IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v60y2023i9p1570-1587.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Planning for social distancing: How the legacy of historical epidemics shaped COVID-19's spread in Madrid

Author

Listed:
  • Noel A Manzano Gómez

Abstract

This paper combines historical and contemporary sources to examine ‘epidemic urban planning’ from the first decades of the 20th century through to the present day. It considers how infamous early 20th-century epidemics triggered the development of several urban regulations that profoundly shaped the city’s future. To reduce the risk of contagion in bourgeois space, the city began displacing and spatially segregating the urban poor, leading to deprived neighbourhoods in the city’s suburbs. The social and urban structure of these deprived, ‘vulnerable’ neighbourhoods remains to this day. Madrid was also greatly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, and the initial distribution of COVID geographies seemed to reflect these historical legacies. Epidemic-influenced segregation kept wealthy neighbourhoods relatively safe during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, concentrating the disease in poorer areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Noel A Manzano Gómez, 2023. "Planning for social distancing: How the legacy of historical epidemics shaped COVID-19's spread in Madrid," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(9), pages 1570-1587, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:60:y:2023:i:9:p:1570-1587
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980221110337
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980221110337
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00420980221110337?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Morgan Kelly, 2020. "Understanding Persistence," Working Papers 202023, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    2. Jacopo Galli, 2022. "Hypochondria as a form factor: The role of colonial anxieties as shapers of buildings and urban spaces in British Africa," Planning Perspectives, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 103-126, January.
    3. Glodeanu, Adrián & Bilal, Usama & Gullón, Pedro, 2021. "Social Inequalities in Mobility During and Following the COVID-19 associated lockdown of the Madrid Metropolitan Area in Spain," SocArXiv apz4e, Center for Open Science.
    4. Daniel Sorando & Pedro Uceda & Marta Domínguez, 2021. "Inequality on the Increase: Trajectories of Privilege and Inequality in Madrid," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 104-116.
    5. Liora Bigon, 2016. "Bubonic plague, colonial ideologies, and urban planning policies: Dakar, Lagos, and Kumasi," Planning Perspectives, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 205-226, April.
    6. Jacob Faber, 2021. "Contemporary echoes of segregationist policy: Spatial marking and the persistence of inequality," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(5), pages 1067-1086, April.
    7. Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo & Mercè Gotsens & M Isabel Pasarín & Maica Rodríguez-Sanz & Lucía Artazcoz & Patricia Garcia de Olalla & Cristina Rius & Carme Borrell, 2021. "Socioeconomic Inequalities in COVID-19 in a European Urban Area: Two Waves, Two Patterns," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-12, January.
    8. Prathiwi Widyatmi Putri, 2019. "Sanitizing Jakarta: decolonizing planning and kampung imaginary," Planning Perspectives, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(5), pages 805-825, September.
    9. Noel A. Manzano Gómez, 2022. "The cleanliness of otherness: epidemics, informal urbanization and urban degeneration in early twentieth-century Madrid," Planning Perspectives, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 127-147, January.
    10. Ronald Van Kempen & Alan Murie, 2009. "The New Divided City: Changing Patterns In European Cities," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 100(4), pages 377-398, September.
    11. Martin Henning, 2019. "Time should tell (more): evolutionary economic geography and the challenge of history," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 602-613, April.
    12. Aaronson, Daniel & Faber, Jacob & Hartley, Daniel & Mazumder, Bhashkar & Sharkey, Patrick, 2021. "The long-run effects of the 1930s HOLC “redlining” maps on place-based measures of economic opportunity and socioeconomic success," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    13. Gayatri Kawlra & Kazuki Sakamoto, 2023. "Spatialising urban health vulnerability: An analysis of NYC’s critical infrastructure during COVID-19," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(9), pages 1629-1649, July.
    14. Kelly, Morgan, 2020. "Understanding Persistence," CEPR Discussion Papers 15246, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Carlos Varea & Elena Sánchez-García & Barry Bogin & Luis Ríos & Bustar Gómez-Salinas & Alejandro López-Canorea & José Miguel Martínez-Carrión, 2019. "Disparities in Height and Urban Social Stratification in the First Half of the 20th Century in Madrid (Spain)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-12, June.
