IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v30y1998i4p595-613.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing Spatial Equity: An Evaluation of Measures of Accessibility to Public Playgrounds

Author

Listed:
  • E Talen
  • L Anselin

Abstract

Geographical and political research on urban service delivery—who benefits and why—has proliferated during the past two decades. Overall, this literature is not characterized by a particular attention to the importance of method in drawing conclusions about spatial equity based on empirical studies. Specifically, there has been scant interest in the effect of geographic methodology on assessing the relationship between access and socioeconomic characteristics that are spatially defined. In this paper we take a spatial analytical perspective to evaluate the importance of methodology in assessing whether or not, or to what degree the distribution of urban public services is equitable. We approach this issue by means of an empirical case study of the spatial distribution of playgrounds in Tulsa, Oklahoma, relative to that of the targeted constituencies (children) and other socioeconomic indicators. In addition to the ‘traditional’ measure (count of facilities in an areal unit), we consider a potential measure (based on the gravity model), average travel distance, and distance to the nearest playground as indicators of accessibility. We find significant differences between the spatial patterns in these measures that are suggested by local indicators of spatial association and other techniques of exploratory spatial data analysis. The choice of access measure not only implies a particular treatment of spatial externalities but also affects conclusions about the existence of spatial mismatch and inequity.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:30:y:1998:i:4:p:595-613
    DOI: 10.1068/a300595
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a300595
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a300595?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anselin, Luc & Getis, Arthur, 1992. "Spatial Statistical Analysis and Geographic Information Systems," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 26(1), pages 19-33, April.
    2. David L. Barkley & Mark S. Henry & Shuming Bao & Kerry R. Brooks, 1995. "How Functional Are Economic Areas? Tests For Intra‐Regional Spatial Association Using Spatial Data Analysis," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(4), pages 297-316, October.
    3. Luc Anselin & Shuming Bao, 1997. "Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis Linking SpaceStat and ArcView," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Manfred M. Fischer & Arthur Getis (ed.), Recent Developments in Spatial Analysis, chapter 3, pages 35-59, Springer.
    4. Mladenka, Kenneth R., 1980. "The Urban Bureaucracy and the Chicago Political Machine: Who Gets What and the Limits to Political Control," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(4), pages 991-998, December.
    5. Manfred M. Fischer & Arthur Getis (ed.), 1997. "Recent Developments in Spatial Analysis," Advances in Spatial Science, Springer, number 978-3-662-03499-6, december.
    6. Von Hohenbalken, Balder & West, Douglas S., 1984. "Manhattan versus Euclid : Market areas computed and compared," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 19-35, February.
    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. repec:asg:wpaper:1047 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. repec:asg:wpaper:1012 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. M'HENNI, Hatem & METHAMEM, Raouchen, 2008. "Diffusion des TIC dans l’espace méditerranéen une explication géographique [ICT diffusion in the mediterranean space: a geographical explanation]," MPRA Paper 27550, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Michael F. Goodchild & Luc Anselin & Richard P. Appelbaum & Barbara Herr Harthorn, 2000. "Toward Spatially Integrated Social Science," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 23(2), pages 139-159, April.
    5. Ferhan Gezici & Geoffrey J. D. Hewings, 2007. "Spatial Analysis of Regional Inequalities in Turkey," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 383-403, April.
    6. Luc Anselin, 2012. "From SpaceStat to CyberGIS," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 35(2), pages 131-157, April.
    7. S Wise & R Haining & P Signoretta, 1999. "Scientific Visualisation and the Exploratory Analysis of Area Data," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 31(10), pages 1825-1838, October.
    8. Alex Braithwaite & QUAN LI, 2007. "Transnational Terrorism Hot Spots: Identification and Impact Evaluation," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 24(4), pages 281-296, September.
    9. Xinyue Ye & Sergio Rey, 2013. "A framework for exploratory space-time analysis of economic data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 50(1), pages 315-339, February.
    10. Jin, Peizhen & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Song, Malin, 2021. "Moving towards a sustainable and innovative city: Internal urban traffic accessibility and high-level innovation based on platform monitoring data," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    11. Tijs Neutens & Tim Schwanen & Frank Witlox & Philippe De Maeyer, 2010. "Equity of Urban Service Delivery: A Comparison of Different Accessibility Measures," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(7), pages 1613-1635, July.
    12. Roger Bivand, 2008. "Implementing Representations Of Space In Economic Geography," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 1-27, February.
    13. Pires, Jose Claudio Linhares & Cravo, Tulio & Lodato, Simon & Piza, Caio, 2013. "Industrial Clusters and Economic Performance in Brazil," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 4771, Inter-American Development Bank.
    14. M H Matthews & A Airey & L Tacon & A Simpson, 1988. "The Influence of the Neighbourhood on Teacher Characteristics: A Case Study of Coventry," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 20(5), pages 681-688, May.
    15. Ye, Xinyue & Yue, Wenze, 2014. "Comparative analysis of regional development: Exploratory space-time data analysis and open source implementation," Economics Discussion Papers 2014-20, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    16. Jiaqi Li & Yi Tian, 2024. "Assessment of Ecological Quality and Analysis of Influencing Factors in Coal-Bearing Hilly Areas of Northern China: An Exploration of Human Mining and Natural Topography," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-23, July.
    17. Gitlesen, Jens Petter & Kleppe, Gisle & Thorsen, Inge & Ubøe, Jan, 2006. "An empirically based implementation and evaluation of a network model for commuting flows," Discussion Papers 2006/4, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    18. Brigitte Waldorf, 2003. "Spatial Patterns and Processes in a Longitudinal Framework," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 26(3), pages 269-288, July.
    19. repec:jss:jstsof:13:i06 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Rui Fragoso & Conceição Rego & Vladimir Bushenkov, 2016. "Clustering of Territorial Areas: A Multi-Criteria Districting Problem," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 14(2), pages 179-198, December.
    21. Hyunwoo Lim & Minyoung Park, 2019. "Modeling the Spatial Dimensions of Warehouse Rent Determinants: A Case Study of Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, December.
    22. Burhan Can Karahasan & Firat Bilgel, 2017. "Access to Healthcare, Utilization and Health Outcomes in Turkey," Working Papers 1089, Economic Research Forum, revised 04 2017.
    23. Zhi Zhang & Zhiwei Wan & Shan Xu & Hong Wu & Lingyue Liu & Zhao Chen & Ji Zeng, 2023. "Environmental Adaptation in the Process of Human-Land Relationship in Southeast China’s Ethnic Minority Areas and Its Significance on Sustainable Development," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-16, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:sae:envira:v:30:y:1998:i:4:p:595-613. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.