Measuring spatial proportionality between service availability, accessibility and mobility: Empirical evidence using spatial equity approach in Iran

Spatial proportionality plays an important role in recognizing inequities, the quality of actions to reduce them, and halting complicated and unclear cycle of inequities and even reversing their increasing trend. The aim of this study is to measure spatial equity based on spatial proportionalities (SESP), taking into account three-fold factors including service availability, accessibility and mobility. The SESP identifies proportionality between the quality of service distribution and allocating opportunities and the quality of getting access to locations and people's selections according to status quo. Thus, it examines the balance between supply and demand, optimization of distance and the number of choices people make out of total services and the role of move ability to use in compensating for shortages either in terms of service capacity or the level of human deprivation and reduction of effects of distance from services and etc. Gorgan as an old and intermediate city in northern Iran was selected as the case study. The results indicated that the study area does not enjoy suitable proportionality, revealing that the central and northern districts have much more enjoyment than the southern, eastern and western districts. Thus, there is disproportionality between supply and demand, high difference in provided choices and disproportionality between less enjoyed areas and their move ability to use services and inability to create walking travel pattern in Gorgan. Understanding of spatial proportionality can help the planners and policy makers to change their passive role into active in order to reduce inequities, adding to their knowledge on the underlying factors of inequity as well as the factors that hinder and reverse the cycle of inequity.