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UBC Theses and Dissertations

15-minute city : access to essential services in Metro Vancouver Li, Mu

Abstract

This study quantified access to six essential services using the “15-Minute City” concept and the measure of cumulative opportunity in Metro Vancouver. “15-Minute Cities” are suggested to promote multiple health-focused goals such as health equity, active transportation, and sustainable development to improve the well-being of the population. Locations of 3357 Dissemination Area (DA) population-weighted centroids (origins) and healthcare facilities, education centres, greenspace, grocery stores, community centres and public transit stops (destinations) were identified using multiple open data sources. Accessibility was determined by the walking time between each origin-destination pair using a transportation routing engine with two different walking speeds representing people of different ages. Access was then evaluated by population density, municipality, age and a measure of situational deprivation as a proxy for socioeconomic status. Only 22% of DAs in Metro Vancouver had access to all six essential services and were considered “15-Minute City” neighbourhoods in this analysis. These DAs had higher population density, a lower proportion of populations between ages 0 to 14, and the highest proportion in the least situationally deprived category. Greenspace and community centres were the most (99%) and least accessible (36%) essential services within 15 minutes of walking, respectively. This study highlighted access inequity to essential services across Metro Vancouver based on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. The “15-Minute City” was an innovative framework that was used to quantify disparities in access. This framework can inform decision making and improve resource allocation to support sustainable development in Metro Vancouver of more complete and walkable neighbourhoods.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International