Abstract
Social infrastructure is provided to improve the quality of life of residents. There are two approaches to social infrastructure planning: (1) a population-based approach and (2) an access-based approach. A plan for the social infrastructure facilities in South Korea has been developed based on the population or number of households in a region. Recently, the South Korean government presented a guideline in which accessibility is included in the criteria. This study proposes a comprehensive evaluation method for the accessibility of social infrastructure and for identifying residential areas with poor access. To obtain the travel time between the residence and the social infrastructure facility, we employed a navigation application programming interface that provides a travel time that reflects the resistances in an actual situation. The accessibility index (AI) is defined as a population-weighted average travel time. We also identified residential areas with poor access to social infrastructure by creating accessibility maps. This study includes social infrastructure facilities, such as parks, libraries, elementary schools, childcare centers, kindergartens, and sports facilities. The method proposed in this study was applied to Namdong-gu, Incheon Metropolitan City, South Korea, to evaluate its applicability. The proposed method has advantages in that (1) the AI is easy to understand because it represents an intuitive index for the overall accessibility in minutes of a region, and (2) accessibility maps effectively identify residential areas with poor access.
Highlights
Social infrastructure is defined as a complex system of facilities, programs, and social networks that aim to improve the quality of life [1]
Recent cities are suggesting strategies to establish social infrastructure planning based on accessibility
In the Metropolitan Melbourne Strategic Plan, the Victorian government provides a vision for a 20-min neighborhood based on a proximity or accessibility approach [21]
Summary
Social infrastructure is defined as a complex system of facilities, programs, and social networks that aim to improve the quality of life [1]. The Korean government is planning to build a park so that anyone can use the park within 15 min of walking from home This threshold seems reasonable because sufficient social infrastructure facilities are provided in a region, they do not enhance residents’ satisfaction and quality of life if they are located in a poorly accessible location. The so-called ‘20-min neighborhood’ concept gives people the ability to fulfill most of their day-to-day life within 20 min of walking from home, and access to safe biking and local transportation options [21] These communities are planned using strategic planning guidelines that incorporate maximum distances or maximum time as the basis for social infrastructure provision. This study suggests a method to comprehensively evaluate neighborhoods or cities regarding accessibility and identify blind spots in social infrastructure
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