Level Of Spatial Accessibility Research Articles

Population Access to Hospital Emergency Departments: The Spatial Analysis in Public Health Research.

The emergency medical services support the primary health care system. Hospital emergency departments (HEDs), which provide medical assistance to all patients in a state of emergency are of considerable importance to the system. When studying access to HEDs, attention should be focused on spatial relations resulting from the location of HEDs and the places of residence of the potential patients. The aim of the paper is to explain the level of spatial accessibility of HEDs and its changes as a result of organizational and spatial transformations of HEDs’ networks in Poland. The research was conducted within two time series, comparing the changes in the distribution of HEDs in 2011 and 2021. GIS techniques were used to measure the distances between emergency departments and places of residence. It was observed that the transformation of the spatial organization of the hospital emergency department network in 2011–2021 resulted in the overall improvement of the spatial accessibility of these facilities, reducing the distance between them and places of residence.

Identifying locations for new bike-sharing stations in Glasgow: an analysis of spatial equity and demand factors

ABSTRACT Worldwide bike-sharing systems are growing in popularity as an alternative, environmentally friendly mode of transportation. As cities seek to further develop bike-sharing programmes, it is important to consider how systems should expand to simultaneously address existing inequalities in accessibility, and best serve demand. In this paper, we determine ideal locations for future bike-sharing stations in Glasgow, Scotland, by integrating demand modelling with accessibility considerations. We began by analysing the spatio-temporal trends of bike-sharing usage, and assessed the spatial equity of access to stations in Glasgow. To identify important determinants of bike-sharing demand, we ran an ordinary least squares regression model using bike sharing trip data from Nextbike Glasgow. We then quantifiably measured the level of spatial accessibility to stations by applying the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) methodology and ran a GIS weighted overlay analysis using the significant determinants of station demand. Lastly, we combined the demand and accessibility results to determine where new stations should be located using a maximum covering location problem (MCLP) that maximized the population served. Our results show that distance from transit stations, distance from downtown, employment rates, and nearby cycling lanes are significant factors affecting station-level demand. Furthermore, levels of spatial access were found to be highest primarily in the centre and eastern neighbourhood of Glasgow. These findings aided in determining areas to prioritize for future station locations, and our methodology can easily be applied to other bike-share programmes with adjustments according to varying aims for system expansion.

Opening Gated Communities and Neighborhood Accessibility Benefits: The Case of Seoul, Korea.

The level of spatial accessibility is directly related to how street networks are connected. Connected or so-called “permeable” network systems encourage walking, cycling, and riding public transit. Fast urbanization during the recent decades in the world metropolises has created separated urban areas. Gated-style apartment complexes have led this segregation more obviously with their inaccessible internal networks. Opening the internal network of apartment complexes and redesigning the pedestrian paths among apartment buildings will significantly mitigate these networks’ adverse effects on network permeability and increase spatial accessibility. This paper analyzes how such an opening design proposal for apartment complexes can change spatial accessibility using the case study of Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea. It simulates three types of street networks and compares the results of accessibility in three conditions: (1) the internal networks of apartment complexes are not used by outsiders; (2) the internal networks of apartment complexes are open to outsiders with its existing entrances and path; and (3) the internal networks of sites are opened and redesigned by the Voronoi diagram method, which generates the optimal shortest path. An urban network analysis tool, Rhinoceros three-dimensional software, and Grashopper3D visual programming language have been used for the study results, which shows that a policy change in opening the intra-network of apartment complexes is likely to make the city more permeable. In addition, this study suggests extra modification on the pedestrian path for a higher level of accessibility in neighborhoods.

Spatial analysis of population at risk of food insecurity using the voices from a Photovoice study

To better understand community-level impacts of the built environmental quality on residents with less economic resources to acquire food, it is fruitful to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to the investigation. We explored how the level of spatial accessibility in communities change if we incorporate even a few factors of barriers on journey to food voiced in a Photovoice study. The resulting population coverage by food outlets was dramatically reduced in both rural and urban communities, suggesting that the usual proximity-based spatial analysis likely grossly underestimate the population at risk of lacking access to food. Therefore, a ‘real’ spatial accessibility can only be understood by incorporating factors of barriers to get to food outlets, informed by the insights of community members.