IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jotrge/v17y2009i1p39-53.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mapping accessibility in Belgium: a tool for land-use and transport planning?

Author

Listed:
  • Vandenbulcke, Grégory
  • Steenberghen, Thérèse
  • Thomas, Isabelle

Abstract

This paper compares the spatial structure of car accessibility to towns and to railway stations during peak and off-peak hours in Belgium for the country’s 2616 municipalities. A clustering method is applied. It is shown that in a highly urbanised country, the situation is far from being spatially equitable in terms of accessibility, and some areas are more favoured than others. Congestion increases spatial inequalities, differently according to absolute or relative measures of change. By means of examples, this paper shows that even simple accessibility indicators could be useful to support decisions taken by planners and politicians (e.g. as regards the development of residential, industrial and business park areas). Maps indicate the spatial inequalities in terms of accessibility to urban centres and transport nodes, and the impact of congestion on these inequalities. The absolute and relative time losses due to congestion affect different areas in different ways. The location of new developments further increases the congestion problem and the spatial disparities. This paper also insists on the caution that should be adopted when measuring and interpreting “accessibility”, its measurements, its inputs, its temporal changes in absolute and relative terms as well as the need for spatially disaggregated data.

Suggested Citation

  • Vandenbulcke, Grégory & Steenberghen, Thérèse & Thomas, Isabelle, 2009. "Mapping accessibility in Belgium: a tool for land-use and transport planning?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 39-53.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:17:y:2009:i:1:p:39-53
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2008.04.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096669230800032X
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2008.04.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Isabelle Thomas & Jean‐Pierre Hermia & Thierry Vanelslander & Ann Verhetsel, 2003. "Accessibility to freight transport networks in Belgium: a geographical approach," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 94(4), pages 424-438, September.
    2. Alex Anas & Richard Arnott & Kenneth A. Small, 1998. "Urban Spatial Structure," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1426-1464, September.
    3. Claire Dujardin & Isabelle Thomas & Henry Tulkens, 2007. "Quelles frontières pour Bruxelles ? Une mise à jour," Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 155-176.
    4. Wachs, Martin & Kumagai, T. Gordon, 1973. "Physical accessibility as a social indicator," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 437-456, October.
    5. R W Vickerman, 1974. "Accessibility, Attraction, and Potential: A Review of Some Concepts and Their Use in Determining Mobility," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 6(6), pages 675-691, December.
    6. Alex Anas & Richard Arnott & Kenneth A. Small, 1998. "Urban Spatial Structure," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1426-1464, September.
    7. Hall, Randolph W., 1983. "Travel outcome and performance: The effect of uncertainty on accessibility," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 275-290, August.
    8. E Talen & L Anselin, 1998. "Assessing Spatial Equity: An Evaluation of Measures of Accessibility to Public Playgrounds," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 30(4), pages 595-613, April.
    9. M E Frost & N A Spence, 1995. "The Rediscovery of Accessibility and Economic Potential: The Critical Issue of Self-Potential," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 27(11), pages 1833-1848, November.
    10. Halden, Derek, 2002. "Using accessibility measures to integrate land use and transport policy in Edinburgh and the Lothians," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 313-324, October.
    11. Handy, Susan, 1993. "Regional Versus Local Accessibility: Implications for Nonwork Travel," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt2z79q67d, University of California Transportation Center.
    12. P L Knox, 1978. "The Intraurban Ecology of Primary Medical Care: Patterns of Accessibility and Their Policy Implications," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 10(4), pages 415-435, April.
    13. Wu, Belinda M. & Hine, Julian P., 2003. "A PTAL approach to measuring changes in bus service accessibility," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 307-320, October.
