R.J. Nelson
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1
Ethically Informed Urban Planning
Measuring Distributive Spatial Justice for Neighborhood Accessibility
Studies in urban accessibility have advanced our understanding of social and spatial inequalities in the distribution of urban resources in cities worldwide. In response, prominent discourse is shifting to embed justice in urban planning. Ethical principles have historically been employed by philosophers to guide thinking about reshaping society toward more fair and just outcomes. In this work, we present the Mapping Accessibility for Ethically Informed Urban Planning (MAP) framework. MAP operationalizes three metrics of distributive spatial justice based on equality, utilitarianism, and Rawls’s egalitarian principles to compare the implications of choosing different values of justice to evaluate neighborhood accessibility. We apply MAP to three diverse cities located in The Netherlands, Mexico, and South Africa, modeling each city as an urban network model, integrating public transportation, land use, and street networks. Across the cases and ethical perspectives, we find that the implications of defining justice are mediated by a neighborhood’s proximity to local mixed land use for shorter commuting times. For longer commutes, it is dependent on a neighborhood’s access to the central business district of each region, through proximity to transportation infrastructure. The findings underscore the scale, contextual, and value-reliant nature of distributive spatial justice. MAP offers a means to facilitate comparative analysis within urban planning processes, highlighting different ethical concerns for debate by stakeholders and residents.
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Studies in urban accessibility have advanced our understanding of social and spatial inequalities in the distribution of urban resources in cities worldwide. In response, prominent discourse is shifting to embed justice in urban planning. Ethical principles have historically been employed by philosophers to guide thinking about reshaping society toward more fair and just outcomes. In this work, we present the Mapping Accessibility for Ethically Informed Urban Planning (MAP) framework. MAP operationalizes three metrics of distributive spatial justice based on equality, utilitarianism, and Rawls’s egalitarian principles to compare the implications of choosing different values of justice to evaluate neighborhood accessibility. We apply MAP to three diverse cities located in The Netherlands, Mexico, and South Africa, modeling each city as an urban network model, integrating public transportation, land use, and street networks. Across the cases and ethical perspectives, we find that the implications of defining justice are mediated by a neighborhood’s proximity to local mixed land use for shorter commuting times. For longer commutes, it is dependent on a neighborhood’s access to the central business district of each region, through proximity to transportation infrastructure. The findings underscore the scale, contextual, and value-reliant nature of distributive spatial justice. MAP offers a means to facilitate comparative analysis within urban planning processes, highlighting different ethical concerns for debate by stakeholders and residents.
Scenario planning has become a common approach within transportation research to understand the varying impacts of transportation planning. By examining a range of uncertainties, scenarios can be developed that enable an exploration of alternative future visions of the world. Whilst there has been growing concern over the equity impacts of transport investments, particularly in relation to accessibility of opportunities, equity of access considerations remain an underdeveloped area within transportation scenarios research. This has tremendous consequences for realising socially just mobility futures. Utilising the case study of Cape Town, in South Africa several transport scenarios are collectively developed through stakeholder engagement by analysing a number of parameters that have been identified as significant operational factors and policy levers. We develop representative urban network models for each scenario and evaluate equity of access to places of employment using a comparative equity framework. We find that a continuation of past trends leads to greater inequities, whereas alternative visions focused on the adoption of integrated transport and cycling indicate potential to decrease inequities. Overall the study highlights how the adoption of accessibility focused planning is not only an engineering problem, but a societal problem related to institutional capacity, trust, community agency and political vision
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Scenario planning has become a common approach within transportation research to understand the varying impacts of transportation planning. By examining a range of uncertainties, scenarios can be developed that enable an exploration of alternative future visions of the world. Whilst there has been growing concern over the equity impacts of transport investments, particularly in relation to accessibility of opportunities, equity of access considerations remain an underdeveloped area within transportation scenarios research. This has tremendous consequences for realising socially just mobility futures. Utilising the case study of Cape Town, in South Africa several transport scenarios are collectively developed through stakeholder engagement by analysing a number of parameters that have been identified as significant operational factors and policy levers. We develop representative urban network models for each scenario and evaluate equity of access to places of employment using a comparative equity framework. We find that a continuation of past trends leads to greater inequities, whereas alternative visions focused on the adoption of integrated transport and cycling indicate potential to decrease inequities. Overall the study highlights how the adoption of accessibility focused planning is not only an engineering problem, but a societal problem related to institutional capacity, trust, community agency and political vision
Unequal Cities
An investigation into the reproduction of urban inequalities through socio-technical processes and policy
Seventy percent of the world’s population live in countries where inequalities have increased over the past three decades. There is growing recognition that global understandings of inequality must be complemented by empirically grounded, context-sensitive analyses that incorporate spatial and temporal dimensions. This dissertation advances that agenda by exploring the structural drivers of urban inequalities through a methodological approach that integrates critical theory with spatial data science. Central to this approach is the development of a theoretical framework that synthesises geospatial analysis and complexity science. This framework is operationalised through its iterative application to three empirical case studies drawn from both the Global North and South, enabling a comparative perspective on urban inequalities. By bridging critical theory with novel empirical methods, the research contributes to contemporary debates on urban inequality, offering conceptual and methodological innovations as well as policy-relevant insights.
