What determines urban resilience against COVID-19: City size or governance capacity?

Abstract

This study analyzed the effects of urban governance and city size on COVID-19 prevention and control measures. Based on real-time data in 276 prefecture-level Chinese cities, we used the ordinary least squares plus robust standard error strategy. It was found that: (1) despite the non-significant effect of city size, urban governance capacity was an important factor affecting the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic; urban governance capacity was particularly significant in the late control of the pandemic, but not significant in the early prevention; for every unit increase of urban governance capacity, the number of recovered COVID-19 cases per capita increased by 2.4%. Moreover, (2) the influence mechanism of anti-pandemic measures in cities could be divided into the workforce, financial, and material effects, and their contribution rates were 26.15%, 32.55%, and 37.20%, respectively; namely, the effective/timely assistance from Chinese central government regarding the workforce, financial, and material resources in key pandemic areas and nationwide played a major role in pandemic control. Additionally, (3) cities with a high level of smart city construction were more capable of enhancing the pandemic prevention and control effect, indicating that smart city construction is conducive to enhanced coping with public crises.

Addressing External Shock in Urban Agglomeration: Implications From the Transmission Pattern of COVID-19 in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area

“…In the second wheel, a new normal of living with COVID-19 in the background is going to be achieved ( 8 ), as the daily life and economic activities have shifted from free movement in the old normal to coordinated resonance in the new normal. In the new normal period, individual strategy should be implemented, such as the “one city, one case” and “one city, one policy” strategies in China, and the urban governance capacity will play a critical role in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic ( 53 ). This is required not only for scientific prevention and control but also for regional economic resistance and recovery ( 54 ).…”

Can Digital Transformation Promote the Rapid Recovery of Cities from the COVID-19 Epidemic? An Empirical Analysis from Chinese Cities

“…This normal state does not indicate restoration to the state prior to disaster but the restoration to an acceptable state [ 21 ] or to the normal performance level [ 22 ]. Previous studies have proven that urban governance capabilities and the level of smart city construction affect urban resilience for epidemic prevention and control [ 23 ], and resilience affects the recovery speed of cities after a disaster [ 23 ]. Therefore, based on a previous research and theory analysis, the impact path and mechanism of urban digital transformation on the recovery of the COVID-19 epidemic in cities are explained through promoting communication, collaborative governance, and urban resilience.…”

Links between the pandemic and urban green spaces, a perspective on spatial indices of landscape garden cities in China

“… NLGCC policies have also encouraged the development of disaster-proof composite spatial systems. During the COVID-19 pandemic, city resilience became increasingly popular in urban planning and research ( Chen, Guo, Pan, & Zhong, 2021 ; Chu, Cheng, & Song, 2021 ). The spatial resilience of cities reflects their ability to respond to emergency disasters, return to normal operations quickly, and achieve quality development after disasters ( Meyer & Auriacombe, 2019 ).…”