1 COVID-19: An Opportunity for Smart and Sustainable …
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level through spatial-statistical analysis, in order to efficiently turn the weakness into
the opportunities for the future smart cities of India.
Section 1.2 describes the major sources used for data collection besides the
research design adopted by the authors in the research. Section 1.3 illustrates the
etymology of COVID-19 from a mysterious pneumonia to an epidemic, which later
declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The impact of the
pandemic is also analysed through descriptive and analytical research at the global
level. Section 1.4 focuses on the spatial-statistical analysis at national and state level
supported by the available literature. The analysis helps to perceive the consequences
of the COVID-19 pandemic on India’s demographic structure. Section 1.5 explains
the need of smart and sustainable cities and emphasises the importance of latest
digital technology in the modern era. The performance of districts having identified
smart cities has been assessed along with the government initiative to combat against
the COVID-19 pandemic. Section 1.6 highlights the major issues, which are identified through the research. Then, Sect. 1.7 discusses the recommendations formulated
to overcome the identified issues and needs to create smart regions. In addition, a
future digital model is proposed, which can be replicated under the same and different
geographical locations, to reduce the adverse effect of a pandemic on the smart and
sustainable cities. At last, Sect. 1.8 concludes the chapter with a summary.
1.2 Data Collection and Research Design
The 27 weeks (from 11 January 2020 to 17 July 2020) data have been analysed to
examine the impact of COVID-19 across the globe. The data shared by WHO has
been used for the analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic at the world level. The data has
been downloaded by the authors on 18 July 2020, which is last updated at 7:47 pm
Central European Summer Time (CEST) on 17 July 2020. The day-wise data of the
pandemic before 11 January 2020 is not available on the WHO website, which acts
as one of the limitations. As a result of which, the authors are compelled to rely
on articles to get the initial spreading details of the COVID-19. Furthermore, WHO
does not provide the state-wise data of COVID-19 for India. Therefore, ‘Coronavirus
Outbreak in India’ website is referred to get the COVID-19 data at national, state,
and district level. In the case of India, 24 weeks data has been collected and analysed,
i.e. from 30 January 2020 to 15 July 2020, as the first confirmed case of COVID-19
has been reported on 30 January 2020 in the state of Kerala [26]. The COVID-19 data
at the city level is not available as of 20 July 2020 on the official website of India i.e.
‘Coronavirus Outbreak in India’. Thus, city-level analysis is beyond the scope of this
chapter. Furthermore, the demographic profile of the country is collected from the
Census of India, which is available on the website of Office of the Registrar General
& Census Commissioner, India (ORGI).
The analytical research is a combination of both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The data is analysed by using big-data sets through spatial-statistical and geospatial analysis at world level, all-India level, state level, and district level. The accessible
3
level through spatial-statistical analysis, in order to efficiently turn the weakness into
the opportunities for the future smart cities of India.
Section 1.2 describes the major sources used for data collection besides the
research design adopted by the authors in the research. Section 1.3 illustrates the
etymology of COVID-19 from a mysterious pneumonia to an epidemic, which later
declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The impact of the
pandemic is also analysed through descriptive and analytical research at the global
level. Section 1.4 focuses on the spatial-statistical analysis at national and state level
supported by the available literature. The analysis helps to perceive the consequences
of the COVID-19 pandemic on India’s demographic structure. Section 1.5 explains
the need of smart and sustainable cities and emphasises the importance of latest
digital technology in the modern era. The performance of districts having identified
smart cities has been assessed along with the government initiative to combat against
the COVID-19 pandemic. Section 1.6 highlights the major issues, which are identified through the research. Then, Sect. 1.7 discusses the recommendations formulated
to overcome the identified issues and needs to create smart regions. In addition, a
future digital model is proposed, which can be replicated under the same and different
geographical locations, to reduce the adverse effect of a pandemic on the smart and
sustainable cities. At last, Sect. 1.8 concludes the chapter with a summary.
1.2 Data Collection and Research Design
The 27 weeks (from 11 January 2020 to 17 July 2020) data have been analysed to
examine the impact of COVID-19 across the globe. The data shared by WHO has
been used for the analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic at the world level. The data has
been downloaded by the authors on 18 July 2020, which is last updated at 7:47 pm
Central European Summer Time (CEST) on 17 July 2020. The day-wise data of the
pandemic before 11 January 2020 is not available on the WHO website, which acts
as one of the limitations. As a result of which, the authors are compelled to rely
on articles to get the initial spreading details of the COVID-19. Furthermore, WHO
does not provide the state-wise data of COVID-19 for India. Therefore, ‘Coronavirus
Outbreak in India’ website is referred to get the COVID-19 data at national, state,
and district level. In the case of India, 24 weeks data has been collected and analysed,
i.e. from 30 January 2020 to 15 July 2020, as the first confirmed case of COVID-19
has been reported on 30 January 2020 in the state of Kerala [26]. The COVID-19 data
at the city level is not available as of 20 July 2020 on the official website of India i.e.
‘Coronavirus Outbreak in India’. Thus, city-level analysis is beyond the scope of this
chapter. Furthermore, the demographic profile of the country is collected from the
Census of India, which is available on the website of Office of the Registrar General
& Census Commissioner, India (ORGI).
The analytical research is a combination of both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The data is analysed by using big-data sets through spatial-statistical and geospatial analysis at world level, all-India level, state level, and district level. The accessible