The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ethnic minorities in Manchester: lessons from the early stage of the pandemic.

This review summarizes the economic impacts of the pandemic on ethnic minorities, focusing on the city of Manchester. It utilizes multiple reporting sources to explore various dimensions of the economic shock in the UK, linking this to studies of pre-COVID-19 economic and ethnic composition in Manchester and in the combined authority area of Greater Manchester. We then make inferences about the pandemic's short-term impact specific to the city region. Greater Manchester has seen some of the highest rates of COVID-19 and as a result faced particularly stringent "lockdown" regulations. Manchester is the sixth most deprived Local Authority in England, according to 2019 English Indices of Multiple Deprivation. As a consequence, many neighborhoods in the city were always going to be less resilient to the economic shock caused by the pandemic compared with other, less-deprived, areas. Particular challenges for Manchester include the high rates of poor health, low-paid work, low qualifications, poor housing conditions and overcrowding. Ethnic minority groups also faced disparities long before the onset of the pandemic. Within the UK, ethnic minorities were found to be most disadvantaged in terms of employment and housing-particularly in large urban areas containing traditional settlement areas for ethnic minorities. Further, all Black, Asian, and Minority ethnic (BAME) groups in Greater Manchester were less likely to be employed pre-pandemic compared with White people. For example, people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic backgrounds, especially women, have the lowest levels of employment in Greater Manchester. Finally, unprecedented cuts to public spending as a result of austerity have also disproportionately affected women of an ethnic minority background alongside disabled people, the young and those with no or low-level qualifications. This environment has created and sustained a multiplicative disadvantage for Manchester's ethnic minority residents through the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The digital communication tools and citizens' relationship with local governments: a comparison of Georgian and Polish cities

This article aims to explore the impact of digital communication tools application by citizens and the perceived usefulness of social media on the relationship between citizens and local authorities. The data were gathered in April–September 2020 through a survey (CAWI) among citizens of Poznan, Poland (n=502), and Kutaisi, Georgia (n=504), and were analyzed with structural equation modeling. The findings show that the intensity of digital communication tools usage for participation in the city branding and the perceived usefulness of social media contribute to the lasting relationships between citizens and local authorities in both countries. The novelty of this research concerns comparing two countries with different levels of development. Georgia is a developing economy in Europe and is in the process of modernizing the local governance across the cities. Poland, however, is a mature economy with a post-transformation heritage, where its cities benefit from considerable experience in building and developing citizen participation policies. Furthermore, the research was conducted amid the COVID-19 pandemic and evidenced the growing popularity of digital tools adoption by citizens in city matters. This study contributes to understanding the impact of digital tools on the relationship between citizens and local authorities in terms of city brand management. Citizens' participation in the city branding process via various digital communication tools increased citizen commitment towards long-lasting collaboration with local authorities. Moreover, citizens' perception of social media usefulness positively influences their desire to engage in the city branding process online, supporting the trust-building and collaboration between citizens and local authorities. Points for practitioners The intensiveness of digital tools usage – governments should identify the tools already trusted and popular among their audience and employ those tools to a greater extent to maximize the chances of feedback, high citizen participation, and commitment. Citizens' perception of social media – such characteristics as ease of use, transparency, ease of communication with the municipality, and safety encourage citizens to get involved in the city brand management process. Consequently, local authorities should consider the features mentioned above and develop the online tools quality.

A chorem-based approach to visualizing COVID-19-related data

Due to the increasing availability and openness of data from many countries worldwide, visualizations of the COVID-19 pandemic that aim to track the virus over time and across geographic areas are multiplying;geovisualization is proving to be an effective solution to better understand the spread of SARS-CoV-2. However, due to the resulting "infodemic,” many visualization approaches are sub-optimal. For example, direct projections of COVID-19-related data on display are unsound from a cartographic point of view;the results are often overcomplicated, leading to cognitive overload, which may in turn, lead to misinterpretations. Thus, developing effective geovisualization methods is necessary to improve epidemiologists' and local authorities' decision-making abilities. This study proposes a novel approach to geovisualizing COVID-19-related data based on chorems. Our objective was to define a chorematic map that could represent, through visual summaries extracted from the analysis of COVID-19-related data, the origin of the first cases and evolution of the virus in Algeria during the first months of the pandemic. Accordingly, we propose a geovisualization methodology based on spatial data mining techniques and GIS technology. © 2023 Cartography and Geographic Information Society.

