–TOPSIS framework and validating results through a structured sensitivity analysis in the context of a mid-sized Anatolian city. This study contributes to the growing literature on hybrid MCDM methods in transportation planning by incorporating spatial performance indicators and validating results through scenario-based sensitivity analysis. It also presents a practical case from a mid-sized Anatolian city where such methodologies are underutilized.

ABSTRACT Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important indicator for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). However, data on HRQoL among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Indonesia remains limited. This study aimed to measure HRQoL among MSM individuals based on their status. This cross-sectional study involved 152 MSM participants. We measured HRQoL using the EQ-5D-5L instrument and compared utility scores among HIV-negative, HIV-positive, and AIDS groups. Results showed a significant and substantial decline in HRQoL with the progression of HIV status, with the AIDS group having the lowest utility score (0.416) compared to the HIV-positive (0.908) and HIV-negative (0.981) groups. However, there was no significant difference between the HIV-negative and HIV-positive groups. In the multivariate analysis, socio-demographic factors were not significant in predicting HRQoL, while all EQ-5D-5L domains were significant predictors. In conclusion, while current interventions are effective in maintaining physical function, the primary burden on HRQoL shifts to pain and psychological issues. This finding underscores the need for a holistic public health approach that integrates mental health services and social support into HIV care.

ABSTRACT Without critical professional development opportunities, teacher leaders can sustain the exclusion and marginalisation of disabled students, particularly those who experience marginalisation at the intersection of multiple systems of oppression. This is exemplified through the persistence of segregated special education classrooms and the ongoing disproportionate assignment of students of colour to these settings. Critical professional development, however, can support teacher leaders, such as coaches, to cultivate the collective power and practices needed to both recognise and disrupt patterns of exclusion in their own contexts. Situated near a mid-size coastal city in the United States, this year-long participatory multiple-case study explored how a group of coaches engaged in critical professional development to work towards more just and inclusive schools in their district. Through a conceptual framing of pedagogical resistance, the findings of this study highlight how critical professional development can offer teacher leaders the space to (1) prepare for and engage in challenging conversations to shift deficit-oriented beliefs and practices; (2) plan and take collective action to transform unjust district-wide structures; and (3) grow the base of support necessary to create change across school and district contexts.

The simultaneous interaction of lake breeze (LB) flows, complex terrain circulations and urban environments has so far received limited attention in the scientific literature. Here, we use the Weather Research and Forecasting model to investigate the aero- and thermodynamical interaction between Lake Geneva, the Swiss cities of Lausanne and Geneva and their rugged alpine landscape. To better isolate the role of urban areas, we compare results from a set of year-long simulations representing both realistic urban and hypothetical rural landcover scenarios. The results show that the urban areas of Lausanne and Geneva have a negligible effect on the dynamical evolution of LB, mostly consisting of wind deceleration caused by increased surface drag. However, the daytime excess heat over Lausanne results in a shift of the local anabatic wind regime onset time, one hour ahead, and a 1 km spatial displacement northward of the location of opposing flow collision. Urban-induced changes in heat advection can further lead to warmer air temperatures over the lake or cooler urban conditions along the lake shore. Our study shows that, although with due magnitude differences, mid-sized cities may have similar effects on wind and heat dynamics as larger metropolises in different landscapes and climates.This article is part of the theme issue 'Urban heat spreading above and below ground'.

Abstract Linguistic landscape (LL) studies explore how public spaces mediate cultural, social, and economic practices through semiotic resources. While prior research has emphasized top-down regulated heritage sites and globalized retail spaces, the LLs of everyday leisure venues, especially cafés in mid-sized Chinese cities, remain underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating the linguistic landscapes of independent cafés in Suzhou through an integrated framework combining discursive frames, thematic abstraction, and discourse itineraries. Drawing on municipal policy texts, news reports, ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and photographic documentation, this study identifies three overlapping discursive frames: resilient alienation, heritage commodification, and emotional self- and interpersonal care. These frames illuminate how multilingual signage, online catchphrases, poetic expressions, calligraphic scripts, and spatial design are appropriated by policymakers, café owners and consumers to critically or compliantly engage with overwork culture, aestheticize heritage, and cultivate care-oriented connection. Importantly, these discursive frames are not isolated; they intersect and are shaped by multiple agents in contingent ways at the online-offline nexus. This study contributes to LL research by extending attention to semiotic processes in everyday commercial settings and demonstrating how emotional, cultural, and socio-economic discourses become spatially and symbolically entangled. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed at the end.

