Accessibility of social housing by sustainable transport modes: A study in Poznan, Poland

Sustainable urban planning should include affordable housing and access to essential opportunities among its priorities. Residents of social housing projects are at particular risk of suffering from below-average accessibility levels. This paper proposes the concept of socially sustainable accessibility and applies it to evaluate low-income and medium-income housing projects in the city of Poznan, Poland. The study includes different scenarios for public transport and cycling as transport modes used at the city scale. Results show that low-income social housing had substantially worse accessibility scores than market-rate housing in all scenarios. Medium-income social housing tended to perform better but, in most cases, did not match the level of market-rate housing as well. The proposed approach may inform integrated transport and land-use planning strategies and contribute to social equity and cohesion.