Le télétravail dans les collectivités locales : après la covid, une nouvelle ère des relations au travail ?

Dans le cadre du retour d'expérience de la gestion de crise Covid-19, l'Association des administrateurs territoriaux de France (AATF) a étudié les tendances d'évolution du télétravail par les collectivités locales. Alors qu'elle était marginale avant la crise, cette question est désormais reconnue comme un sujet stratégique majeur. Cette évolution rapide et radicale implique des ajustements profonds du dispositif managérial, en veillant aux risques psycho-sociaux émergents, et au maintien des équilibres sociaux.Alternate : As part of the feedback from the Covid-19 crisis management, the French association of higher local civil servants (AATF) studied the trends in the development of telework in local administrations. While it was marginal before the crisis, telework is now recognized as a major strategic issue. This rapid and radical evolution implies main changes in management, by monitoring emerging psychosocial risks, and maintaining social equity.

Le Royaume-Uni face à la crise financière : une originalité ?

En réponse à la pandémie de Covid-19, le gouvernement britannique a pu s'appuyer sur un système budgétaire original caractérisé par une grande souplesse (un calendrier budgétaire adaptable, le recours au Fonds d'urgence et à une autorisation de découvert auprès de la Banque d'Angleterre, une coopération étroite avec les autorités dévolues). Mais les mesures financières mises en place pour limiter les effets de la crise sont globalement comparables à ce que l'on observe dans les autres pays (augmentation du financement des services de santé, aides directes et indirectes aux travailleurs et aux entreprises, exonérations et reports fiscaux).Alternate : In response to the pandemic, the British Government relied on a unique and flexible fiscal system (an adaptable fiscal calendar, the use of the Contingencies Fund and the Ways and Means facility with the Bank of England, and close cooperation with the devolved authorities). However, the financial measures in place to mitigate the effects of the crisis are to a large extent comparable to those of other countries (increased funding for the NHS, support for workers and businesses, tax reliefs, and tax holidays).

Post-pandemic Economic Transformations in the United States of America

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted economic activity not only in the United States, but across the globe. Lockdown and travel restrictions imposed by local authorities have led to change in customer preferences and thus transformation of economic activity from traditional areas to new regions. While most changes have been temporary and short term, some of them have been observed to be of permanent nature. Using large-scale aggregated and anonymized transaction data across various socio-economic groups, we analyse and discuss such temporary relocation of citizens' economic activities in metropolitan areas of 15 states in the US. The results of this study have extensive implications for urban planners and business owners, and can provide insights into the temporary relocation of economic activities resulting from an extreme exogenous shock like the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022 IEEE.

L'impôt cet inconnu

La crise sanitaire du Covid-19 porte de nombreuses interrogations fiscales auxquelles les pouvoirs publics ont apporté des réponses denses mais aussi parcellaires. L'analyse des difficultés et des mesures fiscales permet de mesurer l'étendue réelle ou supposée de l'inconnu fiscal.Alternate : The Covid-19 health crisis raises many fiscal questions to which the public authorities have provided dense but also fragmented responses. The analysis of difficulties and tax measures makes it possible to measure the real or supposed extent of the tax unknown.

L'avenir de la fiscalité locale à l'épreuve de la baisse des « impôts de production »

La réforme des impôts de production, mesure « phare » du plan de relance consécutif à la crise sanitaire, risque d'affecter les ressources et l'autonomie financière des collectivités territoriales et d'accélérer le déclin de la fiscalité locale, en compromettant ses perspectives de modernisation.Alternate abstract: The recent overhaul of taxes on production, which has been heralded as a "flagship” measure of the post-covid recovery plan, is likely to impact the resources and financial autonomy of local authorities, and to hasten the decline of local tax systems by jeopardizing their required modernization.