Abstract This study investigates the spatial and temporal dynamics of air pollution in Guwahati, a rapidly urbanizing city in Northeast India, by integrating Geographic Information System (GIS)-based land-use analysis with advanced econometric techniques. Using daily air quality data from 1,461 observations across 2020–2023, the study examines major pollutants—PM2.5, PM10, NOₓ, SO₂, CO, NH₃, and O₃—through Robust Least Squares (RLS), Quantile Regression (QR), and Vector Autoregression (VAR) models. Spatial interpolation (IDW) and land-use overlays reveal high concentrations of PM2.5 and AQI values in traffic-heavy and construction-saturated zones such as GS Road and Beltola, coinciding with a 275% increase in built-up land over the past decade. Statistical findings confirm PM2.5 as the most consistent and dominant AQI predictor (RLS coefficient = 1.189; p < 0.01), followed by PM10, NH₃, and SO₂. Seasonal analysis shows winter peaks in PM2.5 (mean = 113.05 µg/m 3 ) due to temperature inversions and limited dispersion. QR results reveal pollutant impacts intensify at higher AQI quantiles, especially for PM2.5, SO₂, and CO, indicating disproportionate health risks during severe episodes. These findings have direct implications for targeted air quality management, urban planning, and health policy. By linking pollutant behavior with land-use patterns, temporal feedbacks, and exposure risks, the study contributes a multidimensional framework for understanding air pollution in mid-sized South Asian cities and underscores the urgency of localized, data-informed interventions.

This work approaches space production in mid-sized cities, aiming at real estate offers, involved agents, and its influence on the social space differentiations and inequalities. The analysis is centered in two polarized cities of Northern Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: Passo Fundo and Erechim. The study updates research previously conducted, on real estate offers and prices, contemplating the years 2015 and 2020, besides the data already collected referring to 2005 and 2010. The theoretical foundation considered the references to the regional context, the urban network, the characteristics of the mid-sized cities, and the production of the intra-urban space to understand the urban dynamics. The methodology is based on the review of scientific production, the empirical study of real estate offers and prices, and the identification of its market actuation as a hegemonic agent of the capitalist urban logic. The results show a continuous growth of the real estate offers and prices during the years studied, evincing real estate market production, with significant participation of private agents and the State. It is worth noting the COVID-19 pandemic impact, in 2020, which influenced offers, prices, and estate demand, causing changes in the market behavior, economy, and society in general.

Traffic noise is a significant source of noise pollution, disrupting urban environments with fluctuating sound. The existing research on traffic noise prediction predominantly focuses on statistical methods to identify significant predictors affecting noise levels. While these approaches offer valuable insights, they often lack the interpretability and adaptability needed for complex urban environments. The proposed framework is aimed at presenting the insights of explainable AI (XAI) for the regression analysis of traffic noise levels which is predicted with the help of advanced machine learning (ML) models such as K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) and Random Forest (RF). Statistical analysis of these models was tested with a performance matrix by utilizing a comprehensive traffic dataset of Dhanbad city that includes vehicle speed and categories of vehicle type. Notably, the RF model excelled over other models with an RMSE of 1.27 and R^{2} of 0.94. The XAI model was developed with the base of RF regressor which records the highest R^{2} score. The analysis revealed that the number of 2-wheeler vehicle categories is a key predictor of traffic noise levels. The finding of this study can act as an automated information system for the benefit of the urban planners and decision-making bodies to mitigate noise pollution effectively in mid-sized cities. It is worth mentioning that the primary purpose of employing multiple ML models (RF, XGBoost, KNN, LSTM) in this study is to conduct a comparative analysis and identify the most suitable algorithm for urban traffic noise prediction in a Tier-2 Indian city.

<p>Urbanization substantially restructures landscape composition, yet fine-scale patterns of vascular plant diversity along urban–natural gradients remain insufficiently examined, particularly in ecologically heterogeneous, rapidly transforming Anatolian cities. This study explores floristic diversity across an urban–rural continuum in Düzce, a mid-sized city in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey, using a stratified design encompassing 397 vegetation plots across five ecologically informed transects. Each transect captured distinct land-use and topographic transitions—including forest interfaces, industrial zones, major roads, elevational shifts, and riparian corridors. Shannon diversity (H′) analyses revealed consistent declines in transitional areas, in contrast to elevated and stable diversity in forests, riparian margins, and steep slopes. Unexpectedly high diversity was also recorded in select urban sites, influenced by habitat mosaics and microclimatic variability. Species composition was dominated by disturbance-tolerant, cosmopolitan taxa such as <em>Festuca rubra</em>, <em>Cynodon dactylon</em>, and <em>Agrostis stolonifera</em>, reflecting strong ecological filtering across the urban matrix. Additionally, the persistent occurrence of native trees such as <em>Tilia tomentosa</em> across both urban and natural zones suggests the functional adaptability of certain mesophytic species to diverse urban contexts, while <em>Fagus orientalis</em> remained confined to interior forest sections, indicating sensitivity to fragmentation and disturbance.</p>

