Analysis of village accessibility and its impact on land use dynamics in a mountainous province of northern Vietnam

Surveys carried out in mountainous areas of northern Vietnam at research sites selected across a gradient of market integration, revealed strong relationships between the location of the village with respect to the national road network and the nature of its land-use systems, its poverty level and more generally its potential for development. We developed and tested in Bac Kan province a method to give an objective and quantitative definition of accessibility over a large geographic area. Accessibility maps integrated in a provincial GIS showed that despite recent improvements to the road network, some remote areas do not benefit from recent development.     

基于腹地划分的中国城市群空间影响范围识别

城市群空间影响范围的界定是认清城市群内中心城市与腹地、城市与城市间相互关联的基础。采用主成分分析法计算中国287个地级及以上城市的结节性指数,利用累积耗费距离法和k阶数据场,综合测度了交通可达性与空间场能,根据场强"取大"原则对城市腹地进行了划分,依据城市腹地范围界定了城市群的空间影响范围。结果表明:①中国地级以上城市最大和最小结节性指数相差157.53倍,城市平均可达时间为193.43 min,场能平均值为5 412,最大和最小城市腹地相差3 751倍;②23个城市群中,空间影响范围最大的是北疆城市群,空间平均场强最大的是中原城市群;③城市群在空间上呈现为发育程度不同的"11+9+3"的分布格局和逆时针90°旋转的"β"型城市群连绵带发展格局;④基于腹地划分的城市群空间影响范围充分考虑了现实的交通网络和地形地貌特点,实现了对广域空间范围内城市腹地范围和城市群空间影响范围的定量测度。     

GIS-based cost distance modelling to support strategic maritime search and rescue planning: A feasibility study

Geographic information system (GIS) based methodologies are widely used to various problems. However, its potential for application to strategic maritime search and rescue (SAR) planning remains largely unexplored. To investigate the applicability of GIS-based tools to this problem, this paper presents an approach to evaluate accessibility and response times in a sea area. Such information aids to objectify the response effectiveness of a SAR system, which is important for rational resource allocation. The presented methodology accounts for the main characteristics of maritime response, namely spatial accessibility, capabilities of search and rescue units (SRUs) and prevailing wave conditions, which affect the attainable SRU speeds. An application to the Finnish areas of the Gulf of Finland is shown. Despite the existence of some difficulties with currently available tools (e.g. accurate and user-friendly spatial wave models and challenges with using raster-based methods in topologically complex areas) and limitations in knowledge (e.g. the SRU capabilities in actual operations), the results indicate that the methodology provides good opportunities for enhancing maritime decision making.     

Putting accessibility in place: A relational reading of accessibility in policies for transit-oriented development

In order to facilitate sustainable development, a shift from mobility-based to accessibility-based planning has been suggested. However, if we rely on the modern conceptualisation of accessibility, such a shift would have limited results. As an alternative, this paper proposes a relational reading of accessibility, which questions the divide between mobility and place upon which the modern definition is based. It argues that the accessibility of a place is characterised by a specific coordination of presences and absences that depends as much on boundaries and exclusions as on mobility. If accessibility changes, so does the place. This interpretation makes accessibility a matter of priorities and provides a critical perspective on arguments for time–space compressions and progress. This is illustrated here using the example of a regional strategy for transit-oriented development in Sweden (Region Scania). For that case, the discourse on accessibility revealed simplified arguments for densification, progress and metropolitan ideals, contradicting the initial inclusive intentions of the strategy. Thus, there is a need to put accessibility in place so that a shift to accessibility-based planning facilitates a move towards social and environmental sustainability.     

Trip making, induced travel demand, and accessibility

Traditional transportation planning practice rests on the premise that the demand for transportation is derived. On the other hand, economic theory advances that enhancement to the transportation system leads to lower travel cost and hence to induced demand. Such an argument lends support to the view that the rate at which trips are generated is linked to the ease of making trips to potential destinations. Rather conflicting evidence has so far come out of aggregate trip generation modeling applications. This paper revisits this issue with proper characterization of integral accessibility. Poisson regression models of automobile trip generation by trip purpose are estimated on travel survey data in Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN. Alternative measures of accessibility are tested for statistical significance. Conclusions are drawn on the role of accessibility in trip making and on the comparison of integral accessibility measures.The first author gratefully acknowledges the financial support of NSF grant SBR- 9308394. We are particularly indebted to Rick Gelbmann, Robert Paddock, and Mark Philippi at the Metropolitan Council, Minneapolis–St. Paul, and William Barrett at the Office of Transportation Data Analysis, Minnesota Department of Transportation for their availability to answer all our data-related questions.     

Critical distances: Comparing measures of spatial accessibility in the riverine landscapes of Peruvian Amazonia