Managing the Pandemic: The Italian Strategy for Fighting COVID-19 and the Challenge of Sharing Administrative Powers

This article analyses the administrative measures and, more specifically, the administrative strategy implemented in the immediacy of the emergency by the Italian government in order to determine whether it was effective in managing the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the country. In analysing the administrative strategy, the article emphasises the role that the current system of constitutional separation of powers plays in emergency management and how this system can impact health risk assessment. An explanation of the risk management system in Italian and European Union (EU) law is provided and the following key legal issues are addressed: (1) the notion and features of emergency risk regulation from a pandemic perspective, distinguishing between risk and emergency;(2) the potential and limits of the precautionary principle in EU law;and (3) the Italian constitutional scenario with respect to the main provisions regulating central government, regional and local powers. Specifically, this article argues that the administrative strategy for effectively implementing emergency risk regulation based on an adequate and correct risk assessment requires "power sharing” across the different levels of government with the participation of all of the institutional actors involved in the decision-making process: Government, Regions and local authorities."And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all”.Edgar Allan Poe, The Mask of the Red Death, Complete Tales and Poems(New York, Vintage Books 1975) p 273

The impact of covid-19 restrictions on complaints of noise made to a local authority in Northern Ireland - a case study

The covid pandemic with national lockdowns and restrictions profoundly affected people's lives in many ways including the experience of neighbourhood noise. Initial research indicated a rise in noise complaints at the start of restrictions (Tong, 2021) supported by CIEH, 2022 finding a 54% increase in noise complaints in 2020/21. Analysis of complaints received in 2020 and 2021 at one local authority in Northern Ireland indicates a different experience. Total number of complaints did not see statistically significant increases when compared to 5-year averages. While there were increases in some categories, comparison with 5-year averages were not statistically significant. The only category of noise with a statistically significant increase in 2020 related to retail, returning to a more typical pattern in 2021. It may be explained by increased demand in essential food retail as well as social distancing requirements, limitations to customers inside, etc., as the sector adapted in 2020 followed by people becoming used to changes and a return to some behaviours more akin to those pre-covid. A wider study involving local authorities across Northern Ireland, the UK and countries that experienced lockdown measures may reveal a more accurate picture of the impact of neighbourhood noise experienced during the covid pandemic. © 2022 Internoise 2022 - 51st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering. All rights reserved.

Introduction

The H2020 CIVITAS SUITS project was conceived by Professor Andree Woodcock and colleagues in 2014/15. It was scheduled to run between 2016 and 2020 but owing to the COVID-19 pandemic was extended to spring 2021. The aim of the project was to support capacity building of small–medium local authorities developing sustainable transport measures. This volume provides an account of the outputs of the project, in the form of chapters and recommendations for local authorities and consultants who are entrusted in delivering transport services which are inclusive, fit for purpose and enable accessibility for all. Although larger authorities are relatively well equipped to make these changes, smaller, more traditional local authorities may lack the knowledge, capacity and capability to plan, finance and implement sustainable transport measures at a time of great socio economic, technological and cultural change. Such authorities are also required to adopt new ways of working at the same time as designing and planning multimillion-euro transport projects which will support smart city developments and significantly improve the mobility of their citizens. At the heart of H2020 CIVITAS SUITS is a socio-technical approach, which recognises that capacity building is more than just providing training, and it is about empowering members of an organisation to be innovative. This volume has been written to inform designed to inform the daily practices of transport departments and stakeholder groups engaged in commissioning sustainable transport measures of working on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. © 2023, Transport for West Midlands.

Three Nordic countries responding to COVID-19 - Eldercare perspectives.

Comparative international studies show that about half of the deceased in the COVID-19 pandemic were persons living in institutional and residential eldercare. As seniors are the most affected age group, we aim to study if and to what extent the eldercare services were included in the National Pandemic Plans, and how they were included in the response during the first phase of the pandemic in Finland, Iceland, and Sweden. We use the CRISMART approach to crisis documentation and analysis in comparing national response to the pandemic for the eldercare sector. The method enables comparison of extraordinary crisis situations from the decision-making and policy-making perspective. We found that there were both similarities and differences in the preparedness of the three Nordic countries, as well as in how they responded to the pandemic. In all three countries the focus of the national responses framed the problem as a health and healthcare services' problem. We also found value conflicts in the response between the value of protection versus social contact and self-determination and hence relating to the quality of eldercare. Keeping in mind the proportional increase of elderly people, care challenges, and future crises, we must strengthen the position of local social services within the emergency management systems to enhance disaster resilience and sustainability of our societies.

