Evaluating the effectiveness of urban management strategies to deal with the corona outbreak crisis in the case study of Rasht city

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Gilan University, Rasht, Iran

Abstract

 A B S T R A C T
With the tremendous advances in health in recent decades, it was unimaginable that in the 21st century, the size and spread of the coronavirus could cause such a crisis in the world's cities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies adopted by the urban management of Rasht against the coronavirus. The research method of the present study is quantitative and data collection has been done through surveys and documents. By studying the theoretical concepts and reviewing the research background, eight criteria and 53 indicators were extracted, including the role of municipalities, the role of citizens, management and executive, treatment-healthcare, cleanliness - hygiene, economic, educational-cultural, transportation, and public space. Three hundred ninety-one questionnaires were distributed and completed online among residents and citizens of Rasht. One-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Friedman tests in SPSS software were used to analyze the data. Then the research is modeled and analyzed using Smart PLS3 software. The path coefficient leading to the hidden criterion of "cleanliness - hygiene" has a robust effect (0.949). It means that the hygiene-hygienic criterion has a strong effect on the effectiveness of urban management strategies. Economic and therapeutic-care criteria have the most substantial effect with path coefficients of 0.916 and 0.910, respectively. These three criteria and the following indicators have been determined by the citizens of Rasht as important criteria. Disinfection of crowded office and public buildings, an adaptation of shops and fruit and vegetable fields (creating spatial order, etc.), installation of places for handwashing, etc. are among the things that can be done in this period and the urban management should focus on these issues and then address the economy and people's livelihood
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Global epidemics are the biggest threat to cities' social and economic life, given the history of epidemics in human societies, such as the coronavirus (Covid-19), spread throughout China since late 2019. These pandemics disrupt the ordinary course of life in the city and cripple municipal service delivery systems. Few would have thought that in the 21st century, the size and spread of the coronavirus could cause such a crisis in the world's cities. The city administration, which has never encountered such a rapid pandemic in history, has been fragile in the first place in the face of the disease. However, over time, they could find a way to deal with the disease. Gilan province, especially Rasht city, was one of Iran's first spots of coronavirus outbreak. In this study, we seek to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies adopted by urban management against coronavirus to find a way to use these experiences to prevent such crises.
 
Methodology
The present study is descriptive-quantitative, and collected information through observation, survey, and documentary studies.  By studying the theoretical concepts and reviewing the research background, eight criteria and 53 indicators were extracted, including the role of municipalities, the role of citizens, management and executive, treatment-healthcare, cleanliness - hygiene, economic, educational-cultural, transportation, and public space. The research questionnaire was designed based on these indicators with Likert scale questions. Three hundred ninety-one questionnaires were distributed and completed online among residents and citizens of Rasht. The obtained data were entered into SPSS software, and for data analysis, the mean, one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and Friedman test were used. Then the research is modeled and analyzed using Smart PLS3 software.
 
 
 
Results and discussion
Due to the significance level less than 0.05 (0.000) of this study, the test result is significant for the research criteria, and the ranking of indicators effectively deals with the coronavirus outbreak crisis. The remarkable result is the average of the research criteria that are lower than the mid-level (3). However, the criterion of the role of municipalities with an average of 2.90 has the highest value. This issue shows the weakness of the urban management of Rasht in the fight against coronavirus in all areas. Results of the Friedman test show a significant difference among the criteria. The main criteria are municipalities, transportation and public space, and citizens' role, respectively. Also, after analyzing the structural model in Smart PLS3 software, the path coefficient leading to the hidden criterion of "cleanliness - hygiene" has a robust effect (0.949). It means that the hygiene-hygienic criterion strongly affects the effectiveness of urban management strategies. Economic and therapeutic-care criteria have the most substantial effect with path coefficients of 0.916 and 0.910, respectively.
The coefficient of determination for the hygiene-hygienic criterion is 0.9, which indicates the accuracy in the model of the criterion. Economic and treatment-healthcare criteria have coefficients of determination of 0.839 and 0.827, respectively, and are in the following ranks of this ranking. A noteworthy point in this ranking is the cleanliness and health of the people that the urban management should focus on this issue and, after solving this issue, pay attention to the economy and livelihood of the people. The mean extracted variance (AVE) for the research criteria, which should be a number higher than 0.5, is desirable and acceptable for all criteria except the criteria of the role of municipalities and the role of citizens. The mean-variance extracted for the two criteria of the role of municipalities and the role of citizens, which are 0.322 and 0.355, respectively, are lower than the desired level and are unacceptable.
Among the indicators of this study, the
 
