Notes on Spatial Implications of COVID-19. Evidence from Piedmont Region, Italy

Abstract

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has been studied by many scholars from a wide range of disciplines. Among these investigations, planners and regional scientists have researched the spatial spread of the contagion. Most of these studies tried to explore the spread of the disease in a fixed period, like annually, and analysed the spatial variables that are most influential on the COVID-19 spread over territories. On the same line, the chapter investigates the pattern of virus transmission in the 1.181 municipalities of the Piedmont Region during two years of the pandemic over different periods by providing 24 monthly and two annual hot spot maps using the Spatial Statistics Tools on ArcGIS. Consequently, the chapter analyses the correlation between the spread of contagion with three spatial variables (population density, annual average traffic flow, and the ageing index) by performing a statistical analysis on the municipalities which showed unexpectedly higher or unexpectedly lower numbers of contagion. The results show that the impacts of population density and annual average traffic flow are verified on the transmission rate of the cities with unexpectedly higher or lower exposure to COVID-19 contagion than their neighbours both in the first and the second year of the pandemic. For the ageing index, an association is noticed during the first year while not confirmed for the second. In conclusion, the chapter proposes that studying the disease’s variations—at different times and on a regional scale—uncovers the spatial dimension of the phenomenon and would suggest insights for both scientists and policymakers to enrich preparedness as the preferable approach in future planning policies towards transformative resilience.