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Seventy percent of the world’s population live in countries where inequalities have increased over the past three decades. There is growing recognition that global understandings of inequality must be complemented by empirically grounded, context-sensitive analyses that incorporate spatial and temporal dimensions. This dissertation advances that agenda by exploring the structural drivers of urban inequalities through a methodological approach that integrates critical theory with spatial data science. Central to this approach is the development of a theoretical framework that synthesises geospatial analysis and complexity science. This framework is operationalised through its iterative application to three empirical case studies drawn from both the Global North and South, enabling a comparative perspective on urban inequalities. By bridging critical theory with novel empirical methods, the research contributes to contemporary debates on urban inequality, offering conceptual and methodological innovations as well as policy-relevant insights.
Evaluating accessibility based on multiple notions of justice allows for a multi-perspective analysis of the trade-offs between the benefits and burdens associated with the provision of infrastructure. This presents a challenge due to a lack of metrics which operationalise multiple notions of justice for comparative purposes. It is further complicated by the reliance on General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data to do many kinds of accessibility analyses, which is often not freely available and accessible, especially in data scarce regions. This paper presents the MAP open-source software package that allows for the incorporation of multiple notions of justice in accessibility analysis. Firstly, MAP supports the development of an Urban Network Model based on open-access data. Secondly, using this model it enables the calculation of Neighbourhood Reach Centrality, a cumulative accessibility metric. Finally, it allows for the evaluation of accessibility based on three comparative metrics of spatial justice visualised through maps. For illustrative purposes, data sets from the City of Cape Town in South Africa are provided as a ready-to-use data-product. This software package offers an efficient method for incorporating spatial justice considerations into accessibility analysis offering the potential to be used as a boundary object within interdisciplinary teams of researchers, policy-analysts, transport engineers, and other stakeholders.
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Evaluating accessibility based on multiple notions of justice allows for a multi-perspective analysis of the trade-offs between the benefits and burdens associated with the provision of infrastructure. This presents a challenge due to a lack of metrics which operationalise multiple notions of justice for comparative purposes. It is further complicated by the reliance on General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data to do many kinds of accessibility analyses, which is often not freely available and accessible, especially in data scarce regions. This paper presents the MAP open-source software package that allows for the incorporation of multiple notions of justice in accessibility analysis. Firstly, MAP supports the development of an Urban Network Model based on open-access data. Secondly, using this model it enables the calculation of Neighbourhood Reach Centrality, a cumulative accessibility metric. Finally, it allows for the evaluation of accessibility based on three comparative metrics of spatial justice visualised through maps. For illustrative purposes, data sets from the City of Cape Town in South Africa are provided as a ready-to-use data-product. This software package offers an efficient method for incorporating spatial justice considerations into accessibility analysis offering the potential to be used as a boundary object within interdisciplinary teams of researchers, policy-analysts, transport engineers, and other stakeholders.
