Assessing gendered accessibility inequalities to urban facilities among refugees

Abstract

Spatial accessibility to urban facilities has been extensively examined in the literature. However, gendered disparities in spatial access remain underexplored, particularly among refugee populations. This research assesses the spatial accessibility of four key urban facilities – education, health, green, and religious – in Konya, Türkiye, using the Three-Step Floating Catchment Area (3SFCA) method. The research quantifies spatial-structural inequalities arising from the distribution of facilities and refugee settlements, independent of behavioural variations. Accessibility scores were further evaluated using Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients to examine distributional inequalities. Findings reveal consistent gender-based spatial disparities. Men exhibit higher accessibility scores across all facility types compared to women, with the greatest inequalities in health and green areas. Gini coefficients indicate that women experience higher within-group spatial inequality, revealing compound disadvantage. This study offers two significant contributions: (1) an empirical application of spatial accessibility methods (3SFCA, Lorenz curves, and Gini coefficients) to assess gendered refugee accessibility, and (2) evidence quantifying baseline spatial-structural inequalities in urban service provision arising from the spatial distribution of facilities and refugee settlements. The results underscore an urgent need for gender-sensitive urban planning and equitable service distribution to address accessibility gaps.