Abstract
The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to cities across the world illuminated the need to understand the distribution of resources across urban areas. Urban geographies are complex and interdimensional. Unfortunately, the data needed to understand these critical socio-economic relationships is infrequently available, particularly in the lower- and middle-income countries. Human geography data applied in developing urban areas during the COVID-19 pandemic offers an understanding of how populations are dependent upon the infrastructure around them and the limitations of both data and infrastructure to support vulnerable populations. Using local knowledge to enhance and improve human geography data for analysis to mitigate COVID-19 impacts emphasizes the practical need for geospatial capacity and participatory mapping partnerships among stakeholders to support community recovery and resilience. The Cities’ COVID Mitigation Mapping (C2M2) Program led by the U.S. Department of State from summer 2020 through fall 2021 illustrates the reach of participatory mapping partnerships applied to second-order impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the geospatial model used offers lessons applicable for recovery from the pandemic as well as a wide range of issues that will continue to impact developing cities, to include resilience and sustainability.
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Acknowledgments
This program builds upon a large network of participants that were essential to the implementation of the C2M2 program. The Humanitarian Information Unit in the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues provided management support and oversight – the team included Lee Schwartz, Geographer of the United States, Robert Richardson, Jefferson Science Fellow, Sebastian Viscuso, HIU Intern, Erika Nunez, Communication and Outreach, and Tom Gertin, Technical Support, in addition to us as the Program Director (Laura Cline) and the Principal Investigator (Melinda Laituri). The American Association of Geographers managed budgets and reporting – the team included Candida Mannozzi, Coline Dory, and Julaiti Nilupaer.
Support from the Center for Geographic Analysis in oversight and facilitation of C2M2 student mentoring – Wendy Guan and Kelly Ly. Appreciation to the student volunteers for their creative contributions. Keys to project support, management, and implementation were the C2M2 Regional Hub leads: Gaston Mbonglou, Carlos Mena, and Nama Budhathoki. We also share our appreciation for the team partners who committed time, energy, and hard work to this program during the challenges of the pandemic and the virtual environment.
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not represent those of the U.S. government agencies or any of the organizations mentioned. Assumptions made within the analysis are not a reflection of the position of any U.S. government entity.
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Cline, L., Laituri, M. (2022). The City and the Pandemic: The Cities’ COVID Mitigation Mapping (C2M2) Program. In: Laituri, M., Richardson, R.B., Kim, J. (eds) The Geographies of COVID-19. Global Perspectives on Health Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11775-6_6
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