Scenario planning has become a common approach within transportation research to understand the varying impacts of transportation planning. By examining a range of uncertainties, scenarios can be developed that enable an exploration of alternative future visions of the world. Whilst there has been growing concern over the equity impacts of public transport investments, particularly in relation to accessibility of social and economic opportunities, equity of access considerations remain an underdeveloped area within transportation scenarios research. This has tremendous consequences for realising socially just mobility futures. Utilising the case study of Cape Town, in South Africa several transport scenarios are collectively developed through stakeholder engagement by analysing a number of parameters that have been identified as significant operational factors and policy levers. We develop representative urban network models for each scenario and evaluate equity of access to places of employment using a comparative equity framework. We find that a continuation of past trends leads to greater inequities, whereas alternative participatory future visions focused on the adoption of integrated transport and cycling indicate potential to decrease inequities. Overall the study highlights how the adoption of transportation solutions towards greater accessibility is not only an engineering problem, but a human problem related to institutional capacity, trust, coordination, community agency and political vision.
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Scenario planning has become a common approach within transportation research to understand the varying impacts of transportation planning. By examining a range of uncertainties, scenarios can be developed that enable an exploration of alternative future visions of the world. Whilst there has been growing concern over the equity impacts of public transport investments, particularly in relation to accessibility of social and economic opportunities, equity of access considerations remain an underdeveloped area within transportation scenarios research. This has tremendous consequences for realising socially just mobility futures. Utilising the case study of Cape Town, in South Africa several transport scenarios are collectively developed through stakeholder engagement by analysing a number of parameters that have been identified as significant operational factors and policy levers. We develop representative urban network models for each scenario and evaluate equity of access to places of employment using a comparative equity framework. We find that a continuation of past trends leads to greater inequities, whereas alternative participatory future visions focused on the adoption of integrated transport and cycling indicate potential to decrease inequities. Overall the study highlights how the adoption of transportation solutions towards greater accessibility is not only an engineering problem, but a human problem related to institutional capacity, trust, coordination, community agency and political vision.
Housing inequalities
The space-time geography of housing policies
Changes in policy over the last thirty years, particularly within advanced economies, have allowed for increased financialization, deregulation and globalisation of housing. What differentiates real-estate from other financial markets is that it possesses a salient socio-spatial geography. Housing inequalities are often framed as an outcome of macro-economic structural changes or as a product of local socio-spatial conditions, but the interactions between the two are less understood. To address this gap, we develop a descriptive methodology to connect the analysis of national housing policy trends in the Netherlands with local socio-spatial trajectories of neighbourhood change using nearly 20 years of historical data across a range of socio-spatial dimensions from the City of Rotterdam. Whilst nationally there has been an increasing policy preference for home ownership associated with a narrative of social upliftment, the spatial-temporal analysis reveals that the wealthiest neighbourhoods have benefitted significantly more from capital gains and increased rates of home ownership over time. Through descriptive analysis, the results highlight the role of divergent neighbourhood characteristics and path dependencies, suggesting that housing policies could benefit from the adoption of a more localised approach. Overall, the study sheds light on housing inequalities by integrating macro socio-economic factors with micro-level neighbourhood conditions.
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Changes in policy over the last thirty years, particularly within advanced economies, have allowed for increased financialization, deregulation and globalisation of housing. What differentiates real-estate from other financial markets is that it possesses a salient socio-spatial geography. Housing inequalities are often framed as an outcome of macro-economic structural changes or as a product of local socio-spatial conditions, but the interactions between the two are less understood. To address this gap, we develop a descriptive methodology to connect the analysis of national housing policy trends in the Netherlands with local socio-spatial trajectories of neighbourhood change using nearly 20 years of historical data across a range of socio-spatial dimensions from the City of Rotterdam. Whilst nationally there has been an increasing policy preference for home ownership associated with a narrative of social upliftment, the spatial-temporal analysis reveals that the wealthiest neighbourhoods have benefitted significantly more from capital gains and increased rates of home ownership over time. Through descriptive analysis, the results highlight the role of divergent neighbourhood characteristics and path dependencies, suggesting that housing policies could benefit from the adoption of a more localised approach. Overall, the study sheds light on housing inequalities by integrating macro socio-economic factors with micro-level neighbourhood conditions.
The United Nations World Social Report (2020) reveals that more than two thirds of the world's population live in countries where urban inequalities have increased in the last three decades. While urban inequalities are traditionally characterized as an economic issue, scholars are increasingly applying methods from geospatial analysis to study them. In the context of these advancements, it remains unclear what underlying perspectives are guiding decisions to concentrate on certain aspects of urban inequalities, while potentially ignoring others. We address this gap by reviewing the literature centered on the geospatial analysis of urban inequalities and identify three predominant research lenses from accessibility, distribution, and policy and stakeholder perspectives. As a primary contribution of this article, we connect the perspectives with ideas drawn from complexity theory to develop an overarching socio-technical framework for how urban inequalities emerge over space and time. While traditional scientific frameworks seek to increase knowledge through causality, complexity science acknowledges the inherent challenges in defining, understanding and solving complex problems such as urban inequalities, which has profound implications for their representation, modeling and interpretation. We critically reflect on the framework through key relational themes and insights drawn from the literature and close with considerations for future research.
