This paper attempts to ascertain the impacts of population density on the spread and severity of COVID-19 in Malaysia. Besides describing the spatio-temporal contagion risk of the virus, ultimately, it seeks to test the hypothesis that higher population density results in exacerbated COVID-19 virulence in the community. The population density of 143 districts in Malaysia, as per data from Malaysia’s 2010 population census, was plotted against cumulative COVID-19 cases and infection rates of COVID-19 cases, which were obtained from Malaysia’s Ministry of Health official website. The data of these three variables were collected between 19 January 2020 and 31 December 2020. Based on the observations, districts that have high population densities and are highly inter-connected with neighbouring districts, whether geographically, socio-economically, or infrastructurally, tend to experience spikes in COVID-19 cases within weeks of each other. Using a parametric approach of the Pearson correlation, population density was found to have a moderately strong relationship to cumulative COVID-19 cases (p-value of 0.000 and R² of 0.415) and a weak relationship to COVID-19 infection rates (p-value of 0.005 and R² of 0.047). Consequently, we provide several non-pharmaceutical lessons, including urban planning strategies, as passive containment measures that may better support disease interventions against future contagious diseases.

Little attention has been paid to the impacts of institutional–human–environment dimensions on the outcome of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) abatement. Through the diagnostic social–ecological system (SES) framework, this review paper aimed to investigate what and how the multifaceted social, physical, and governance factors affected the success level of seven selected Asia-Pacific countries (namely, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and New Zealand) in combatting COVID-19. Drawing on statistical data from the Our World In Data website, we measured the COVID-19 severity or abatement success level of the countries on the basis of cumulative positive cases, average daily cases, and mortality rates for the period of 1 February 2020 to 30 June 2020. A qualitative content analysis using three codes, i.e., present (P), partially present (PP), and absent (A) for each SES attribute, as well as score calculation and rank ordering for government response effectiveness and the abatement success level across the countries, was undertaken. Not only did the standard coding process ensure data comparability but the data were deemed substantially reliable with Cohen’s kappa of 0.76. Among 13 attributes of the SES factors, high facility adequacy, comprehensive COVID-19 testing policies, strict lockdown measures, imposition of penalty, and the high trust level towards the government seemed to be significant in determining the COVID-19 severity in a country. The results show that Vietnam (ranked first) and New Zealand (ranked second), with a high presence of attributes/design principles contributing to high-level government stringency and health and containment indices, successfully controlled the virus, while Indonesia (ranked seventh) and Japan (ranked sixth), associated with the low presence of design principles, were deemed least successful. Two lessons can be drawn: (i) having high number of P for SES attributes does not always mean a panacea for the pandemic; however, it would be detrimental to a country if it lacked them severely, and (ii) some attributes (mostly from the governance factor) may carry higher weightage towards explaining the success level. This comparative study providing an overview of critical SES attributes in relation to COVID-19 offers novel policy insights, thus helping policymakers devise more strategic, coordinated measures, particularly for effective country preparedness and response in addressing the current and the future health crisis.

A few studies on outdoor human thermal comfort (HTC) have been conducted in the tropical region in a hot and humid climate; however, there is a paucity of discussions on how exactly different spatial settings influence HTC. Thus, this paper aims to examine how land use land cover (LULC) affects HTC on the basis of the simulation of Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) indices via ENVI-met and Rayman. The results reveal that people living in the urban area have a higher tendency to experience strong heat stress (25% of the areas with PMV ranging from 3.4 to 3.9 and 2% of the areas, where PMV reached 4.1), followed by the rural area (43% of the areas with PMV ranging from 2.1 to 2.4), and the suburban area (more than 50% of the areas with PMV values less than 2.4). Surprisingly, a concrete LULC in the suburb area exhibits a higher air temperature than an asphalt surface at 4 p.m., due to the large area of high albedo that increases the reflection of solar radiation, subsequently contributing to warming up the airmass. Similarly, sandy, and loamy LULC tend to emit more heat during nighttime, while the heat is absorbed slowly during daytime, and it is then slowly released during nighttime after 6 p.m. Spatial settings that promote heat stress in the urban area are mainly contributed by an LULC of asphalt, concrete, sandy, and loamy areas. Meanwhile, people in the suburban and rural areas are less likely to experience heat stress, due to agricultural plantations and lowland forest that provide shade, except for the barren lands-loamy areas. The result also indicates that tree-covered areas near the river in the suburban area afforded the best thermal experience with PMV of 2.1 and PET of 30.7. From the LULC comparison, it is pivotal to consider tree species (canopy density), surface material (albedo), sky-view factor, wind direction, and speed toward designing a more comfortable and sustainable environment.

This paper evaluates, via a laboratory assessment, the physical properties (BS EN 323:1993, BS EN 324) and mechanical performance (BS EN 310:1993) of hybrid particleboards using agricultural wastes, namely coconut fibre and sawdust. The process begins with the preparation of the materials where they are sieved and retained with the 5-mm sieve and then oven-dried. The hybrid particleboard mixed with the addition of resin (urea formaldehyde) was sprayed and hot pressed. The hot press temperature was set at 180 °C, with the resin content of 8 wt.% and the design density of 650 kg/m³ used in producing the particleboard. The percentage/ratio of the composition of sawdust (SD) to coconut fibre (CF) varied ranging from 100SD:0CF to 70SD:30CF, 50SD:50CF, 30SD:70CF, and 0SD:100CF. Meanwhile, as for the thickness of the boards, it was categorised into three groups which are 16 mm, 20 mm, and 32 mm. The particleboards were conditioned to the room temperature for seven days before being tested for physical properties and mechanical performances. The results show that the most optimum composition of sawdust to coconut fibre is 0% sawdust to 100% coconut fibre (0SD:100CF) and the optimum thickness is 20 mm, where its density is 761.99 kg/m³, swelling thickness is 11.98%, and water absorption at 37.64%. With the modulus of elasticity of 1510 N/mm², the modulus of rupture of 17.8 N/mm², and the internal bonding of 1.08 N/mm², they satisfied the universal standard of Particleboard Type P3 of BS EN 312:2010.

There is a lack of research on urban sprawl in developing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, undergoing significant demographic change. There is an urgent need to conduct more studies on African cities and investigate spatial variations in urban sprawl to fill a knowledge gap in Sub-Saharan Countries (SSC). There have been no studies of urban sprawl in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, a fragile metropolis struggling with the legacy of decades of civil war. This study has two main objectives: (i) to examine sprawl patterns in Mogadishu, Somalia; and (ii) to identify the drivers and impacts of urban sprawl in Mogadishu, Somalia. The study used spatiotemporal imagery from 2006, 2013, and 2021 to identify sprawl patterns. A quantitative method in the form of a cross-sectional survey with 265 participants was then used to identify the drivers and impacts of sprawl, which was then analysed using the structural equation model (SEM). The spatiotemporal analysis results showed sprawl patterns in nine districts and three settlements, mainly scattered and leapfrog patterns. The SEM discovered five significant drivers: low price of land and dwelling (LP), development of transportation infrastructure (DTI), rising income, security reasons, and low commute cost (LCC), in addition to eight significant impacts: less social interaction (LSI), agriculture land and natural habitat loss (AGL NHL), unsafe environment (USE), insufficient health and educational services (IHF IEF), high public services cost (HPSC), insufficient public transport (IPT), less physical activity (LPA), pollution (POL) and mental health issues (MH). Undoubtedly, the impacts found in the study proved that urban sprawl negatively impacted the residents and environment of Mogadishu, which will continue as the security situation in the city improves and more residents are attracted.