Perceived accessibility in Dutch rural areas: Bridging the gap with accessibility based on spatial data

Abstract

The spatial concentration of services and facilities poses a challenge to providing sufficient social and economic opportunities in rural areas. Accessibility evaluations based on spatial data potentially overlook individual heterogeneity in needs, desires and abilities, leading to mismatches with how accessibility is perceived. Using data from a self-administered survey in the Netherlands, this paper examines individual factors that explain differences between accessibility to daily activities calculated from spatial data and perceived levels of accessibility in rural areas. Accessibility is perceived as high on average, while 12% of the population is estimated to experience low levels of accessibility at least to some extent. Perceived accessibility correlates poorly with spatial accessibility, but is rather moderated by individual factors. Car mobility appears to be a major contributor to perceiving sufficient levels of accessibility in rural areas. However, the lowest levels of perceived accessibility seem to be more associated with social disadvantages than with transport disadvantages. The integration of relatively easy-to-obtain individual characteristics into spatial accessibility measurements may already significantly close the gap with perceived accessibility. With more explicit consideration of the individual dimension when constructing or interpreting accessibility indicators based on spatial data, the validity of their use in planning practice will increase and therefore facilitate successful accessibility-based planning.