2023/12/22 by Ludovico Napoli, Vedran Sekara, Napoli, Ludovico +5 · 1 citation
Mathematics · Social Sciences · #COVID-19 epidemiological studies #FOS: Physical sciences #Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph) #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2312.14692
openalex publication_date 2023/12/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Socioeconomic segregation patterns in networks usually evolve gradually, yet they can change abruptly in response to external shocks. The recent COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent government policies induced several interruptions in societies, potentially disadvantaging the socioeconomically most vulnerable groups. Using large-scale digital behavioral observations as a natural laboratory, here we analyze how lockdown interventions lead to the reorganization of socioeconomic segregation patterns simultaneously in communication and mobility networks in Sierra Leone. We find that while segregation in mobility clearly increased during lockdown, the social communication network reorganized into a less segregated configuration as compared to reference periods. Moreover, due to differences in adaption capacities, the effects of lockdown policies varied across socioeconomic groups, leading to different or even opposite segregation patterns between the lower and higher socioeconomic classes. Such secondary effects of interventions need to be considered for better and more equitable policies.