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The United Nations World Social Report (2020) reveals that more than two thirds of the world's population live in countries where urban inequalities have increased in the last three decades. While urban inequalities are traditionally characterized as an economic issue, scholars are increasingly applying methods from geospatial analysis to study them. In the context of these advancements, it remains unclear what underlying perspectives are guiding decisions to concentrate on certain aspects of urban inequalities, while potentially ignoring others. We address this gap by reviewing the literature centered on the geospatial analysis of urban inequalities and identify three predominant research lenses from accessibility, distribution, and policy and stakeholder perspectives. As a primary contribution of this article, we connect the perspectives with ideas drawn from complexity theory to develop an overarching socio-technical framework for how urban inequalities emerge over space and time. While traditional scientific frameworks seek to increase knowledge through causality, complexity science acknowledges the inherent challenges in defining, understanding and solving complex problems such as urban inequalities, which has profound implications for their representation, modeling and interpretation. We critically reflect on the framework through key relational themes and insights drawn from the literature and close with considerations for future research.
Social inclusion through the urban lens
A comparative analysis of neighbourhoods of residential racial homogeneity and heterogeneity in Cape Town, South Africa
The world is increasingly urbanising, more than half of the global population live within cities. The impact of COVID-19 is having devastating effects. The United Nations estimates that the pandemic will most likely elevate poverty and inequalities at a global scale. The World Bank’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting prosperity and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals have deemed inclusive, resilient, and sustainable cities as global imperatives. Despite wide recognition, building inclusive cities remains a challenge. Many studies of social inclusion are conducted at an individual or household scale, with little emphasis on the interaction between human dynamics and the spatial characteristics of cities. This article proposes a data driven framework for examining urban social inclusion through the profiling of neighbourhoods by combining spatial network measurements, transport, land use and socio-economic indicators in Cape Town, South Africa. The spatial unit of the neighbourhood is considered an important building block within cities and has especially historically important social and cultural connotations in South Africa. The results show that there are 4 types of neighbourhoods, Economically disadvantaged and marginalised, Affluent and exclusive, Semi residentially heterogeneous and Residentially heterogeneous. Neighbourhoods with increased residential racial heterogeneity, additionally, have access to higher levels of mixed land use, transport, and global closeness centrality. Furthermore, neither extremely high nor low-income neighbourhoods are found to be related to racial heterogeneity. The results enable the profiling and comparison of neighbourhoods, and it is envisioned that this evidence-based approach could support policy makers and urban planners within decision making processes.
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The world is increasingly urbanising, more than half of the global population live within cities. The impact of COVID-19 is having devastating effects. The United Nations estimates that the pandemic will most likely elevate poverty and inequalities at a global scale. The World Bank’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting prosperity and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals have deemed inclusive, resilient, and sustainable cities as global imperatives. Despite wide recognition, building inclusive cities remains a challenge. Many studies of social inclusion are conducted at an individual or household scale, with little emphasis on the interaction between human dynamics and the spatial characteristics of cities. This article proposes a data driven framework for examining urban social inclusion through the profiling of neighbourhoods by combining spatial network measurements, transport, land use and socio-economic indicators in Cape Town, South Africa. The spatial unit of the neighbourhood is considered an important building block within cities and has especially historically important social and cultural connotations in South Africa. The results show that there are 4 types of neighbourhoods, Economically disadvantaged and marginalised, Affluent and exclusive, Semi residentially heterogeneous and Residentially heterogeneous. Neighbourhoods with increased residential racial heterogeneity, additionally, have access to higher levels of mixed land use, transport, and global closeness centrality. Furthermore, neither extremely high nor low-income neighbourhoods are found to be related to racial heterogeneity. The results enable the profiling and comparison of neighbourhoods, and it is envisioned that this evidence-based approach could support policy makers and urban planners within decision making processes.