Open data on Covid-19 in the Spanish autonomous communities: reutilization in spatial epidemiology studies

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for governments and health administrations at all levels to have an open data registry that facilitates decision-making in the planning and management of health resources and provides information to citizens on the evolution of the epidemic. The concept of “open data” includes the possibility of reutilization by third parties. Space and time are basic dimensions used to structure and interpret the data of the variables that refer to the health status of the people themselves. Hence, the main objective of this study is to evaluate whether the autonomous communities’ data files regarding Covid-19 are reusable to analyze the evolution of the disease in basic spatial and temporal analysis units at the regional and national levels. To this end, open data files containing the number of diagnosed cases of Covid-19 distributed in basic health or administrative spatial units and temporal units were selected from the portals of the Spanish autonomous communities. The presence of infection-related, demographic, and temporal variables, as well as the download format and metadata, were mainly evaluated. Whether the structure of the files was homogeneous and adequate for the application of spatial analysis techniques was also analyzed. The results reveal a lack of standardization in the collection of data in both spatial and temporal units and an absence of, or ambiguity in, the meaning of the variables owing to a lack of metadata. An inadequate structure was also found in the files of seven autonomous communities, which would require subsequent processing of the data to enable their reuse and the application of analysis and spatial modeling techniques, both when carrying out global analyses and when comparing patterns of evolution between different regions

Urbanismo neoliberal y fragmentación urbana: El caso de Zaragoza (España) en los primeros quince años del siglo XXI

El crecimiento del espacio urbano de Zaragoza durante los primeros quince años del siglo xxi se caracteriza por su fragmentación socioespacial a varias escalas, un rasgo significativo del urbanismo neoliberal. En esta ciudad se ha seguido un modelo que se compone por grandes fragmentos monofuncionales, no separados unos de otros, sino soldados al espacio urbano preexistente por las principales arterias de circulación; estas vías y otros obstáculos físicos o percibidos interrumpen la continuidad con el espacio consolidado, sobre todo para el movimiento de personas. No obstante este patrón permite la conexión de los nuevos espacios con el entorno urbano local, al mismo tiempo fomenta la segregación social e impulsa un modelo policéntrico basado en desplazamientos en automóvil privado. The growth of urban space of Zaragoza during the first fifteen years of the 21st century is characterized by its socio-spatial fragmentation at several scales, a significant feature of the neoliberal urbanism. The growth model of the city is composed of large monofunctional urban fragments attached to the existing urban space by the main traffic routes. These ways and other physical or perceived obstacles interrupt the continuity with the consolidated urban space, especially for the movement of people. Nevertheless, this pattern allows the connection of the new spaces with the local urban environment but, at the same time, promotes the social segregation and fosters a polycentric functional model based on travel by private car

The location of creative clusters in non-metropolitan areas: A methodological proposition

This article studies creative clusters outside metropolitan areas in Spain. Both the notion of cluster and that of creative activity tend to be associated by mainstream research with urban settings; thus, situating them in an non metropolitan or rural localities has required us to adapt the usual methodology to the scale and idiosyncrasies of a rural setting. Based on this new focus, we have been able to identify 761 municipalities that could host creative clusters within an initial area of study of 7367 non-metropolitan municipalities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants. This methodology also has allowed us to measure intensity, internal composition, and localization, so that those of a more mature or advanced character, having a greater level of specialization and diversity, predominate in places close to metropolitan areas and the Mediterranean axis, whereas in the inner Spain, they are found in a lower proportion and in a more scattered and discontinuous manner. Activities belonging to the Functional Creations sector prevail over those from Communication and Patrimony in the configuration of the clusters, although there are differences in relative specialization according to their mature or advanced level. In addition, some of the most significant indicators of rural dynamism e population growth, human capital, unemployment, and economic activity e show much better behaviour in municipalities with creative clusters

Regionalización de las migraciones residenciales interurbanas en Chile en el período 1997-2002

Los cambios de residencia interurbanos constituyen una manifestación de las interacciones entre ciudades de un sistema urbano. Los flujos migratorios conforman una red única y organizada, que emerge de las prácticas de los migrantes. La aplicación combinada de métodos de análisis de redes y análisis espacial a microdatos censales, ha permitido caracterizar la estructura de la red de flujos migratorios interurbanos en Chile en el quinquenio 1997-2002. Los resultados muestran que las migraciones residenciales interurbanas constituyen una red de flujos heterogéneos en cuanto a su magnitud y alcance espacial, pero su combinación genera una estructura jerarquizada y muy estable, compuesta por grupos de ciudades con fuertes interconexiones migratorias mutuas. La proximidad geográfica es uno de los factores más importantes que conforman esta estructura, junto con la dinámica territorial de la economía y la distribución y jerarquía de las infraestructuras de transportes y comunicaciones. Interurban residential changes are expressions of the interactions between cities of an urban system. Migratory flows shape a unique and organized network that emerges from the practices of migrants. An applied combination of network analysis and spatial analysis methods to census microdata has allowed characterizing the structure of the network of interurban migratory flows in Chile in the period 1997-2002. The results obtained show that interurban residential migrations shape a network of heterogeneous flows in terms of their magnitude and spatial extend. Nevertheless, their combination build a hierarchical and very stable structure, composed of groups of cities with strong reciprocal migratory interconnections. Geographical proximity is one of the most important factors shaping this structure, in addition to the territorial dynamics of the economy and the distribution and hierarchy of transport and communications infrastructures