    16. Bev Wilson, 2020. "Urban Heat Management and the Legacy of Redlining," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 86(4), pages 443-457, October.
    17. Almagro, Milena & Orane-Hutchinson, Angelo, 2022. "JUE Insight: The determinants of the differential exposure to COVID-19 in New York city and their evolution over time," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    18. Andre Sorensen, 2015. "Taking path dependence seriously: an historical institutionalist research agenda in planning history," Planning Perspectives, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 17-38, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yingling Fan & Scott Orford & Philip Hubbard, 2023. "Urban public health emergencies and the COVID-19 pandemic. Part 2: Infrastructures, urban governance and civil society," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(9), pages 1535-1547, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kravtsova, Maria & Libman, Alexander, 2023. "Historical family structure as a predictor of liberal voting: Evidence from a century of Russian history," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(2).
    2. Fenske, James & Wang, Shizhuo, 2023. "Tradition and mortality: Evidence from twin infanticide in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    3. Mathias Bühler & Leonhard Vollmer & Johannes Wimmer, 2024. "Female education and social change," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 79-119, March.
    4. Colleoni, Marco, 2024. "The long-term welfare effects of colonial institutions: Evidence from Central India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    5. Stepan Mikula & Mariola Pytlikova, 2021. "Air Pollution and Migration: Exploiting a Natural Experiment from the Czech Republic," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp714, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    6. Hadi Alizadeh & Ayyoob Sharifi & Safiyeh Damanbagh & Hadi Nazarnia & Mohammad Nazarnia, 2023. "Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the social sphere and lessons for crisis management: a literature review," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 117(3), pages 2139-2164, July.
    7. William D. Lastrapes & Ian Schmutte & Thor Watson, 2022. "Home equity lending, credit constraints and small business in the US," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 43-63, January.
    8. Guzi, Martin & Huber, Peter & Mikula, Štěpán, 2021. "The long-term impact of the resettlement of the Sudetenland on residential migration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    9. Palsson, Craig, 2023. "The forces of path dependence: Haiti's refugee camps, 1937–2009," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    10. Ananyev, Maxim & Poyker, Michael, 2021. "Christian missions and anti-gay attitudes in Africa," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 359-374.
    11. Reed T. DeAngelis & Brian G. Frizzelle & Robert A. Hummer & Kathleen Mullan Harris, 2024. "Traces of Historical Redlining in the Contemporary United States: New Evidence from the Add Health Cohort," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(4), pages 1-13, August.
    12. Neubauer, Florian & Rose, Julian & Ankel-Peters, Jörg, 2023. "Public Infrastructure and Economic Development: Evidence from Postal Systems – Reproduction Report on Rogowski et al. (2022)," I4R Discussion Paper Series 92, The Institute for Replication (I4R).
    13. Joerg Baten & Kleoniki Alexopoulou, 2022. "Elite violence and elite numeracy in Africa from 1400 CE to 1950 CE [Quantifying quantitative literacy: age heaping and the history of human capital]," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 26(2), pages 155-184.
    14. Martina Cioni & Giovanni Federico & Michelangelo Vasta, 2022. "Persistence studies: a new kind of economic history?," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 42(3), pages 227-248, December.
    15. P. Buonanno & M. Cervellati & S. Lazzaroni & G. Prarolo, 2022. "Historical social contracts and their legacy: a disaggregated analysis of the medieval republics," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 485-526, December.
    16. Mitchell, Jeffrey & Chihaya, Guilherme Kenji, 2022. "Tract level associations between historical residential redlining and contemporary fatal encounters with police," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    17. Michael Wyrwich, 2022. "Historical episodes and their legacies across space: A famous case revisited," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 1048-1091, September.
    18. Edoardo Cefalà, 2022. "The political consequences of mass repatriation," Discussion Papers 2022-05, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    19. Anna Herzog, 2022. "Imaginaries, directionalities, agency and new path creation [Imaginaries, directionalities, Akteurshandeln und Pfadkreation]," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 42(3), pages 279-307, December.
    20. Grzegorczyk Anna, 2021. "Residential segregation and socio-spatial processes in Marseille. Urban social sustainability challenge," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 52(52), pages 25-38, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:60:y:2023:i:9:p:1570-1587. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.