Structural barriers to walkability and accessibility at neighborhood scale. Three case study in Santiago de Chile
Published 2020-12-29
Keywords
- accessibility,
- walkable neighborhood,
- walkability
How to Cite
Abstract
Considering both the relevance of accessibility to urban goods and services or geography of opportunities in the quality of life of urban inhabitants, and the fact that walking represents the main mode of transportation in Greater Santiago —34,6% of trips, according to EOD 2012 (Universidad Alberto Hurtado, 2014)—, the aim of this research is to analyze and compare the structural barriers that affect the walkable area at the neighborhood scale, as well as estimate their possible effects on mobility patterns and access to goods and services, in three housing estates in Greater Santiago: Población Juan Antonio Ríos, sector 3B (Independencia), Villa San Cristóbal (Recoleta) and Villa Los Sauces (La Florida).
For each case, the main material barriers are identified, whether natural (rivers, hills) or artificial (roads, under/over crossings) and some of intangible barriers (associated with road or crime safety). The maximum theoretical area (Euclidean) and that of the “actual” walkable neighbourhood are compared through network analysis (based on 20 minute journeys), considering the crossing conditions of main roads, quantifying the effects over time and distance, and accessibility to goods and services. In addition, the configuration of the road and pedestrian network is analysed, contrasting their local and global integration, based on axial maps. Finally, the movement patterns of the inhabitants is analysed based on the EOD data.
The results showed a clear decrease of the actual walkable neighbourhood area (to one third of the Euclidian area) product of the urban grid and the various existing barriers, which reflects on the accessibility to goods and services by walking. These results allow us also to propose that although a greater average distance is not related to a greater walkable area, closeness to well served centralities associate to in with the prevalence of walking as a transport mode.