Meeting the Covid Challenge–Agility and Resilience of SUITS Local Authorities

The Covid-19 pandemic has created immense social, economic, and political disruption around the world. It has shown the importance of agile, functional and resilient cities. In the fight against Covid-19, public life has been reduced to a minimum, but local authorities (LAs) have had to continue to satisfy existing and emergent citizens' needs and implement, sometimes at very short notice, extreme measures to restrict movement, commerce, education and leisure activities. This poses significant challenges as they have had to not only enforce and communicate government plans but also be proactive and respond to local needs of their cities whilst learning to work in new ways and support the health and well-being of employees. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced organizational change. In many instances, this has accelerated the rate of change, proving that new ways of working are effective and has led to a (temporary) advancement of sustainable transport. This chapter focuses mainly on the experience of SUITS LAs in the final year of the project. © 2023, Transport for West Midlands.

Introduction

The H2020 CIVITAS SUITS project was conceived by Professor Andree Woodcock and colleagues in 2014/15. It was scheduled to run between 2016 and 2020 but owing to the COVID-19 pandemic was extended to spring 2021. The aim of the project was to support capacity building of small–medium local authorities developing sustainable transport measures. This volume provides an account of the outputs of the project, in the form of chapters and recommendations for local authorities and consultants who are entrusted in delivering transport services which are inclusive, fit for purpose and enable accessibility for all. Although larger authorities are relatively well equipped to make these changes, smaller, more traditional local authorities may lack the knowledge, capacity and capability to plan, finance and implement sustainable transport measures at a time of great socio economic, technological and cultural change. Such authorities are also required to adopt new ways of working at the same time as designing and planning multimillion-euro transport projects which will support smart city developments and significantly improve the mobility of their citizens. At the heart of H2020 CIVITAS SUITS is a socio-technical approach, which recognises that capacity building is more than just providing training, and it is about empowering members of an organisation to be innovative. This volume has been written to inform designed to inform the daily practices of transport departments and stakeholder groups engaged in commissioning sustainable transport measures of working on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. © 2023, Transport for West Midlands.

Sovereign public sector property fund: Building a conceptual framework

The public sector is the largest UK landowner and space occupier with local authorities owning and managing the majority of the real estate assets to meet services to the community. As central funding of these services reduce and the knowledge economy is changing the way we live, local governments are looking at more efficient and effective ways of managing their real estate operations and creating investment value to bridge the gap between funding shortfalls and the demand for public services. Several local authorities are now investing in commercial properties as a way to generate long term stable income streams although current practices are highlighting narrow portfolio diversification, management challenges, fee leakage and limited awareness of the knowledge economy on future real estate returns. This research paper examines the issues and provides a conceptual framework for a Sovereign Public Sector Property Fund which can create local level opportunities alongside a stable long term income stream. This can be achieved through a pooling of prime local government real estate assets to offer portfolio diversification with quality management, good governance, local authority appointed steering committee members and exposure to opportunities to benefit from aspects of the knowledge economy. Supported by central government, individual real estate assets in a Sovereign Public Sector Property Fund can provide a local destination with placemaking potential in the post COVID-19 era. Strengthening the connection between people and place, the real estate in the fund can be the catalyst for local employment opportunities and support surrounding communities. This exploratory study covers an important part of the UK economy and offers a valuable insight into creating a new real estate investment vehicle which can elevate the often underutilised prime local authority real estate assets.

How Can Authorities Support Distributed Improvisation During Major Crises? A Study of Decision Bottlenecks Arising During Local COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out

Despite the increased importance attributed to distributed improvisation in major crises, few studies investigate how central authorities can promote a harmonic, coordinated national response while allowing for distributed autonomy and improvisation. One idea implicit in the literature is that central authorities could help track and tackle common decision bottlenecks as they emerge across "improvising" local authorities as a result of shared, dynamic external constraints. To explore this idea we map central functions needed to roll-out vaccines to local populations and identify and classify bottlenecks to decision-making by local authorities managing COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in Norway. We found five bottlenecks which emerged as vaccine roll-out progressed, three of which could feasibly have been addressed by changing the local authorities' external constraints as the crisis developed. While the national crisis response strategy clearly allowed for distributed improvisation, our overall findings suggest that there is potential for central authorities to address external constraints in order to ease common bottlenecks as they emerge across local authorities responding to the crisis. More research is to explore alternative centralized response strategies and assess how well they effectively balance centralized and distributed control. The study contributes to the growing literature examining the interaction between local and centralized response in crisis management.

