Analysis on accessibility to urban facilities using the flexible distance attenuation function

Abstract

AbstractIn urban planning, variations in accessibility to facilities that change with distance are often regarded as monotonically decreasing distance functions. However, it is difficult to select an appropriate function type. In this study, we aim to investigate the spatial distribution of facility accessibility, which can vary according to facility type, by using a distance attenuation function that includes an unknown parameter to determine the distribution function. The distribution of facility accessibility is represented as a monotonically decreasing distance function that includes two parameters: “distance resistance” and “type of distribution function.” Here, we apply the distance function to a defined region and analyze facility accessibility from multiple perspectives. Using cluster analysis, we further classify facility types into four categories, based on the estimates of the two parameters of the distance function. Our findings showed that many estimate values of the parameters representing the values of power in the distance functions were close to 1 or 2. The values of power in the distance functions estimated in this study are expected to be utilized for evaluating the estimates themselves and also as guidelines for applying representative distributions, such as normal distributions, to distance functions.