Drivers of changes in Spanish accessibility for the 1960–2010 period

Abstract

Purpose The accessibility of a certain place can evolve either as the direct result of transport changes or as a consequence of the spatial redistribution of economic activities. These two factors are often indistinguishable-especially at regional level-since improved infrastructure stimulates relocation of activities. Moreover, infrastructure investment choices tend to follow population and economic activity patterns, distorting the cause and effect relationship between infrastructure and accessibility even further. The methodology and results presented here decompose the impact of both factors in terms of accessibility using Spanish data between 1960 and 2010. During this period, Spain experienced profound changes in transport infrastructure and economic activity. Methods We use the potential accessibility indicator and resort to index number theory to disentangle the contribution of transport infrastructure from that of land-use changes. Detailed historical data on road infrastructure and population is used to represent the transport and land-use components of accessibility.Results Our results show that changes in transport infrastructure had a relevant impact on accessibility, as expected, but changes in the spatial distribution of population had an even greater effect. This outcome may be used as an argument for sustainable accessibility, a concept that advocates integration of transport and land use planning.

The Role of Transport and Population Components in Change in Accessibility: the Influence of the Distance Decay Parameter

“…Furthermore, larger scale infrastructure development in the second decade results in the disappearance of such types of area, and changes in accessibility in all municipalities are mostly dependent on the transport component. This conclusions are in contrast to the results presented by Condeço-Melhorado et al (2017) and Geurs and Ritsema van Eck (2003). However, our results suggest that, the selection of a particular distance decay function may only lead to contradictory conclusions on the role of a given component in changes in accessibility during the period of stagnation of infrastructure investments and then only to a limited extent.…”

“…Further, we agree with the conclusion made by Condeço-Melhorado et al (2017), that the selection of the distance decay function is irrelevant for the interpretation of causes of accessibility improvement (i.e. transport-or population-related).…”

“…During the investigated period of time, and in the second decade in particular, Poland has experienced a significant growth of road development, comparable to what one could observed in France (Fayard et al 2012) or Switzerland (Erath et al 2009) in the mid of the twentieth century, or in Spain since 1980s (Condeço-Melhorado et al 2017). In order to do this we use the potential accessibility model, which is widely used to evaluate effectiveness and the equity impact of transport infrastructure developments in a mid-or long-term period of time i.e.…”

“…new land-use polices (Geurs and Ritsema van Eck 2001;Xie and Levinson 2007). Thus, we share a common point of departure with previous studies conducted by Geurs and Ritsema van Eck (2003) and Condeço-Melhorado et al (2017). We separate infrastructure and land use components in order to evaluate their contribution to the overall accessibility change.…”

Measuring Cross-Border Road Accessibility in the European Union

“…Grid-based measures appear to introduce smaller errors than region-based ones. In a subsequent application, Condeço-Melhorado et al (2017) [21] decompose the infrastructure and population elements of potential accessibility and explore their respective roles. Stępniak et al (2018) [4] carry out a detailed comparison of the distance decay functions used in accessibility indicators and their influence in the interpretability of the results.…”