Urban Density and Equity of Access to Social Services in Australian Urban Areas

TL;DR

This study develops indexes to measure access to social services in Australian cities, revealing significant spatial inequities especially outside city centers.

Contribution

It introduces two social service access indexes and applies them to Australian cities to analyze spatial equity in service accessibility.

Findings

Melbourne and Sydney have some characteristics of compact cities.

Outer suburban areas have poor access to social services.

Spatial inequity affects residents in outer urban areas.

Abstract

To measure access to social services (primary health care, early childhood care/education, and public transport), we created two social service access indexes (SSPT and SSI) for Australian capital cities. We show that only two cities, Melbourne and Sydney, have some limited characteristics of a compact or 15-minute city, but only in the city centres and inner city areas where population densities are highest and have less low density housing types. In the outer suburban and peri-urban areas, as well as across all of the remaining cities, proximity to social services is poor and residents suffer the consequences of spatial inequity.