Measuring the accessibility and equity of public parks: a case study using GIS

Abstract

The concepts of accessibility and equity are useful means of measuring the extent and fairness of service provided by the distribution of public facilities such as urban packs. While numerous studies have been conducted into either the accessibility or the equity of various service distributions, it is argued here that they have to date been limited by the lack of a spatial perspective that explicitly links these two concepts together. In this study, therefore, a spatial analysis of the accessibility and equity of the distribution of public park facilities in Bryan-college Station, Texas, is conducted utilizing a geographic information system (GIS). Using such an approach, it is possible to identify not just who the disadvantaged are, in terms of the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of those residents having low levels of accessibility, but also where they are such that distributional inequities can be corrected. The results indicate that, although levels of accessibility to park facilities are higher in College Station than in Bryan, the reverse is true of the degree of equity. Moreover, the use of four alternative measures of access within each city produces significant variations in levels of accessibility depending upon how this concept is measured. This in turn impacts upon the degree of (in)equity indicated. The choice of accessibility measure can thus be a crucial determinant of both the accessibility and the equity results. As this study demonstrates, GIS offers a powerful means of visualizing and measuring the levels of accessibility and equity provided by public facilities such as urban packs. Moreover, this kind of technology also offers great potential for further, more advanced analyses incorporating more detailed information about the quantity and quality of services provided, as well as about levels of access to them. In addition, GIS may be used to help locate new park facilities so as to increase levels of both accessibility and equity as much as possible in the future.