M03
Spatial Analysis
Mapping how distance, geography and infrastructure combine to shape which destinations are reachable from a given point.
Infrastructure
When It's Useful
When comparing accessibility across neighbourhoods or cities, or testing whether physical distance predicts real-world access.
STRENGTHS
- Makes uneven access visible on a shared spatial reference.
- Scales to city-wide or multi-city comparison.
- Combines cleanly with infrastructure and transit datasets.
LIMITATIONS
- Straight-line distance can overstate accessibility where infrastructure is poor.
- Requires reliable geographic data, which is uneven across cities.
- Says little about how a journey feels to the person making it.
Variables Typically Captured
road network densitytransit stop coveragetravel-time isochronesland use
Process
01
Question
02
Geographic data
03
Network model
04
Isochrone mapping
05
Comparison