The vulnerability of COVID-19 pandemic based on urban density (a case study of the core urban area in Cirebon City, West Java)

Abstract

COVID-19 has become a global concern due to its outbreak in early 2020. Not much is known yet about this disease so the only viable acts against it is prevention. City, specifically dense and large ones, has been the center of the pandemic, leading researchers to believe that there is a need to be concerned regarding COVID-19 prevention in particularly high-density area. This research aims to measure the level of COVID-19 spread susceptibility based on the urban density variables. There are four urban density variables used in this research namely density, intensity, built-up area, and mass activity or public facilities. Data was collected through primary observation and secondary data collection. Five types of analysis were employed to answer the research objective namely density analysis, intensity analysis, built-area analysis, mass attraction or public facilities analysis and COVID-19 spread susceptibility analysis. Each analysis shows the level of susceptibility in every variable. The results show that activity centers or agglomeration of public facilities have the highest level of vulnerability. The vulnerability can be compounded by the small road geometry and the informality around it. There are several ways that can be done to decrease the vulnerability based on urban dense area variables.