Spatial Accessibility of Multiple Facilities for Affordable Housing Neighborhoods in Harbin, China

Abstract

The spatial mismatch between affordable housing neighborhoods and public services/facilities significantly reduces the well-being of low-income dwellers, which has risen to a typical issue of spatial injustice. Previous studies on accessibility evaluation most focus on a single type of service, lacking empirical studies exploring the integrated spatial accessibility of multiple services for low-income residents. Taking Harbin City in northeast China as an example, this study assessed the spatial accessibility of transit, education, healthcare, shopping, and recreation facilities for affordable housing neighborhoods, using the Gaussian-based 2SFCA method. The pattern of accessibility for each type of facility in Harbin showed obvious spatial differentiation between the urban core and the city periphery, for both affordable housing neighborhoods and other neighborhoods. The sample household survey indicated that low-income households who were generally characterized as elderly, less-educated, under-employed or unemployed had extremely restricted and passive residence choices. In comparison to non-low-income households, the spatial accessibility of higher-level facilities for low-income households was relatively poorer. Particularly, affordable housing neighborhoods had much lower accessibility of subway stations, though more than 97% of low-income respondents living in affordable housing neighborhoods chose to solve the daily trip demand by taking a bus or the subway. With respect to equity-oriented urban planning, more importance should be attached to the spatial accessibility of public services and facilities when planning affordable housing projects for low-income households.