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Deconstructing laws of accessibility and facility distribution in cities
Yanyan Xu1,2,3, Luis E Olmos1,2,3, Sofiane Abbar4
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Science Advances
|September 12, 2020
Summary
Redesigning urban planning by strategically relocating facilities can halve travel distances and costs. This approach prioritizes walkability and cycling, enhancing urban living quality and sustainability.
Area of Science:
- Urban Planning
- Transportation Geography
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Automobile-centric urban development has led to increased travel costs and environmental degradation.
- Current urban structures often necessitate long commutes, diminishing quality of life.
- There is a need for a new urban planning paradigm focused on accessibility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between facility distribution, population density, and accessibility.
- To identify optimal facility distribution strategies for minimizing travel costs.
- To provide a model for estimating facility needs based on desired accessibility.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of facility and population distributions within existing road networks.
- Modeling accessibility based on travel costs and network analysis.
- Simulation of facility redistribution scenarios in six diverse cities.
Main Results:
- Facility redistribution can reduce average travel distances by up to 50%.
- Optimal travel distance is a function of facility quantity and population density.
- A predictive model was developed to estimate facility requirements for specific accessibility goals.
Conclusions:
- Strategic redistribution of urban facilities is key to improving accessibility.
- This approach offers a quantifiable method for enhancing urban livability and sustainability.
- Findings support a shift towards human-centric urban design prioritizing active transportation.
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