ABSTRACT
UN-Habitat noted that COVID-19 cases were disproportionately found in urban areas. A question arises as to what urban factors are related and how they are related. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the association between urban factors and cumulative cases of COVID-19 in Semarang City, the fifth largest Indonesian city with diverse urban characteristics. Through literature review, twelve urban factors were selected and tested against cumulative COVID-19 cases. The study was conducted cross-sectionally during the new normal period until just before the delta variant of COVID-19 emerged. The association was analyzed using robust regression because the OLS regression assumptions were not met. This study found a strong association based on a high R2 (0.725) value. This study also found six significant variables and found that;(1) elderlies are a vulnerable group that needs to be cared for, (2) planned densities are associated with lower COVID-19 cases, and (3) COVID-19 spread among the poor is presumably undetected, (4) bus transportation and (5) commercial facilities have higher COVID-19 transmission risk. Finally, the study outlines implications for future planning to promote planned densities, light active mobility, reduce poverty, and increase healthcare capacity.
ABSTRACT
Human Development Index (HDI) is the approach to measure socio-economics since 1990. Furthermore, integrating socio-economics with the environment brings the development of Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). The relations between human development and sustainable development are complementary to build a better society. However, by 2020, the growth of HDI in Indonesia starts slowing down during Covid-19 to only 0,03% from the previous year. Central Java is one of the provinces that can still manage the HDI growth higher than Indonesia. This study aims to find the SDG 1 and 8 factors that affect HDI in Central Java with the spatial econometrics method to analyze the spatial dependency in variables. The variables of SDG 1 and 8 in this study are Ln Poverty Line, Ln GDRP per capita, unemployment, and poverty rate. This study shows that the SDG 1 and 8 variables have significant results and implicates spatial effects through Spatial Lag in the HDI of Central Java. The implication of this study is to encourage collaborative action in strengthening the implementation of SDGs and improving the HDI of the regions and cities in Central Java.