Quantitative measures of accessibility are increasingly used in land cover change modeling and in assessing human pressure on the environment. In riverine Amazonia the significance of physical accessibility for biodiversity, land use patterns and economic livelihoods is widely acknowledged, but attempts to quantify accessibility in practice have been few in number. In this study we compare different distance- and frequency-based measures of spatial accessibility and develop a quantitative model of accessibility patterns for the north-eastern Peruvian Amazonia where rivers form the core of the transportation network. We model accessibility between the rural areas of the Loreto region and the capital city of Iquitos, using different distance algorithms in a geographic information system, and complement the distance model with information on river boat frequencies and transport capacities. Patterns of accessibility are visualized in terms of potential production zones for different types of agricultural and non-timber forest products.This study demonstrates how results from different accessibility measures vary considerably. The mean Euclidean distance to Iquitos is almost 270 km, the mean network distance nearly 760 km and the mean travel time 70 h. Observed network distances from validation points to Iquitos are on average 1.6 times longer than Euclidean distances, and for the whole study area, the average ratio between modeled network distances and Euclidean distances is 3.1. The correlation between network distances and time distances is very strong, but time distances are relatively shorter along the major channels where boat traffic is considerably faster than along narrow, tightly meandering rivers. Measures of boat frequency and transport capacity show that availability of transport possibilities is highly varying across the region. These measures provide insights into the ’thickness’ of trade, indicating the level of market integration for riverine settlements. We conclude that quantifying accessibility in an environment like Peruvian Amazonia requires measures that take into account the spatial structure and dynamic nature of the riverine transportation network. Time as a unit of distance provides the most relevant measure of accessibility in the Amazonian context, where many human actions and traditional livelihoods are controlled by travel times between the regional core and the hinterland.     

Geographical accessibility and Kentucky's heart-related hospital services

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading cause of mortality in the US. Rates of mortality vary spatially and demographically, influenced not only by individual patient characteristics but also by levels of accessibility to hospital services and facilities. In 2000, Kentucky ranked third in the nation for heart-related deaths. The purpose of this paper is to assess geographical accessibility and service utilization related to ambulatory care sensitive CVDs in Kentucky. This study utilizes the Kentucky Hospital Discharge Database to evaluate service utilization and the Compressed Mortality File to examine mortality related to CVDs. A spatial statistical comparison of the geographical distribution of service usage and travel time to hospitals assists in assessing the relationship between accessibility and health. Our findings suggest that the distribution of utilization and mortality is geographically variable. People living in rural areas travel further to services; populations residing more than 45 min from health facilities are more likely to be socially and economically marginalized. Spatial clustering of high rates of hospital utilization occurs in areas with lower accessibility.     

Identifying fisheries dependent communities in EU coastal areas

The importance of local communities relying on fisheries is constantly emphasised in the European Union's Common Fishery Policy. Previous studies have analysed fishery employment for the entire EU based on statistical figures aggregated by administrative units at the regional or provincial level. This paper adopts a geographical approach to identify EU coastal communities relying on fisheries using accessibility analysis, principles at the basis of gravity models and disaggregated population and employment statistics. The dependency on fisheries is calculated comparing estimated employment from fisheries at each port with general employment in the areas of accessibility surrounding the port. By considering spatially disaggregated statistics the importance of fishing activities for specific local communities emerges more clearly in respect of previous studies. The map of fisheries dependent coastal communities identifies in 2010, 388 communities, out of 1697, with dependency ratios above 1%. Around 54% of total fishery employment is estimated in these areas. In terms of policy support, identifying and mapping these local fishing coastal communities is of key importance considering the strong priority assigned by the new European Union's Common Fishery Policy to fishery management at the regional level.     

Accessibility in designing centralised warehousing: Case of health care logistics in Northern Finland

Long distances and sparse service networks set challenging conditions for material logistics in health care. Globally, health care organisations have been making structural changes towards centralised warehousing and deliveries. In Northern Finland, material logistics of the public health care system rely mainly on numerous separate order and delivery systems, although logistics needs, ordering and stock in different health care facilities correspond to each other. As centralised logistics in orders and deliveries may lead to remarkable savings, pressure for centralised management is high. This paper analyses how effectively a potential centralised warehousing system can be organised based on its spatial components. These include optimal location of one or more warehouses, delivery network coverage and efficiency of routes, as well as accessibility of health centres and hospitals. The geographic information systems (GIS) -based accessibility analytical framework described in this study applies vehicle routing and heuristic computations to location-allocation of warehouses to potential sites by optimising transport cost with a constraint to provide service to at least 90% of delivery demand. The spatial data include the road network, health care facility locations with rough estimates of freight demand nodes and potential locations of warehouse facilities. The main findings of the study show that majority of health centres and hospitals can be effectively reached by a delivery network based on one or two warehouses. Furthermore, the efficiency of the delivery network does not increase remarkably by increasing the number of warehouses, when measured as driving time.     

The benefits of a high-resolution analysis of transit accessibility

Accessibility is an important consideration in sustainable mobility policies, particularly for transit users. Measures suggested in the literature are based on coarse aggregate spatial resolution of traffic analysis zones that is sufficient for managing car travels only. To reflect a human door-to-door travel, transit accessibility demands an explicit view of the location of origin, transit stops and destination, as well as of the temporal fit between transit lines timetable and traveler’s needs. We thus estimate transit accessibility based on mode-specific travel times and corresponding paths, including walking and waiting, at the resolution of individual buildings and stops. Car accessibility is estimated at a high resolution too. A novel representation of transit network as a graph is proposed. This representation includes all modal components of a transit travel – walking, waiting at a stop, transit ride, transfers between lines, thus enabling unified view of a travel, regardless of mode. The use of modern high-performance graph database allows construction of high-resolution accessibility maps for an entire metropolitan area with its 100–200 K buildings. The application is tested and applied in a case study involving the evaluation of the 2011 bus line reform in the city of Tel Aviv. Specifically, we demonstrate that while the reform increased the average accessibility for the entire city the increase was not uniform with different areas of the city experiencing different absolute accessibility by transit and relative accessibility in comparison to car travel. The bus reform did in fact benefit travelers that experienced low relative accessibility, but the benefits are mainly accruing to longer trips. Our approach and computational methods can be employed for directly investigating the impacts of transportation infrastructure investments.