Cultural and creative ecosystems in medium-sized cities: Evolution in times of economic crisis and pandemic

This article seeks to forecast the short-and medium-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the cultural and creative ecosystems of the 81 cities in Spain with between 50, 000 and 100, 000 inhabitants. Data on employment in nine sectors (per NACE Rev. 2) support the characterization of cultural ecosystems based on their dynamism, specialization, and propensity to form clusters (thanks to the co-location of certain sectors, meant to generate inter-sectoral spillovers and cross-sector synergies). The applied methodology consists of comparing these three attributes during and following the 2008 financial crisis. Then, any changes observed are interpreted in light of arguments from the COVID-19 literature, and from our own analysis, in order to assess the probability of recurrence (or nonrecurrence) during the current pandemic. Throughout this process, the metropolitan or non-metropolitan position of cities is taken into consideration. A first conclusion is that, as in the financial crisis, the behavior of ecosystems during the pandemic will be asymmetric. Secondly, metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities will maintain their distinctive sectoral specializations. Non-metropolitan cities appear to be more vulnerable for their strong connection to creative sectors most affected by the pandemic, although some can take advantage of good cultural supply and proximity to metropolitan centers. Metropolitan cities seem more secure, thanks to the higher presence of less vulnerable sectors (due to elevated and accelerating digitization). Nevertheless, most functional clusters were diminished during the financial crisis, and it seems unlikely that sectoral co-locations will re-emerge in a post-pandemic scenario as a business strategy, at least in the short term. Beyond these forecasts, we recommend dealing with certain structural failures of these ecosystems, especially the vulnerability and precariousness of most cultural and creative companies and workers

“Segeda Project”: the I.T. management of the territory of a Celtiberian city-state

This article defends the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the management, analysis, examination and modelling of the archaeological data concerning the territory. Within this context, we outline some types of analyses that are being carried out with the use of GIS applied to the case of Segeda. Drawing on these and other experiments, we conclude that GIS technologies and their well-established capacity for the integration, analysis and examination of information from different sources constitute a particularly effective tool for the modelling of complex realities such as the one we are concerned with in our project

Bases para una ordenación de las Enseñanzas Universitarias en el distrito de Zaragoza

Conocer la distribución de alumnos y profesores por centros y provincias en el distrito universitario de Zaragoza y las expectativas de estudio de futuros alumnos. Proponer factores para una ordenación territorial de las enseñanzas. Alumnos matriculados en la universidad desde 1970. Alumnos matriculados en COU desde 1975. Profesores de la universidad desde 1975. En este informe se han utilizado las variables: número total de alumnos de cada facultad, escuela universitaria y colegios universitarios de los cursos 1970 hasta 1981-1982, número de alumnos de primer curso de las mismas. Número de alumnos matriculados en las pruebas de acceso a la universidad desde 1974-1981. Número de profesores de la universidad desde 1974 hasta 1981, provincia de procedencia de los alumnos, preferencias profesionales de los alumnos de COU, población activa de cada una de las provincias del distrito. Matrícula de cada centro de la universidad. Censo de profesores. Censos de población. Encuesta sobre preferencia de carrera universitaria a 1.000 alumnos de COU. Tablas cruzadas y porcentajes de alumnos matriculados en cada uno de los centros. Tablas cruzadas y porcentajes de alumnos de COU por provincias de procedencia. Tablas cruzadas y porcentajes de profesores en cada uno de los centros. Razón número de alumnos-profesor. Tablas cruzadas y porcentajes de la población activa de cada provincia en cada uno de los sectores Primario, Industria, Construcción y Servicios. Teniendo en cuenta el crecimiento de la matrícula en los centros asociados de Logroño y Pamplona la creación de nuevos centros tiene una respuesta de absorción casi inmediata. Una vez estudiada la distribución geográfica de los alumnos del distrito presente y futura, la distribución de la población y la distribución de la población activa por áreas parece lógico que la mayor parte de los centros estén ubicados en Zaragoza y Pamplona.. El distrito de Zaragoza, ofrece el panorama más complejo para la planificación educativa de todos los distritos españoles; su extensión, su variedad, su escasa población y descompensación demográfica, plantea unos problemas tan graves, que desbordan las posibilidades de soluciones convencionales aplicadas en otras áreas geográficas españolas.AragónES