Accessibility and Street Layout Exploring spatial equity in

- Latent demand can be assessed through an investigation of relative deprivation
as it exists among individuals among set of region. They may have relative
deprivation if: they do not receive that other people receive it; they want it and
regard it feasible to be delivered.
- Potential demand can be evaluated by analysing factors which generate particular
kind of problems.
- Needs can be also determined by consultation with experts in the field. Experts
tend to define needs by consideration of available resources.
As outlined in the preceding statements, needs must be essentially determined in a
just way so as to establish a reliable basis for territorial justice. The importance of this
issue is twofold. The first important point is to recognize the need of equal access to
public facilities which is commonly referred as spatial equity. The second important
point is to look for careful methods to determine this need. It can be achieved by
comparing an existing system with hypothetical needs. To understand the first, the
idea of spatial equity is explored in the following and the second issue concerns with
accessibility will be discussed and explained thereafter.
Definitions of spatial equity vary among researches as its indicators do. For some
researchers it connotes just equal access to public facilities measured in distance such
as accessibility to school, health centres and cultural events. For some others it covers
a boarder field and would include a similar job opportunity being offered to residents
of a region. A general definition of spatial equity is that all resident should be treated
equally wherever they live. In a more precise way taking from urban public facility
planning, spatial equity points to equal spatial separation from or spatial proximity
to public urban facilities among residents. Of the available ways to measure spatial
equity accessibility is the most used one.
2.2. Accessibility
Measuring spatial equity is associated with locational distribution of facilities and
services to the locational distribution of different socioeconomic groups (Talen &
Anselin 1998). Measuring accessibility involves efforts to ascertain whether or not
public service distributions are equitable. Furthermore to identify accessibility fea-
20