Equitable accessibility of public open spaces: a comparison of measurement methods in metropolitan area of Izmir, Türkiye

ABSTRACT

The accessibility of public open spaces (POS) is assessed by comparing the characteristics of these spaces with the population characteristics across various urban units. Known as “equity mapping” of POS, this method identifies and addresses spatial inequities and environmental justice issues related to POS accessibility. However, research in this area has advanced further in countries with data availability at small spatial scales (e.g. census tracts), enabling the measurement of accessibility within walking distances. To address the challenges of conducting research in data-limited contexts, this case study in Izmir (Türkiye) investigates which spatial analyses can facilitate the development of a comprehensive equity mapping of POS accessibility. Türkiye has demographic data available at the neighbourhood level, including age, gender, and education, but lacks data on income, race/ethnicity, and other characteristics commonly used in mainstream research. This paper assumes that children, the elderly, and low-education groups (a proxy for income level) have a greater need for POS. It explores three forms of overlay analyses: feature-based, raster-based, and fishnet-based. Additionally, it examines the metropolitan area and its sub-regions as terrains with different POS accessibility. The results highlight the Centre as having the weakest POS accessibility in neighbourhoods with high child ratios and low education levels. The fishnet-based density analysis offers a finer lens for identifying the locations of priority areas for POS provisioning, even within neighbourhoods.

HIGHLIGHTS

• For improving public open space (POS) accessibility, GIS-based measurements of physical and social data can determine priority areas in the city

• POS accessibility measurements in mainstream research use certain data and spatial units unavailable in data-limited countries

• In data-limited countries, the grid-based density analysis can provide more accuracy about priority areas for POS planning

• Taking the city with sub-regions of different POS accessibility helps with determining priority areas

• Izmir’s central city and neighbourhoods with high child ratios and low education levels have the weakest POS accessibility

KEYWORDS:

• Public open spaces
• park accessibility
• walking distance
• spatial inequality
• overlay analyses
• Türkiye

Acknowledgements

A team member of this project, Prof. Dr. A.Özlem Önder (Ege University) provided the statistical analysis; we acknowledge and appreciate her support. The POS data of Izmir is updated in GIS using satellite images within the scope of a research by the first author funded by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality in 2018–2019.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Scientific and Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK), (Grant no. 119K336).