Hyderabad, one of Pakistan’s rapidly urbanizing districts, faces a mounting solid waste management (SWM) crisis, with municipal systems collecting barely half of the 1,500–2,000 metric tons of daily waste. This study investigates the challenges and opportunities of SWM in the city through a mixed-methods design, combining household surveys (n = 385), statistical modeling, and comparative analysis of global best practices. Logistic regression results identify education and awareness as the strongest predictors of waste segregation: graduates are 2.86 times more likely to participate, and residents aware of recycling programs are 3.74 times more likely. Conversely, households with incomes below PKR 20,000 show disproportionately high reliance on open dumping (38.1%), revealing deep structural inequities. Cross-tabulation highlights the uneven distribution of municipal services, while waste composition analysis shows that organic (43.3%) and plastic (22.8%) discards dominate household waste streams. Despite 73.5% of respondents recognizing health risks, only 23.9% express willingness to pay for improved services, underscoring a governance and trust deficit. Drawing on successful international models—such as Sweden’s integrated recycling-energy systems, South Korea’s volume-based fees, and Brazil’s integration of informal waste pickers—the study proposes context-specific solutions for Hyderabad, including decentralized composting, incentivized waste reduction, and formalization of the informal recycling sector. The findings make a dual contribution: first, by offering one of the few empirical, regression-based assessments of SWM behavior in Pakistan; and second, by framing Hyderabad’s challenges within a comparative global perspective that yields actionable, locally adaptable strategies. The study underscores the critical role of education, equity, and governance reforms in advancing sustainable waste management. These insights hold relevance not only for Hyderabad but also for other mid-sized cities in developing regions struggling with parallel waste management crises.

Abstract This paper presents the first comprehensive quantitative account of epidemic cholera in 19th-century Germany. Using a new dataset based on archival sources, it documents nearly half a million cholera deaths, along with outbreak timing and population at risk, across 2,685 cities and 852 rural counties within the 1871 German Empire. Five stylized facts come to light: First, cholera was primarily an urban disease, with city death rates averaging 3.5 times higher than in rural areas. Second, mid-sized cities (1,000 to 3,000 inhabitants) were the most severely affected. Third, cholera’s geographic epicenter focused on the less developed north-eastern territories (Central Poland today) but shifted South-West over time. Fourth, outbreaks spread more rapidly across regions and within cities over time, despite declining overall mortality. Fifth, local epidemics converged in severity across locations but became more spatially clustered over time. Understanding these complex patterns requires analysis of cholera’s interaction with dominant trends of 19th-century Western development, including public health reforms, urbanization, market integration, and political change. While the rich cholera historiography has long recognized these links, it merits greater attention from quantitative social scientists, including economic historians. Datasets like this one are the foundation for such research.

Digital connectivity depends not only on infrastructure, but also on the material devices used to access networks. This study examines electronic devices’ availability and prices in Saint-Louis, a mid-sized Senegalese city, to address the lack of empirical research on African digital markets. With data on material connectivity being scarce, this paper provides a baseline description as grounds for future research. Using a participatory mapping approach over three weeks in September 2024, the research assessed the range, condition, and distribution of smartphones across central and neighborhood markets. Descriptive statistics and spatial analysis illustrate key trends. Results show a market heavily structured around second-hand smartphones, where device quality and prices adjust to economic power. Imported second-hand devices are often high-end, with prices above many new items of cheaper brands, while locally used items have much depreciated prices compared to either new or imported second-hand ones. Market locations are widespread for common items and clustered for specialized devices, consistent with central place theory. By documenting the material foundations of digital communication, this study provides new empirical evidence on African urban device markets and highlights the need to consider material access alongside infrastructure in digital connectivity debates.

Health disparities, particularly among racial and ethnic minority populations, were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic due to factors like social determinants of health, vaccine hesitancy, and pre-existing health conditions. Local government leaders within an urban city received federal funds to address these disparities by improving health literacy and engaging in culturally responsive outreach and education among Black and Latinx communities within a mid-sized city in the southeastern United States. To identify facilitators and barriers to implementing public health strategies aimed at addressing COVID-19 health disparities in a community guided by the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) framework. The research team conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews via telephone, Zoom, or in person between March 20th and April 12th, 2024. Fifteen participants, including local governmental health office staff (e.g., nurse navigators, administrative staff) and employees from community center partner sites, were included in the study. Two coders applied both a priori codes guided by the RE-AIM framework and data-driven inductive codes to transcripts in NVivo 14. A final interrater reliability measurement, Cohen's kappa coefficient (k=0.74), was calculated, indicating a moderate level of agreement between coders. NVivo 14 data visualization tools (e.g., coding matrices) were used to inform thematic content analysis. Themes were identified within each RE-AIM dimension, highlighting various facilitators and barriers to implementing the selected public health strategies. Working in synergy with community center staff and other community partners to create tailored services and resources was vital for successful implementation. Transparency and timely communication, additional full-time program implementers (i.e., nurse navigators), and sustainable funding sources were identified as key elements to enhance effective implementation. Insights from the local governmental health office and community center staff's experiences in this study highlight recommendations for effective implementation of locally tailored public health strategies to address COVID-19 health disparities in similar community-based settings. Future research should capture the perceptions and experiences of community members to better understand acceptability, accessibility, and utilization in similar initiatives.