Measuring the accessibility and spatial equity of urban services under competition using the cumulative opportunities measure

Taking into account the rapidly aging demographic landscape in China, securing elderly’s right to participate in society has become an urgent challenge. Geographical access to urban amenities is known to influence social participation and integration. However, the application of accessibility analysis to elderly population in China has received little attention to date. This study examines the walking accessibility to recreational amenities for older adults in the Chinese context with an explicit focus on equity. Building on empirically-based estimates of a cumulative opportunity approach, we calculate the levels of accessibility at the traffic analysis zone level, evaluate how accessibility varies across age cohorts, and present the distribution of accessibility across zones. To this end, we draw on the 2015 Nanjing Travel Survey and the city’s GIS database. Instead of assuming a fixed threshold, this paper applies a spatial expansion model to allow for person- and location-specific walking distances to measure accessibility. The spatial disparities in access to recreational amenities are evaluated using the notion of vertical equity for identifying areas that are better-off or worse-off. Our results show pronounced distributional effects of current land-use and transportation policies for different age cohorts. In particular, elderly people experience lower accessibility to chess/card rooms and urban parks than their younger counterparts. The empirical evidence in this research can inform planning and policy interventions and feed current scientific debates on the role of accessibility in addressing social inclusion for an age-friendly society.

Investigating walking accessibility to recreational amenities for elderly people in Nanjing, China

Public medical service facilities are among the most basic needs of the public and are directly related to residents’ health. The balanced development of medical service facilities is of great significance. Public medical service facilities can be divided into different levels according to their medical equipment, service catchment, and medical quality, which is very important but has been ignored for a long time in accessibility evaluations. In this research, based on the hospital and population datasets of Shenzhen, we propose a hierarchical two-step floating catchment area (H2SFCA) method to evaluate the spatial accessibility of public medical resources considering the factors at different levels of medical resources. In the proposed method, the spatial accessibility of each level of public medical service facilities are evaluated using different distance attenuation functions according to the medical service’s scope. In addition, a measurement is proposed to evaluate the equity of medical service facilities based on accessibility and population density distributions. To synthesize the general spatial accessibility and the distribution balance of public medical service facilities, we standardize the spatial accessibility of public medical service facilities at each level and then calculate the weighted sums of the accessibility of each level. The general spatial equity of public medical service facilities is also evaluated. The results show that the accessibility and distribution balance of medical resources performs dissimilarly at the three levels and can be discriminated within different regions of the city. The accessibility of citywide medical facilities in Shenzhen decreases from the city center to the suburban area in a radial pattern and the accessibility and distribution balance in the suburban areas needs improvement.

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Evaluating the Spatial Accessibility and Distribution Balance of Multi-Level Medical Service Facilities

This paper develops a composite participation index (PI) to identify patterns of transport disadvantage
in space and time. It is operationalised using 157 weekly activity-travel diaries data collected from
three case study areas in rural Northern Ireland. A review of activity space and travel behaviour
research found that six dimensional indicators of activity spaces were typically used including the
number of unique locations visited, distance travelled, area of activity spaces, frequency of activity
participation, types of activity participated in, and duration of participation in order to identify transport
disadvantage. A combined measure using six individual indices were developed based on the six
dimensional indicators of activity spaces, by taking into account the relativity of the measures for
weekdays, weekends, and for a week. Factor analyses were conducted to derive weights of these
indices to form the PI measure. Multivariate analysis using general linear models of the different
indicators/indices identified new patterns of transport disadvantage. The research found that: indicator
based measures and index based measures are complement each other; interactions between
different factors generated new patterns of transport disadvantage; and that these patterns vary in
space and time. The analysis also indicates that the transport needs of different disadvantaged
groups are varied.

Participation index : a measure to identify rural transport disadvantage?

Towards vertical spatial equity of urban facilities: An integration of spatial and aspatial accessibility

Relative accessibility analysis for key land uses: A spatial equity perspective

The evolution of urban form is a slow and complex process driven by various factors which influence its pattern of occurrence (time, shape and directions) over time. Given the ever-increasing demand for urban expansion, and its negative effects on travel efficiency and environmental quality, it is imperative to understand the driving forces behind this complex process. This study investigates the role played by transport developments in the expansion of Perth’s urban footprint. Since transport developments are influenced by prevailing economic developments and planning regulations, our analysis starts by deconstructing a timeline of milestones under these three themes, from an urban land development perspective. An overview of the eras of transport evolution is provided, and we discuss the pattern of urban form changes as they relate to these transport advancements. The paper ends by mapping and quantifying changes in Perth’s urban land over the past five decades. The results show that transport had a strong influence on the pattern of urban expansion for a long time, but that trend has now been reversed. Rail constructions have been playing catch-up to residential expansion since the late twentieth century. Meanwhile, the rate of urban expansion has gone down in the twenty-first century, as the city goes for compact growth.

Drivers of Change in Urban Growth Patterns: A Transport Perspective from Perth, Western Australia

The level of commuting in cities is an important indicator of the efficiency of urban spatial structure. Recent research has come out in support of land use policies that promote balancing the number of employment opportunities and residents in local geographical units to reduce excess commuting. This study explores three employment self-sufficiency indices: job-worker balance (JWB), employment self-sufficiency (ESS) and employment self-containment (ESC), as measures for reducing the level of commuting. Using the case of Perth, Western Australia, we perform a trip-based evaluation of these three variables and investigate their effect on commuting time through statistical correlation. The results reveal that JWB, ESS and ESC levels are relatively poor across the metropolitan region. Higher ESS correlates with lower inflow travel time, but better JWB and higher ESC do not necessarily lead to shorter travel times. The findings of this study suggest that policies solely relying on these measures may not be effective in reducing commuting times. ESS and ESC do not account for the component of the trip outside the zone, which can misrepresent the level of commuting in an area. Incorporating travel time in these measures can complement their reliability, and better represent overall commuting levels within an urban structure.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/5/1488/pdf

Gary McCarney

Papers

Relative accessibility analysis for key land uses: A spatial equity perspective

Measuring the accessibility and spatial equity of urban services under competition using the cumulative opportunities measure

Drivers of Change in Urban Growth Patterns: A Transport Perspective from Perth, Western Australia

The Impact of Employment Self-Sufficiency Measures on Commuting Time: Case Study of Perth, Australia

Assessing the potential of an effective density-based measure against accessibility models for evaluation and prioritisation of activity centres