  The analysis of contagion-diffusion processes in metapopulations is a
powerful theoretical tool to study how mobility influences the spread of
communicable diseases. Nevertheless, many metapopulation approaches use
indistinguishable agents to alleviate analytical difficulties. Here, we address
the impact that recurrent mobility patterns, and the spatial distribution of
distinguishable agents, have on the unfolding of epidemics in large urban
areas. We incorporate the distinguishable nature of agents regarding both,
their residence, and their usual destination. The proposed model allows both a
fast computation of the spatio-temporal pattern of the epidemic trajectory and.
the analytical calculation of the epidemic threshold. This threshold is found
as the spectral radius of a mixing matrix encapsulating the residential
distribution, and the specific commuting patterns of agents. We prove that the
simplification of indistinguishable individuals overestimates the value of the
epidemic threshold.