Local Authorities and Pandemic Responses in Perspective. Reflections from the Case of Milan

While in general the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have been analysed in academic literature from many points of view, such as the medical, occupational, social, economic and psychological ones, much less attention has been paid to the systems of norms which, in an emergency situation, have been elaborated and applied, and to their relationship with space. In order to explore this gap, the paper will propose to open a discussion on the role and effects of systems of pandemic regulation at local level, proposing a research framework and some very first applications to a specific case, the City of Milan in Northern Italy, an area badly hit by the pandemic. The paper thus moves from three research questions, related to questions of framing, governance, and timescale of the effects, as the main interpretive perspectives to understand and conceptualise the relationship between norms, actors, and decision-making processes, with a specific focus on the spatial realm. While the case in point chosen is the City of Milan, the research questions open to a wider debate, and to possible cross-context comparisons with other urban areas. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Analysis of Trends and Challenges of a Worldwide Solid Waste Management with Emphasis on Covid-19 Pandemic-A Review

Low collection coverage, lack of a safe and appropriate destination for all generated waste and pollution caused by inadequate waste disposal procedures are probably one of the most significant threats in the current decade (2021-2030). At the beginning of 2020, a new and unforeseen challenge emerged-the COVID-19 pandemic. This article provides a brief overview of the state of waste management in the world, identifying significant challenges that arose during the pandemic. As the situation changed daily in all regions of the world, many local authorities were obliged to react urgently and adjust the current way of waste management. People's habits have changed and the mandatory wearing of protective masks has increased the daily amount of plastic waste worldwide by approximately 21 000+ tons. This represented an additional burden for already under capacitated waste management systems. Also, waste collected from households in many parts of the world had to be treated as medical waste due to the COVID-19 positive people. There was a drastic increase in the daily amount of generated medical waste due to this, which in some cases was up to 6 times higher than usual. © 2022, Strojarski Facultet. All rights reserved.

Crisis as driver of digital transformation? Scottish local governments’ response to COVID-19

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has, from the outset, been characterized by a strong focus on real-time data intelligence and the use of data-driven technologies. Against this backdrop, this article investigates the impacts of the pandemic on Scottish local government’s data practices and, in turn, whether the crisis acted as a driver for digital transformation. Mobilizing the literatures on digital government transformation, and on the impacts of crises on public administrations, the article provides insights into the dynamics of digital transformation during a heightened period of acute demands on the public sector. The research evidences an intensification of public sector data use and sharing in Scottish local authorities, with focus on health-related data and the integration of existing datasets to gather local intelligence. The research reveals significant changes related to the technical and social systems of local government organizations. These include the repurposing and adoption of information systems, the acceleration of inter and intraorganizational data sharing processes, as well as changes in ways of working and in attitudes toward data sharing and collaborations. Drawing on these findings, the article highlights the importance of identifying and articulating specific data needs in relation to concrete policy questions in order to render digital transformation relevant and effective. The article also points to the need of addressing the persistent systemic challenges underlying public sector data engagement through, on one hand, sustained investment in data capabilities and infrastructures and, on the other, support for cross-organizational collaborative spaces and networks.

Informal dementia care: The carer's lived experience at the divides between policy and practice.

Support for informal dementia care at a local community level is not working for most carers today. Carers looking after a person with dementia have long lamented the absence of an empowered named support and an effectively actioned care plan. Drawing on literary writing and social research, we argue in this article that these challenges have existed since dementia emerged as a major condition in the West during the 1980s. Based on this historical context, we ask: Why has this issue persisted over the last four decades? How have healthcare politics and policy initiatives responded to these requests? And what can we learn from this for the current, COVID-19 exacerbated crisis of care? This article focuses on the English context, to discuss these ongoing challenges in the light of a series of policy papers, and to ask what is hampering the implementation of such policy initiatives. In England, local authorities are responsible for dementia support. This article focuses on the situation in a county in the Midlands where one of us (AB) has been lobbying local government for over a decade. The discussion contextualises the lived experience of dementia care within the situation exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuing politics of crises and persistent emphasis on cure over care. We find that the absence on two points centrally challenges care: a joined-up approach between health and social care and adequate information on available care support services, accessible through an empowered named contact. To enhance the lived experience of dementia care, consistent provision of individual named support and professional care support, as and when required, should become essential to local implementation of the care policy.