economic index "Assistance to vendors affected by the Corona crisis" with a coefficient of 0.957 has the highest overlapping. In the next rank among economic indicators, the index "Support for working children" with a coefficient of 0.952 has the highest overlapping. Also, the economic index "Identifying and providing gratuitous assistance to vulnerable groups in cooperation with charities and non-governmental organizations" with a coefficient of 0.929 has the subsequent highest overlapping. This ranking states that the economic issue is always the most crucial subject in people's lives, and if the Rasht Municipality and the Rasht authorities focus on this agenda, their efforts for compensating of the damages of this pandemic would be more fruitful. Also, among the treatment-healthcare indicators, the index of "accommodation and care and, if necessary, quarantine of homeless people in built-up spaces (like temporary spaces)" with a coefficient of 0.923 has the highest overlapping.
Finally, considering the value of GOF (0.767) based on the outputs of Smart PLS3 software, it is concluded that the designed model of the present study has a strong fit.
 
Conclusion
Rasht urban management agencies can protect the lives of the people in this period by focusing on sanitation and public health, which has been one of the primary duties of municipalities according to Article 55 of the Municipal Law. The resilience of cities against the destructive social, economic, health impacts of this pandemic is mainly dependent on the initiatives of the urban authorities to provide alternative solutions to continue urban life. This study's results can help reform intervention policies in this field by identifying key issues and classifying and prioritizing them.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.