    14. S L Handy & D A Niemeier, 1997. "Measuring Accessibility: An Exploration of Issues and Alternatives," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 29(7), pages 1175-1194, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bocarejo S., Juan Pablo & Oviedo H., Daniel Ricardo, 2012. "Transport accessibility and social inequities: a tool for identification of mobility needs and evaluation of transport investments," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 142-154.
    2. Cascetta, Ennio & Cartenì, Armando & Montanino, Marcello, 2016. "A behavioral model of accessibility based on the number of available opportunities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 45-58.
    3. Mondschein, Andrew & Taylor, Brian D & Brumbaugh, Stephen, 2010. "Congestion And Accessibility: What’S The Relationship?," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt8135b0jh, University of California Transportation Center.
    4. Elisabeth Tovar, 2008. "Quel périmètre pour la différenciation sociale de l’espace urbain ? Une proposition capabiliste," Documents de recherche 08-17, Centre d'Études des Politiques Économiques (EPEE), Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne.
    5. Mondschein, Andrew & Taylor, Brian D. & Brumbaugh, Stephen, 2011. "Congestion and Accessibility: What's the Relationship," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt6bh2n9wx, University of California Transportation Center.
    6. Gonzales, Eric Justin, 2011. "Allocation of Space and the Costs of Multimodal Transport in Cities," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt7s28n4nj, University of California Transportation Center.
    7. Gonzales, Eric Justin, 2011. "Allocation of Space and the Costs of Multimodal Transport in Cities," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt07x7h9pg, University of California Transportation Center.
    8. Mondschein, Andrew & Taylor, Brian D., 2017. "Is traffic congestion overrated? Examining the highly variable effects of congestion on travel and accessibility," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 65-76.
    9. Dong, Xiaojing & Ben-Akiva, Moshe E. & Bowman, John L. & Walker, Joan L., 2006. "Moving from trip-based to activity-based measures of accessibility," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 163-180, February.
    10. Luz, Gregório & Barboza, Matheus H.C. & Portugal, Licinio & Giannotti, Mariana & van Wee, Bert, 2022. "Does better accessibility help to reduce social exclusion? Evidence from the city of São Paulo, Brazil," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 186-217.
    11. Isabelle Thomas & Marie-Laurence De Keersmaecker & Pierre Frankhauser, 2003. "Using fractal dimensions for characterizing intra-urban diversity. The example of Brussels," ERSA conference papers ersa03p116, European Regional Science Association.
    12. Nazari Adli, Saeid & Donovan, Stuart, 2018. "Right to the city: Applying justice tests to public transport investments," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 56-65.
    13. Luz, Gregorio & Barboza, Matheus Henrique Cunha & da Silva Portugal, Licinio & Giannotti, Mariana & van Wee, Bert, 2022. "Does better accessibility help to reduce social exclusion? Evidence from the City of São Paulo, Brazil," SocArXiv 2p896, Center for Open Science.
    14. Ahmed El-Geneidy & David Levinson, 2011. "Place Rank: Valuing Spatial Interactions," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 643-659, December.
    15. Zhao, Pengjun & Lü, Bin & Roo, Gert de, 2011. "Impact of the jobs-housing balance on urban commuting in Beijing in the transformation era," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 59-69.
    16. Frank van Oort & Martijn Burger & Otto Raspe, 2010. "On the Economic Foundation of the Urban Network Paradigm: Spatial Integration, Functional Integration and Economic Complementarities within the Dutch Randstad," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(4), pages 725-748, April.
    17. Karner, Alex, 2018. "Assessing public transit service equity using route-level accessibility measures and public data," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 24-32.
    18. Ottensmann, John R. & Lindsey, Greg, 2008. "A Use-Based Measure of Accessibility to Linear Features to Predict Urban Trail Use," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 1(1), pages 41-63.
    19. Mondschein, Andrew Samuel, 2013. "The Personal City: The Experiential, Cognitive Nature of Travel and Activity and Implications for Accessibility," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt7014d9cg, University of California Transportation Center.
    20. Arnstein Gjestland & David McArthur & Liv Osland & Inge Thorsen, 2011. "Relationships between housing prices and commuting flows," ERSA conference papers ersa10p906, European Regional Science Association.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:17:y:2009:i:1:p:39-53. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-transport-geography .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.