Pedestrian accessibility of services as a measure of territorial cohesion at the neighbourhood level

Abstract

Territorial cohesion, despite its initial ambiguity, has been successfully implemented in national and regional policies across the EU. However, its operationalisation on the local level remains a major challenge. This paper asks whether pedestrian accessibility of services and public transport nodes can be used as a measure of territorial cohesion at the local level. The presented research was conducted in 2016–19 in five neighbourhoods in Poland representing various settlement contexts: large cities, mediumsized towns and suburban areas. It adapted particular indicators of territorial cohesion established by ESPON to the neighbourhood scale. The highest levels of territorial cohesion expressed by users’ satisfaction were achieved in a neighbourhood in a medium-sized town, whereas in geographical terms, territorial cohesion reached higher levels in large cities. Despite those differences, the proposed research method based on pedestrian accessibility offers quantifiable and comparable results on territorial cohesion on the neighbourhood level.

Neighbourhood cohesion and territorial cohesion: in search for conceptual integrity

“…The examples presented in this paper prove that those features can be effectively measured and compared between neighbourhoods representing various settlement types. Through a systematic analysis of functional balance, accessibility parameters and supply-demand relationships it is possible to draw a selective but reliable picture of territorial cohesion on the local level (cf Damurski et al, 2020a). As a result, an integrated vision of neighbourhood cohesion emerges, including both social and spatial aspects of cohesion at the local level (Table 5), strengthening the complementarity of the two approaches.…”

“…This paper is based on secondary data which refers to studies conducted in the years 2017-2019 in five locations in Poland within a research project ''Model of the local service centre as a tool for enhancing territorial cohesion of urban areas'' at the Faculty of Architecture, Wrocław University of Science and Technology (Damurski 2020;Damurski et al, 2020a;Damurski et al, 2020b). The main research unit is a local service centre (LSC) representing the residents' 'activity space' and examined using its physical, functional and social characteristics (cf.…”

“…Hence the ESPON indicators form a kind of reference point for this research but cannot be implemented as-they-are into empirical neighbourhood studies (cf. Damurski et al, 2020a who tried to revise and adopt the measures to local level).…”

“…This understanding of cohesion has been used in the European Union as a basis for various policy measures, referred mostly to the national and regional levels. However, it remains a big challenge at the neighbourhood scale where quantitative parameters lack their explanatory power and need to be complemented by qualitative measures (Damurski et al, 2020a).…”