Highlights

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Keywords

References

  1. Haeri, V. (2019). Local measures in global crises, the right to the city and the role of social support centers and neighborhood crisis management in dealing with the spread of the Corona disease (Tehran). Social Impact Assessment Quarterly, 1(2), 281-255. [In Persian].
  2. Darabi, H., Ashtiani, R., Rezaei Anwar, M., & Farsizadeh, N. (2021). Examining the relationship between urban open spaces and the epidemic of the Covid-19 disease. Crisis Prevention and Management Knowledge Quarterly, 11(2), 190-179. [In Persian].
  3. Salaripour, A. A., Ramezani, H., Zali, N., & Safai Karpour, M. (2017). Investigating the quality of neighborhood relations within the Islamic Iranian neighborhood and its role in attachment to the place of case study: Saghri Sazan neighborhood of Rasht city. Iranian Islamic City Studies Quarterly, 9 (34), 47-35. [In Persian].
  4. Salaripour, A., & Yousefi Matek, H. (2021). strategies to improve the resilience of cities against epidemics with a tactical urbanism approach; A case study of the city of Rasht. The first national conference on cities for the people, August 5 and 6, 1400, Rasht: Rasht Municipality, Gilan University, 1-18. [In Persian].
  5. Abbaskhah, R., Aghaizadeh, I., & Hossam, M. (2021). Investigating the cooperative employment situation of women living in the worn-out context of Rasht city with an emphasis on the creative food city. Journal of Sustainable City, 4(2), 145-125. [In Persian].
  6. Gholami, H., Panahi, A., & Ahmadzadeh, H. (2019). Future research on the resilience of urban settlements against environmental hazards with an emphasis on the Corona pandemic (case study: Tabriz city). Journal of Geography and Environmental Hazards, 9(4), 179-199. [In Persian].
  7. Gholami, H., Panahi, A., & Ahmadzadeh, Hassan. (2022). Analysis of the effects of biological environmental hazards on urban spaces with an emphasis on the Corona pandemic (case study: Tabriz city). Journal of Geography and Environmental Studies, 11(41), 154-143. [In Persian].
  8. Fuladi, Sh., Salaripour, A. (2019). Explanation of factors affecting the promotion of populism in traditional neighborhoods (case study: Ostadsara, Chelekhane and Pirsera neighborhoods in Rasht). Local Development Quarterly (Rural-Urban), 12(2), 471-447. [In Persian].
  9. Ghasemi, I. (2019). Consequences of Corona on the city and future urban development. Social Impact Assessment Quarterly, 1(2), 253-227. [In Persian].
  10. Study and planning center of Tehran city. (2019). Examining the events caused by epidemic diseases in urban management. prepared and edited by: Seyedah Samieh Manafi, revised by: Alireza Nouri, Tehran: Tehran City Planning and Studies Center. [In Persian].
  11. Study and planning center of Tehran city. (2019). A policy review of cities' response to the COVID-19 pandemic, cities' policy responses (Danish Shahr 587). Translation: Narges Zaredar, scientific supervisor: Nasser Ibaadi, Amin Hadizadeh, Tehran: Tehran City Planning and Studies Center. [In Persian].
  12. Mehr Danesh, Gona and Azadizadeh, Namdar. (2019). The concept of urban resilience, management and future planning of cities (Corona 19). Journal of Geography and Human Relations, 3(1), 161-132. [In Persian].
  13. Hamdani, P., & Rostami, R. (2019). The role of social participation in improving the performance of urban space crisis management, a case study: Rabat Karim city. Journal of Sustainable City, 3(4), 105-91. [In Persian].
  14. Afrin, S., Chowdhury, F., & Rahman, M. (2021). COVID-19 Pandemic: Rethinking Strategies for Resilient Urban Design, Perceptions, and Planning. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 3, 668263, 1-13.
  15. Brizuela, N., Garcia-Chan, N., Gutierrez Pulido, H., & Chowell, G. (2020). Understanding the role of urban design in disease spreading. BioRxiv, 766667, 1-18.
  16. Daneshpour, Z. (2020). Out of the coronavirus crisis, a new kind of urban planning must be born. Accessed on, 30, 1-10.
  17. Eltarabily, S., & Elgheznawy, D. (2020). Post-Pandemic Cities - The Impact of COVID-19 on Cities and Urban Design. Architecture Research, 10(3), 75-84.
  18. Honey-Rosés, J., Anguelovski, I., Bohigas, J., Chireh, V., Daher, C., Konijnendijk, C., . . . Nieuwenhuijsen, M. (2020). The Impact of COVID-19 on Public Space: A Review of the Emerging Questions. 1-20.
  19. Lee, V., Ho, M., Kai, C., Aguilera, X., Heymann, D., & Wilder-Smith, A. (2020). Epidemic preparedness in urban settings: new challenges and opportunities. The lancet infectious diseases, 20 (5), 527-529.
  20. Martínez, L., & Short, J. (2021). The Pandemic City: Urban Issues in the Time of COVID-19. Sustainability, 13(6), 3295, 1-10.
  21. Mishra, S., Mohapatra, A., Kumar, R., Singh, A., Bhadoria, A., & Kant, R. (2020). Restricting rural-urban connect to combat infectious disease epidemic as India fights COVID-19. Journal of family medicine and primary care, 9(4), 1792-1794.
  22. Nieuwenhuijsen, M. (2021). New urban models for more sustainable, liveable and healthier cities post covid19; reducing air pollution, noise and heat island effects and increasing green space and physical activity. Environment International, 106850, 1-8.
  23. Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J. (2020). COVID19 and the city; from the short term to the long term. Environmental research, 191, 110066, 1-3.
  24. Pisano, C. (2020). Strategies for Post-COVID Cities: An Insight to Paris En Commun and Milano 2020. Sustainability, 12(15), 1-15.
  25. Raj, S., Angella, E., & Pooja, C. (2021). Impact of Covid-19 in shaping new resilient urban planning approach. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 1114 (1), 1-7.
  26. Salama, A. (2020). Coronavirus questions that will not go away: interrogating urban and socio-spatial implications of COVID-19 measures [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]. Emerald Open Research, 2, 1-12.
  27. Sharifi, A., & Khavarian-Garmsir, A. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts on cities and major lessons for urban planning, design, and management. Science of the Total Environment, 142391, 1-14.
  28. Wilkinson, A. (2020). Local response in health emergencies: key considerations for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in informal urban settlements. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), 1-20.
  29. Xu, C., Luo, X., Yu, C., & Cao, S.-J. (2020). The 2019-nCoV epidemic control strategies and future challenges of building healthy smart cities. Indoor and Built Environment 0(0), 1-6.
Sustainable city
Volume 5, Issue 4
April 2023
Pages 73-89

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