Applying Circulating and Ecological Sphere (CES) Concept for Post-Pandemic Development: A Case of Hingna Tahsil, Nagpur (India)

COVID-19 has become one of the most significant events in the history of globalization. The prolonged 'lockdown' adopted across various countries in the world as a countermeasure for containing the spread of the virus profoundly brought forth socio-economic and infrastructural vulnerabilities in urban as well as rural parts of India. While urban and rural areas have been greatly studied with respect to the environment, human health, safety, livelihoods, associated risks, etc., in the context of pandemics, many of these studies seldom accommodate their interdependency as a pragmatic approach to planning. This is observed to be primarily due to the dynamic and diverse nature of interactions coupled with the development disparities between rural and urban areas, thereby adding complexity to development decision making. The present study, therefore, applies the lens of the circulating and ecological sphere (CES), introduced by the Japanese government for the localization of resource flows between urban–rural regions, to consider possible alternative development approaches to achieve smooth transitions during pandemics through the case study area located in Hingna tahsil in the Nagpur Metropolitan Area, India. The methodology uses the critical examination of rural–urban linkages amidst the crisis through key-informant surveys involving representatives from local governments. Using this feedback and spatial analysis tools, the research identifies probable entry points in post-pandemic regional planning. The research contributes to understanding the impact of spatial development during pandemics through ground-based evidence. The findings from this research highlight the need to manage rural dependencies on urban areas and underline the potential of the rural–urban linkage as an approach, acknowledged and emphasized through CES, for managing such regional-scale hazards. The investigation concludes with the discussion and future research scope for achieving the pronounced needs reflected through the study.

Urban-Rural Partnership Framework to Enhance Food-Energy-Water Security in the Post-COVID-19 Era.

Food, energy, and water (collectively referred to as 'FEW') security forms the key to human survival as well as socioeconomic development. However, the security of these basic resources is increasingly threatened due to growing demand. Beyond the widespread implications on public health, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has further raised additional challenges for FEW security, particularly for urban populations, as they mainly outsource their FEW demands from rural areas outside their physical boundaries. In light of that, this study reviews existing literature on FEW security to highlight the growing relevance of urban-rural linkages for realizing FEW security, especially against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this, relevant research documents have been identified through Elsevier's Scopus database and other sources (by applying search equations). The authors have accordingly underlined the necessity of shifting the conventional urban-centric approach to city region-centric development planning for the post-COVID-19 era. To this end, a framework has been suggested for translating physical urban-rural linkages to a partnership enhancing a collective response. The major elements of this framework are the conceptualization of national-level policies to support urban-rural linkages. The framework can play the role of a science-policy-action interface to redesign the FEW system in city regions.

COVID-19 Lockdown, Food Systems and Urban-Rural Partnership: Case of Nagpur, India.

The globally fast-spreading novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is now testing the abilities of all countries to manage its widespread implications on public health. To effectively contain its impacts, a nation-wide temporary lockdown was enforced in India. The resultant panic buying and stockpiling incidents together with spread of misinformation created a sense of food insecurity at local level. This paper discusses a specific case of Nagpur from the worst affected Maharashtra state of India, wherein the urban-rural food supply chains were reportedly disrupted. Based on formal interviews with local government officials, a month-long timeline of COVID-19 outbreak in Nagpur was studied along with the consequent government initiatives for maintaining public health and food supply. While the city residents were confined to their homes, this study then assessed their perceived food security at household level, along with their "Immediate Concerns" and "Key Information Sources". Through online surveys at two different time intervals, the concerns of "Food and Grocery" were found to be rising, and "Government Apps and Websites" were identified as the most reliable source of information. Based on the research findings, the authors further suggest specific policy recommendations for addressing the immediate and long-term concerns related to food systems in Nagpur.