A Perspective on Inhabited Urban Space: Land Use and Occupation, Heat Islands, and Precarious Urbanization as Determinants of Territorial Receptivity to Dengue in the City of Rio De Janeiro

Introduction: Rio de Janeiro is the second-largest city in Brazil, with strong socio-spatial segregation, and diverse and heterogeneous land use, occupation, and landscapes. The complexity of dengue requires the construction of surveillance and control tools that take into account the historical, social, economic, and environmental processes mediated in the territory as a central axis of public policy. In this context, this study aimed to stratify the city into areas of receptivity to dengue, using innovative “territorial indicators” because they are built based on the actual occupation of the territory. Methods: We designed and constructed 17 indicators that sought to characterize the transformed and inhabited space according to receptivity to dengue. We used data on land use and occupation, connectivity, climate, and landscape. We developed the dengue receptivity through principal component analysis (PCA), using multiple criteria analysis and map algebra integrated in a GIS platform. Results: The most receptive areas were concentrated in the transition between the north and west zones of the city, a region of unconsolidated urban sprawl. The areas of greatest receptivity had the highest incidence and density of Aedes eggs during the study period. The correlation between receptivity index and incidence rate was positive in the epidemic years. Conclusion: The proposed set of indicators was able to identify areas of greater receptivity, such as regions of disorderly urban sprawl, with a concentration of social and environmental processes that are related to the occurrence of dengue outbreaks and high vector density. On the other hand, population immunity plays an important role in the spatial distribution of dengue during non-epidemic years.