An evaluation of the accessibility of community health facilities under public health emergencies: insights from the floor area ratio in Ningbo, China

Urban management under public health emergencies is an issue that has been increasingly highlighted since the outbreak of COVID-19. Although the spatial inequities that exist within Community Health Facilities (CHFs) is a growing public health concern worldwide, no single study has yet identified the potential issues which constrain the utilisation of CHFs under public emergency scenarios within China. This study uses a quantitative case study approach to investigate the correlations between CHFs and development intensity in Yinzhou, Ningbo. Data, including OpenStreetMap, LocaSpace Viewer (LSV) and satellite images, was collected and analysed via Geographic Information System (GIS). The results of this study show that there is an urban–rural division in the development of CHFs, and that facilities possess limited accessibility where they border different administrative districts. We suggest that the 'boundary effect' of CHFs has been caused by changing standards in the building of CHFs and a lack of financial support in rural areas. It is subsequently recommended that a climate of collaborative governance should be established to reconcile the interests of investing in CHFs in different districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Development Planning Review is the property of Liverpool University Press / Journals and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Putting the COVID-19 pandemic into perspective: urban planning scholars react to a changed world

The origins of planning as a profession are of course related to public health, with action being seen as needed to respond to the dire conditions of cities in 'the West' in the late nineteenth century. [...]in the years preceding 2020, there was growing evidence to show that planning was re-engaging with health concerns, principally around non-communicable diseases, for example ill-health associated with so-called 'obesogenic' urban environments in contexts across the globe. The rapid re-engagement of planning scholars, and indeed the whole world, with communicable disease, shows how events and 'conjunctures' shape the focus and content of planning and illustrates why Town Planning Review, the first urban planning journal in the world, has commissioned this series of Viewpoints.