arXiv:2512.00315v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: We investigate whether the structural connectivity of urban road networks helps explain dengue incidence in Recife, Brazil (2015–2024). For each neighborhood, we compute the average emph{communicability curvature}, a graph-theoretic measure capturing the ability of a locality to influence others through multiple network paths. We integrate this metric into Negative Binomial models, fixed-effects regressions, SAR/SAC spatial models, and a hierarchical INLA/BYM2 specification. Across all frameworks, curvature is the strongest and most stable predictor of dengue risk. In the BYM2 model, the structured spatial component collapses ($phi approx 0$), indicating that functional network connectivity explains nearly all spatial dependence typically attributed to adjacency-based CAR terms. The results show that dengue spread in Recife is driven less by geographic contiguity and more by network-mediated structural flows.