IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i9p5053-d800032.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Innovative Index for Evaluating Urban Vulnerability on Pandemic Using LambdaMART Algorithm

Author

Listed:
  • Yuming Lin

    (Division of Environmental Design, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan)

  • Zhenjiang Shen

    (Division of Environmental Design, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed urban life and increased attention has been paid to the pandemic in discussions of urban vulnerability. There is a lack of methods to incorporate dynamic indicators such as urban vitality into evaluations of urban pandemic vulnerability. In this research, we use machine learning to establish an urban Pandemic Vulnerability Index (PVI) that measures the city’s vulnerability to the pandemic and takes dynamic indicators as an important aspect of this. The proposed PVI is constructed using 140 statistic variables and 10 dynamic variables, using data from 47 prefectures of Japan. Factor Analysis is used to extract factors from variables that may affect city vulnerability, and the LambdaMART algorithm is used to aggregate factors and predict vulnerability. The results show that the proposed PVI can predict the relative seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic in two weeks with a precision of more than 0.71, which is meaningful for taking controlling measures in advance and shaping the society’s response. Further analysis revealed the key factors affecting urban pandemic vulnerability, including city size, transit station vitality, and medical facilities, emphasizing precautions for public transport systems and new planning concepts such as the compact city. This research explores the application of machine learning techniques in the indicator establishment and incorporates dynamic factors into vulnerability assessments, which contribute to improvements in urban vulnerability assessments and the planning of sustainable cities while facing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuming Lin & Zhenjiang Shen, 2022. "An Innovative Index for Evaluating Urban Vulnerability on Pandemic Using LambdaMART Algorithm," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5053-:d:800032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5053/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5053/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mishra, Swasti Vardhan & Gayen, Amiya & Haque, Sk. Mafizul, 2020. "COVID-19 and urban vulnerability in India," SocArXiv 523r8, Center for Open Science.
    2. Jorge Salas & Víctor Yepes, 2019. "VisualUVAM: A Decision Support System Addressing the Curse of Dimensionality for the Multi-Scale Assessment of Urban Vulnerability in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-17, April.
    3. Peter Boettke & Benjamin Powell, 2021. "The political economy of the COVID‐19 pandemic," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(4), pages 1090-1106, April.
    4. repec:ucp:bkecon:9780226316529 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jeisson Prieto & Rafael Malagón & Jonatan Gomez & Elizabeth León, 2021. "Urban Vulnerability Assessment for Pandemic Surveillance—The COVID-19 Case in Bogotá, Colombia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-13, March.
    2. Vincent Miozzi & Benjamin Powell, 2023. "The pre-pandemic political economy determinants of lockdown severity," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 197(1), pages 167-183, October.
    3. Darcy W. E. Allen & Chris Berg & Sinclair Davidson & Jason Potts, 2022. "On Coase and COVID-19," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 107-125, August.
    4. Justin T. Callais & Jamie Bologna Pavlik, 2023. "Does economic freedom lighten the blow? Evidence from the great recession in the United States," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 357-398, September.
    5. Tan, Si Ying & Foo, Chuan De & Verma, Monica & Hanvoravongchai, Piya & Cheh, Paul Li Jen & Pholpark, Aungsumalee & Marthias, Tiara & Hafidz, Firdaus & Prawidya Putri, Likke & Mahendradhata, Yodi & Gia, 2023. "Mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable populations: Lessons for improving health and social equity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    6. Jorge Salas & Víctor Yepes, 2020. "Enhancing Sustainability and Resilience through Multi-Level Infrastructure Planning," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Arora, Varun & Chakravarty, Sujoy & Kapoor, Hansika & Mukherjee, Shagata & Roy, Shubhabrata & Tagat, Anirudh, 2023. "No going back: COVID-19 disease threat perception and male migrants' willingness to return to work in India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 533-546.
    8. Sezer Yasar & Ceyhun Elgin, 2024. "Democracy and fiscal-policy response to COVID-19," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 198(1), pages 25-45, January.
    9. Shreya Joshi & Bhumika Morey & Sameer Deshkar & Bijon Kumer Mitra, 2022. "Applying Circulating and Ecological Sphere (CES) Concept for Post-Pandemic Development: A Case of Hingna Tahsil, Nagpur (India)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    10. Mohammad Arif & Soumita Sengupta, 2021. "Nexus between population density and novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the south Indian states: A geo-statistical approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 10246-10274, July.
    11. Danat Valizade & Manhal Ali & Mark Stuart, 2023. "Inequalities in the disruption of paid work during the Covid‐19 pandemic: A world systems analysis of core, semi‐periphery, and periphery states," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 189-213, April.
    12. Lili Li & Araz Taeihagh & Si Ying Tan, 2023. "A scoping review of the impacts of COVID-19 physical distancing measures on vulnerable population groups," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Mahadevia, Darshini & Datt, Manish & Adhvaryu, Bhargav & Killiyath, Suhair, 2021. "Spatiality of COVID-19 Infections in Ahmedabad: An Early Period Analysis," SocArXiv ycnue, Center for Open Science.
    14. Tom Deweerdt, 2022. "Why Is the Australian Health Sector So Far behind in Practising Climate-Related Disclosures?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-11, October.
    15. Shahparvari, Shahrooz & Hassanizadeh, Behnam & Mohammadi, Alireza & Kiani, Behzad & Lau, Kwok Hung & Chhetri, Prem & Abbasi, Babak, 2022. "A decision support system for prioritised COVID-19 two-dosage vaccination allocation and distribution," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    16. Giampaolo Garzarelli & Lyndal Keeton & Aldo A. Sitoe, 2022. "Rights redistribution and COVID-19 lockdown policy," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 5-36, August.
    17. Patricia Basile, 2023. "Vulnerability, neglect, and collectivity in Brazilian favelas: Surviving the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s necropolitics," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(9), pages 1690-1706, July.
    18. Ruohan Wu, 2022. "Transitioning Economic Statuses of Appalachian Counties during COVID-19," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 50(3), pages 147-158, December.
    19. Vicent Penadés-Plà & David Martínez-Muñoz & Tatiana García-Segura & Ignacio J. Navarro & Víctor Yepes, 2020. "Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of Optimized Post-Tensioned Concrete Road Bridges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-18, May.
    20. Das, Arijit & Das, Manob, 2023. "Exploring the relationship between quality of living and green spaces in cities: Evidence from an Indian megacity region of global south," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5053-:d:800032. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.