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Accessibility and socio-economic development of human settlements

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  • Samiul Hasan
  • Xiaoming Wang
  • Yong Bing Khoo
  • Greg Foliente

Abstract

Access to facilities, services and socio-economic opportunities plays a critical role in the growth and decline of cities and human settlements. Previous attempts to explain changes in socio-economic indicators by differences in accessibility have not been convincing as countries with highly developed transport infrastructure have only seen marginal benefits of infrastructure improvements. Australia offers an ideal case for investigating the effects of accessibility on development since it is seen as home to some of the most liveable cities in the world while, at the same time, it also has some of the most isolated settlements. We investigate herein the connectivity and accessibility of all 1814 human settlements (population centers exceeding 200 persons) in Australia, and how they relate to the socio-economic characteristics of, and opportunities in, each population center. Assuming population as a proxy indicator of available opportunities, we present a simple ranking metric for a settlement using the number of population and the distance required to access all other settlements (and the corresponding opportunities therein). We find a strikingly unequal distribution of access to opportunities in Australia, with a marked prominence of opportunities in capital cities in four of the eight states. The two largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne have a dominant position across all socio-economic indicators, compared to all the other cities. In general, we observe across all the settlements that a decrease in access to opportunities is associated with relatively greater socio-economic disadvantage including increased median age and unemployment rate and decreased median household income. Our methodology can be used to better understand the potential benefits of improved accessibility based on infrastructure development, especially for remote areas and for cities and towns with many socio-economically disadvantaged population.

Suggested Citation

  • Samiul Hasan & Xiaoming Wang & Yong Bing Khoo & Greg Foliente, 2017. "Accessibility and socio-economic development of human settlements," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0179620
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179620
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ana Condeço-Melhorado & Aura Reggiani & Javier Gutiérrez (ed.), 2014. "Accessibility and Spatial Interaction," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15267.
    2. R.W. Vickerman, 1994. "Transport Infrastructure and Region Building in the European Community," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 1-24, March.
    3. Handy, Susan, 1993. "Regional Versus Local Accessibility: Implications for Nonwork Travel," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt2z79q67d, University of California Transportation Center.
    4. Ana Condeço-Melhorado & Aura Reggiani & Javier Gutiérrez, 2014. "Accessibility and spatial interaction: an introduction," Chapters, in: Ana Condeço-Melhorado & Aura Reggiani & Javier Gutiérrez (ed.), Accessibility and Spatial Interaction, chapter 1, pages 1-12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    2. Sun, Xiaoqian & Wandelt, Sebastian & Zhang, Anming, 2021. "Comparative accessibility of Chinese airports and high-speed railway stations: A high-resolution, yet scalable framework based on open data," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    3. Oded Cats & Rafal Kucharski & Santosh Rao Danda & Menno Yap, 2022. "Beyond the dichotomy: How ride-hailing competes with and complements public transport," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(1), pages 1-17, January.
    4. Long Zhou & Guoqiang Shen & Yao Wu & Robert Brown & Tian Chen & Chenyu Wang, 2018. "Urban Form, Growth, and Accessibility in Space and Time: Anatomy of Land Use at the Parcel-Level in a Small to Medium-Sized American City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-24, December.
    5. Yanpeng Ding & Bin Shi & Guijin Su & Qianqian Li & Jing Meng & Yongjian Jiang & Yi Qin & Lingwen Dai & Shuai Song, 2021. "Assessing Suitability of Human Settlements in High-Altitude Area Using a Comprehensive Index Method: A Case Study of Tibet, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-21, February.
    6. Yangli Zhang & Qiang Fan, 2020. "The Application of the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process in the Assessment and Improvement of the Human Settlement Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, February.

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