Urban Sustainability Versus the Impact of Covid-19 A Madrid Case Study

Most recent research on urban health has primarily been focused on non-communicable diseases related to sedentary lifestyles, unbalanced diets and the high concentration of pollutants derived from anthropogenic activities. Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, heatstroke and cold-related problems and injuries and accidents due to road traffic were some of the main public health challenges over several decades (HUDU 2007), which aligned perfectly with Sustainable Development Goals #3 (Health and Wellbeing), #11 and #13. However, Covid-19 has brought a new scenario, in which high density in cities has been questioned from the very first outbreak, as transmission of the virus is related to human interaction. This work takes Madrid as a case study. Madrid has a population of 3 266 126 (INE 2019), which Covid-19 impacted with 9134 deaths and more than 70 629 infections from March to June 2020 (Spanish Ministry of Health 2020). The research questions are: Would density be a conduit or obstacle to Madrid's high infection ratio? Is density related to greater resilient networks in the city? Are sustainability variables incompatible with infection prevention? Madrid is a dense city (5400 inhabitants/km(2)) with a wide range of heterogeneous urban structures, high levels of motorised mobility and discontinuous green areas. The main results of this work are that i) districts with higher rates of contamination were not the denser ones; ii) south-east peripheral districts were more affected than the central ones but they were also the ones with more support networks; iii) finally, overlapping the spatial structure with the social pattern and density does not determine the spread of the disease. Therefore, it is concluded that Madrid has many sustainability parameters that make it resilient. Moreover, the importance of transversal studies to avoid such dramatic episodes and the ability to plan the city to face future pandemics while retaining urban quality of life are highlighted.